How to Eliminate Self-Doubt, Overcome Failure, & Reset Your Mind for Success
September 3, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readHow to Erase Self-Doubt, Overcome Failure, and Reset Your Mind for Success
Benny Blanco—12-time Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer with 29 number-one hits—doesn't think he's special. "I'm not the hottest guy you've ever seen in your life," he says. He didn't grow up with famous parents or money. He describes himself as a "funny looking kid" from Virginia with no connections. Yet he wrote Love Yourself for Justin Bieber, Teenage Dream for Katy Perry, and Moves Like Jagger for Maroon 5. His argument: if he can do it, almost anyone can. The difference isn't talent. It's showing up, starting before you're ready, and forgetting about failure fast enough to keep going.
Why Starting Feels Impossible
Most people never begin because they're paralyzed by what-ifs. "What if I post this and my friends make fun of me? What if my music video gets zero views?" Blanco says these fears are rooted in embarrassment—something we were taught to avoid, not something that actually stops us. The real problem is that people wait for perfect conditions: the right notebook, the right moment, the right permission. "By then there's been three weeks and you're still figuring out what apparatus you're going to use to write your book," he says.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:08) **Why You Need This Episode** - Mel sets up the core problem: you're tired of self-doubt, fear, and waiting. She introduces Benny Blanco as the guide who has no special talents or connections, only relentless persistence.
- 2 (03:40) **Mel's Personal Welcome & Benny's Credentials** - Mel officially welcomes new listeners and recaps Benny's staggering resume: 12 Grammy nominations, 29 #1 hits, and 19 songs with over a billion streams each.
- 3 (05:10) **The "What Could Change?" Question** - Benny directly answers what a listener can gain: the ability to achieve almost anything through sheer will and action, despite having no special advantages.
- 4 (08:00) **Why Starting is So Hard: The "What Ifs"** - Benny diagnoses the root of inaction as the fear of embarrassment and the paralysis of "what ifs."
- 5 (10:00) **The "Blank Board" Metaphor & Michael Jordan** - Benny uses a physical board covered in "failure" specks to show that others only see the clean, successful surface, not the failures that were wiped away.
- 6 (13:00) **Mel's Personal Rock Bottom & The "Prove It" Moment** - Mel shares her own story of hitting bottom (huge debt, lost job) and the disgust that finally sparked her to change.
- 7 (15:30) **The "Show Up & Find the Room" Strategy** - Benny details his early, relentless tactics for breaking into the music industry with zero connections.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
In this episode, you’ll learn how to stop doubting yourself and get anything you want in life.
Mel is thrilled to introduce you to her incredible guest today – someone she’s admired and followed for years, and who is here today for YOU.
Benny Blanco is one of the most successful and sought-after music producers and songwriters in the world and one of the defining hitmakers of the 21st century.
Benny is a 12-time Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer with 29 #1 hits and 19 songs that have over a billion streams on Spotify.
But, Benny didn’t start his impressive career with everything figured out. He didn’t grow up with money, some magical level of confidence, or everything figured out.
He built his career by showing up, failing, getting rejected, trying again, and learning through experience.
Today, Benny reveals what most people never see: the rejection, the fear, the self-doubt, and the countless moments when everything could have fallen apart.
And he will show you the life-changing tools and strategies that have helped him push through nonstop rejection and setbacks.
Benny has also written a fantastic brand-new book called “F*ck Failure” – which happens to be exactly the message he’s here to share with you today:
Every single failure is leading you somewhere, even if you can’t see it right now.
Your life can look entirely different a year from now. If you want the dream job, true love, unshakeable confidence, better friendships, or more happiness, Benny wants you to know there’s one rule:
Keep showing up.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
-The simple mindset shift Benny uses to erase failure and keep moving
-Why you’re only one small move away from changing your life for the better
-Why waiting to feel ready is a losing game
-The wild story behind a #1 hit that almost never happened, and why it proves you can’t give up
-How to stop letting self-doubt make your decisions
-How to keep showing up when you’re exhausted, embarrassed, or convinced you have no idea what you’re doing
-How to face the fears you’ve been avoiding for years
-How a list Benny made before he started dating his wife, Selena Gomez, can help you stop settling in your own life
This conversation will make you rethink every failure, every rejection, and every excuse you have been using to stay stuck.
As Benny will show you, failure doesn’t have to break you. It’s the very thing that can make you unstoppable.
If he can turn his failures into hits, you can turn yours into the life you’ve been wanting to live.
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