Warning: Don’t read the comments on YouTube videos. 

Not because anything bad will happen just from the act of reading them. But because there’s very rarely anything of substance in the comment section that will help you achieve anything. 

Against my own advice to you, though, I read the comments on my own videos. I get ideas there, even from the fools. And three days ago, a disgruntled viewer delivered another one to me. 

She posed the open question of what exactly qualified me to speak on whatever the video was about. 

I like this question, because many of you will (or already are) dealing with the challenge of building your own “qualifications” stack in order to —

Call yourself an “expert” on a topic 
Write a book
Speak with conviction on a subject — as in, “I know this” as opposed to, “I think this” 
Charge a fair price for your goods 
Negotiate hard when people balk at your prices 

I told the commentator lady, simply, that my qualification was the same as her non-qualification: the fact that I was speaking on the topic, and the fact that she was watching me talk. 

That’s it. 

What qualifies me to write books on the Mental Game, on playing a sport professionally, or on conditioning the subconscious mind is NOT that I am so great at explaining those subjects (though I think I’m pretty good at it) — what qualifies me is the fact that I sat down and wrote the damn books. 

[SIDE NOTE: That the books are good and that people buy them are more about marketing and sales than they are about my personal expertise/qualification. 

For example — have you ever purchased a product, such as an online course or book — that just sucked? 

Exactly. 

Being good at sales and marketing is NOT the same as being good at WHAT you are selling and marketing. Some people are great what they do and just suck at getting it in people’s hands; they have the opposite of the “qualification” problem. Get it? 

I’ll dive into all of this is a future message.]

Some people aren’t satisfied with my pithy assertion that doing the thing is qualification enough to be doing it. I shared this same idea at a Toastmasters meeting years ago, and a guy raised his hand and objected that this idea of self-appointed qualification was “dangerous.”

I know why he was so adamant: he was a lawyer. 

This man, the lawyer, had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of his life into becoming “official” in his profession. To hear me state that anyone can become qualified by choice was a personal affront to his very existence. 

Hopefully he’s gotten over it since then. 

I know for a fact that many freelancers, entrepreneurs and those who want to be, are holding back from putting themselves out there. Not because you don’t have anything to offer, and not because you don’t know the basics of how to do it. 

It’s because you’re not sure you’re qualified to call yourself a “coach” or “expert” or “professional or “_________.” 

You think someone’s gonna call your bluff, pull up your resume, put you on blast for being a fraud. 

Well, here are some truths you should remember to remember. 
No one cares about “exposing” you even 10% as much as you’re afraid of it happening. We are all self-centered and thinking about our own lives. 
Has anyone ever come to you with a problem, and you helped them solve it or at least make progress towards solving it? Congratulations — you have coaching experience. Get a written or video testimonial from that person, start charging for your help, and you have a business. 
1% of the population consists of highly insightful, instinctive people. These people see what is not on display, hear what is not being said, intuit what is not plainly told. The rest of us? We just go off of what we see and hear. In other words: how you present yourself is who people will accept you as. No one’s digging into your background; that would require us to take time away from thinking about ourselves. Present yourself as unworthy and unqualified, and that’s what you are. Do the opposite, and you’ll get the opposite. 

Marinate on that. 

I made a 30-day course on Confidence that will help you eliminate all qualification and worthiness challenges, you can learn about it here: http://WorkOnMyGame.com/ASAP

What are you struggling to feel qualified to do? 

#WorkOnYourGame 

-Dre Baldwin