The Difference Between Failure and Not Succeeding

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📚 Hey! Time to win.

It turns out there’s a big difference between failure and not succeeding, and it means everything.

The difference is captured in the word “yet,” as in, “I haven’t succeeded yet.”

You probably see where I’m going with this already, but it’s an important thing to keep in mind, especially as you’re out there, trying to make a name for yourself on social media, building authority, building your brand…

The painfully slow growth in the beginning and the crushing uncertainty in the middle are phases that everybody goes through.

Unless you’re Cristiano Ronaldo, who gained 1,000,000 YouTube subscribers the same DAY he started his channel! I just heard about that today…wild.

But even though I don’t follow the sport or him (although I respect the hell out of his work ethic and apparent human decency), you KNOW that he’s no stranger to either of those phases either.

But the whole time before he “hadn’t succeeded yet,” he wasn’t a failure. He just hadn’t succeeded yet. If he had given up, however…THAT is when he would have been a failure.

Remember this: you haven’t failed if you haven’t quit. You just haven’t succeeded yet. And that makes all the difference.

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1. The YouTube Formula, by Derral Eves

2. Zero Resistance Living, by Dr. Maxwell Maltz

3. The Winner Effect, by Ian Robertson

4. How High Will You Climb?, by John C. Maxwell

5. Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, by Napoleon Hill

6. Retirement Money Secrets, by Steve Selengut

7. Three Feet from Gold, by Sharon L. Lechter and Dr. Greg Reid

Within My Direct Control:

Read 20 Books | 13 Books Left

Publish 8 New Time Mastery Videos | 8 Videos Left

Publish 31 YouTube Videos | 26 Videos Left

Publish 155 Medium Articles | 133 Articles Left

Completely Update My Social Media | Almost Finished

Completely Update My Patreon Page | Incomplete

Completely Update My Newsletter Platforms | Incomplete

Launch Affiliate Program for My Paid Community | Incomplete

Update 30 Patreon Book Notes | 30 Book Notes Left

Network with 500 New Authors | 408 Authors Left

Not Within My Direct Control:

Get Monetized on YouTube | 3,498 Watch Hours Left (12.5% Complete)

Negotiate 12 Newsletter Partnerships | 6 Partnerships Left

Organize 12 Instagram Collaborations | 10 Collaborations Left

Reach 118,000 Instagram Followers | 4,304 Followers Left

Reach 23,000 Threads Followers | 4,300 Followers Left

Reach 10,000 Twitter Followers | 2,267 Followers Left

Reach 4,000 Medium Followers | 2,059 Followers Left

Reach 2,000 Facebook Followers | 691 Followers Left

Reach 2,000 LinkedIn Followers | 1,169 Followers Left

Reach 10,000 YouTube Subscribers | 8,504 Subscribers Left

Reach 10,000 Reading Life Subscribers | 5,601 Subscribers Left

Reach 1,000 Competitive Advantage Subscribers | 459 Subscribers Left

Reach 50 Competitive Advantage Members | 12 Members Left

Reach 50 Patreon Supporters | 20 Supporters Left

Note: I’ll update follower counts once per week, since it’s such a waste of time to go through all of them every single night. Also, Threads annoyingly doesn’t give exact numbers. Oh well.

Read 7 New Books | 6 Books Left

Publish 2 New Time Mastery Videos | 2 Videos Left

Publish 7 YouTube Videos | 7 Videos Left

Publish 35 Medium Articles | 31 Articles Left

Upload New VSL for Skool Community | Editing Now

Upload Skool Community Testimonials | Gathering Now

Upload All Old Podcast Episodes | Almost Finished

Completely Update My Instagram Profile | Almost Finished

Completely Update My YouTube Profile | Almost Finished

Completely Update My Website | Almost Finished

Completely Update My Newsletter | Almost Finished

Completely Update My Patreon | Almost Finished

Update 15 Patreon Book Notes | 15 Book Notes Left

Network with 140 Authors | 115 Authors Left

Note: “Week Three” Runs From August 18th-24th

Woke Up: 12:00PM

Sleep Quality: 81%

Pages Read: 112

Workout: Legs (Home Workout)

Just did a bunch of squats between work tasks, nothing fancy. Probably banged out 1,000+ although I lost track at some point haha. At least 800. Tomorrow I’m back at the gym though for shoulders and arms.

Work Completed:

Posted 5x on Twitter

Posted 4x on Threads

Posted 3x on Facebook

Posted 3x on LinkedIn

Posted 1x to YouTube Community Tab

Outlined 5 Medium Articles

Submitted 3 Medium Articles

Recorded 2 YouTube Videos

Recorded 2 Instagram Reels

Worked on Editing New YouTube Video

Worked on Updating My Various Platforms

Made Introductions to 10 New Authors

Managed Paid Competitive Advantage Community

Completely Organized My Workflow for Tomorrow

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Today was good, but I made a critical mistake that held me back. I waited to do the hard stuff LATER, instead of doing it right when I had the most energy.

I’m talking about things like YouTube editing (I would have had a new video published today if I had done so!), some of my heavier writing work, etc. Instead I did the easier stuff first, which left me with less energy later when I really needed it.

All things considered, though, it was a great day! I solved a major business problem that had been giving me a hard time (I’ll probably post about it later), and moved a few other key projects along. Need to do better tomorrow though, in a few different areas.

But hey, it’s 3:25AM here right now and I’m going to bed!

All the best,

Matt Karamazov

P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are three more ways I can help you:

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