It took me 45+ years to realize what I’ll tell you in 7 minutes…

About this video

Martell addresses fear of failure, claiming he would not be running a $100 million a year business today if he had listened to fear. His central reframe is that you are not afraid to fail, you are afraid of people seeing you fail — but most people are absorbed in their own world, ‘me, Inc.’, the people who matter will not judge you, and those who judge do not matter. He advises becoming a cheerleader, not a critic: praise and share others’ scary work, because, he argues, you fear judgment of the things you judge, illustrated by a world-class artist friend afraid to publish his art who loves leaving Google reviews of places he visits. He says winners lose more than losers ever will, noting Walt Disney, Henry Ford, and many others went bankrupt before big success, and that his own first two businesses were complete failures. Failure is like a muscle and exposure therapy: go faster from idea to trying to sell to a stranger and getting a no. Assume you are wrong from the start, treat worry as a wasted use of imagination, and look where you want to go — like his buddy Mike learning on a ski trip to look for sunlight between trees instead of at the trees. He expands FEAR as ‘false evidence appearing real,’ cites his coach Ed Mlet on detailed visualization, and urges asking ‘what if I succeed?’ and ‘why not you?’

Key takeaways

• Reframe the fear: Martell says you are not afraid to fail, you are afraid of people seeing you fail, but most people are too busy with their own problems to judge yours.
• Become a cheerleader, not a critic: praising and supporting others’ work reduces your own inner critic and makes it easier to publish your own work.
• Winners lose more than losers: Martell says almost all millionaires he knows had a failed company, and cites Walt Disney and Henry Ford going bankrupt before their big success.
• Treat failure as a muscle built by exposure: get faster from idea to selling to a stranger and hearing no, and assume from the start that you are wrong about something rather than waiting for perfect and guaranteed.
• Direct your imagination toward success: worry is a wasted use of imagination, FEAR stands for false evidence appearing real, so ask ‘what if I succeed?’ instead of ‘what if I fail?’

Episode details: published July 25, 2025 · 7:04 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

← Previous: How to Go From ChatGPT Beginner to Pro in 2026 · Next: How to Grow Your Business SO Fast it Feels Like CHEATING →

All Dan Martell videos · Dan Martell profile · Dan Martell (official site)