I get so many questions about memberships and creating recurring online revenue that we have added a Membership Mailbag as a part of the newsletter. Here’s a question that I received from a subscriber recently, and my answer…
Hey Vincent,
Love your newsletter! I don’t know if you can answer this in a membership mailbag, but I feel stuck. I’m actually mentally stuck. I have a long career in a field where tons of people are trying to learn about. It’s needed on many levels. But I don’t put myself out there because I worry that I’m too old. I’m in my mid-60’s, and I just wonder if I’m too late to the game.
I would love to teach, create content and help people who need what I know and have learned. I kick myself because I see the challenges and I know I can be of value. I’m sure I can help them, but I just wonder if anyone would take me seriously. I’d also love to create online income where I don’t have to physically do the work every single time I get paid.
I would love for you to shoot straight with me. Am I too old to do this? Should I just keep doing the work and forget about this? I’m stuck, and I’m not sure what to believe anymore.
Thanks,
-Eric
Eric,
I will be straight as an arrow with you. You are never too old. One of my favorite authors, Andy Andrews, says that if you are still alive, you haven’t fulfilled your purpose yet. I love that way of thinking.
One of the things I’ve learned is that we talk ourselves out of success by thinking we aren’t good enough way more often than we aren’t actually good enough.
Personally, I love learning from people older than me- oftentimes people much older than me. I want to know whether they have been through the fire and lived to tell about it. They have a perspective that is just different. They aren’t fueled by youthful energy. They are filled with wisdom and experience.
But here’s the thing. I think you can take a different perspective on viewing this. The idea of being too old just doesn’t make sense anymore, if you think about it. You’ve probably heard me talking about the need to niche down. What if, instead of thinking about you being too old, you found a niche that was perfect for someone like you?
I’m writing this as I sit outside the community pool in our neighborhood. In the pool are a group of women, ranging in age from their late fifties to possibly into their early nineties. Forgive me for my assumptions, I don’t really want to go up to them and ask. My point is that their instructor is crushing it out there. And I’ll put this nicely – she’s no spring chicken. She is emphatically teaching which ways to move, how often to do it and tips on how to be better.
She teaches with confidence and humor. And the participants respond enthusiastically. Now, she could probably question herself if she allowed herself to do so. Before taking on this work, she could have wondered if she was too old. Would anyone take her seriously? She could easily have been intimidated by the vision of a young woman, in much better shape with more energy, doing what she wanted to do.
But the truth is, these ladies at the pool are responding to this teacher because she gets them. She’s making suggestions because she knows what they are challenged with. She makes them laugh with jokes that a younger woman couldn’t pull off. These ladies can relate to her as a teacher because she can relate to them as people.
You aren’t too old, Eric. You just haven’t put yourself out there to find your people. That’s it. I can guarantee you that if you connected with the people you could help, and you created content for them on a consistent basis, all of these doubts would fade away.
You have to understand that none of us are for everybody. There are little kids with YouTube channels that only little kids watch. Are they too young? There are people teaching obscure skills to a small, engaged group of people. Are they not popular enough?
There are people teaching beginners how to get started, yet the teacher isn’t the most successful in their field. Yet their students and members are making great progress because the teacher gets the student, and the students get the teacher. Is that teacher not successful enough to be teaching?
Do me a favor. Don’t talk yourself out of success. Don’t talk yourself out of helping others. Don’t let false barriers keep you out of the areas of life that you would love to be in.
Find the people who get it. Connect with the people who get you.
If you are still breathing, you haven’t fulfilled your purpose yet.
Have an AMAZING week!
Vincent
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