The Internet Took Away Our Excuse

Photo from Mashable.com

Ten years ago when we took time to examine our life and the reasons why we hadn't achieved our life goals or passions, we had some big obstacles to blame.  "I've sent my manuscript/song to 100 publishers/record producers but keep getting rejection letters", or  "I've developed a great product, but can't secure a distributor."  And the list goes on.

Fortunately, the Internet has solved many of those problems.  YouTube is no respecter of persons...anyone can go viral.  If you've created a product, whatever it is, you can set up a virtual store on your website, and anyone in the world can visit your store. No overhead, no utilities, no rent.  You may not set the world on fire with what you have to offer, but you have many more opportunities to be successful than you did ten years ago.

Consider Elizabeth Hasselbeck, the young woman who auditioned through the Internet to be a contestant on "Survivor", the popular reality television show.  As a result, she was accepted as a contestant on the 2001 series with a viewing audience of over 29 million.  Although Elizabeth didn't win the contest, she has laughed her way to the bank ever since that television stint.  "Survivor" catapulted her to fame, and as a result, landed her as a host on "The View", and she currently is a co-host on "Fox and Friends". Elizabeth's net worth is  $12 million.  And it all started from filling out an application on the Internet.

Just as the Internet has solved many of our obstacles, it's also taken away our excuses.  If the Internet has removed so many obstacles to our realization of greatness, then why are we not all being discovered for our talents?  Probably because we're not putting ourselves out there.