There’s something slightly ironic about being a teacher and being afraid to be a beginner. 😊
Every day, I stand in front of students and ask them to try things they don’t know how to do yet.
Read the harder book.
Try the math problem.
Write the first sentence.
Raise your hand even if you aren’t completely sure of the answer.
Just try.
And yet, when it came to learning something completely new myself, I thought I was supposed to know what I was doing before I started.
I didn’t.
Not even close. 😂
I Didn’t Grow Up With Any of This
I started learning how to create additional income online in my 50s.
And I definitely didn’t come into it with a background in digital marketing.
There were so many things I didn’t understand.
Affiliate links.
Email funnels.
Landing pages.
Automations.
Creating content.
Pinterest marketing.
And don’t even get me started on trying to figure out TikTok. 😂
I remember looking at people who seemed to understand all of it and wondering how I was ever going to catch up.
They knew the terminology.
They knew the platforms.
I felt like everyone else had received some kind of instruction manual that I’d somehow missed.
But eventually I realized something:
They weren’t born knowing how to do it either.
They learned.
And if they could learn, maybe I could too.
So I Started Learning One Thing at a Time
I didn’t wake up one morning and suddenly understand digital marketing.
I learned one thing.
Then another.
Then I got confused.
Then I figured something out.
Then something changed and I had to learn it all over again.
Sound familiar, teachers?
That’s learning.
Over time, things that once felt completely foreign started to feel normal.
I learned how affiliate marketing works.
I learned how to create digital products.
I learned more about Pinterest.
I learned how email marketing works.
I learned how to create content.
I learned how the different pieces of an online business can work together.
And I’m still learning.
That’s the part I don’t want to leave out.
I haven’t reached some magical point where I know everything.
I don’t think that point exists.
Being a Beginner in Your 50’s Is Humbling
There is something very humbling about sitting at your computer in your 50’s thinking:
I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. 😂
Especially when you’re already competent in other areas of your life.
I’ve raised four kids.
I’ve had several careers.
I’ve taught for 15 years.
I’ve figured out plenty of hard things.
Then suddenly I’m watching a tutorial trying to understand something that seems completely obvious to everyone else.
It can make you want to close the laptop.
But I’ve learned not to confuse “I don’t know how” with “I can’t.”
Those are two very different things.
“I don’t know how” simply means I haven’t learned it yet.
That’s something we tell children all the time.
Apparently adults need the reminder too.
I Didn’t Need to Master Everything
I think this is where people sometimes get stuck.
We look at the entire journey instead of the next step.
If I had believed I needed to understand websites, email marketing, affiliate marketing, social media, digital products, Pinterest, SEO and everything else before I could begin…
I’d probably still be waiting.
Instead, I learned what I needed for the step in front of me.
Then I took the next one.
That’s also how I’ve built different sources of income outside my teaching salary.
I didn’t build four income streams at once.
I learned one.
Then another.
Then another.
One skill opened the door to the next one.
Your Experience Isn’t a Disadvantage
I used to wonder if starting in my 50’s meant I was late.
Now I see it differently.
Yes, there are things I’ve had to learn that younger people may have grown up understanding.
But I’m also bringing more than five decades of life experience with me.
I know how to work.
I know how to learn.
I know how to solve problems.
I know how to keep going when something doesn’t work the first time.
I know myself better than I did at 25.
And as a teacher, I’ve spent years telling students:
You can learn hard things.
Turns out, I can too.
Maybe You’re Not Too Old. Maybe You’re Just New.
I love that distinction.
Because being “too old” sounds permanent.
Being “new” doesn’t.
New changes with practice.
New changes with experience.
New changes every time you learn one more thing.
So if you’ve been looking at something you want to try—a business, a new skill, a creative project, a career change, or something completely different—and thinking:
I wouldn’t even know where to begin…
That’s okay.
You don’t have to know how to finish.
You just have to be willing to learn how to start.
I’m Glad I Didn’t Wait Until I Felt Ready
Because I’m not sure I ever would have.
I started before I understood everything.
I made mistakes.
I’ve changed directions.
I’ve learned things I never expected to learn.
And I’m still figuring things out.
But today I have skills, opportunities and income streams that I didn’t have before I started.
All because at some point, I decided being a beginner wasn’t a good enough reason not to try.
So here’s the reminder I’m giving myself—and maybe you need it too:
Being a beginner at 50+ is better than wishing you’d started sooner. ❤️
You don’t have to know what you’re doing.
You just have to be willing to learn.
One thing.
Then the next.
Cheering you on,
Jodi