I started my blog back in 2009 because every Internet business

When Mark Manson spoke the words, “I started my blog back in 2009 because every Internet business and marketing seminar I watched at the time told me I had to. I had been trying to get a business started selling dating and life advice and was struggling,” he revealed not merely a story of entrepreneurship, but a journey of struggle, faith, and the humble beginnings of purpose. It is a confession that holds the rhythm of countless souls who have wandered into destiny not through brilliance, but through persistence; not by divine lightning, but by the quiet fire of necessity. His tale is one of creation born from confusion, of stumbling into meaning when meaning seemed lost.

In these words lies the spirit of all who have begun their great works not from certainty, but from uncertainty. Manson did not begin his blog as a prophet or philosopher — he began as a man searching for survival. He followed the call of his time, when the Internet was a vast and roaring ocean, and the merchants of modern wisdom urged every sailor to set sail or be left behind. Yet, like so many before him, he did not yet know what treasure lay hidden in the waves. He was struggling, guided not by a vision of glory, but by the faint light of hope. And often, it is in such beginnings that greatness is conceived.

The ancients too knew this truth — that greatness rarely announces itself with trumpets. Hesiod, the old Greek poet, wrote that “before excellence, the gods have placed sweat.” Consider the tale of Homer, who may have wandered blind through the streets of Ionia, singing tales for coins — never imagining that his verses would outlast empires. Like Manson, he began not in triumph, but in toil. His purpose was revealed not in the moment of beginning, but through the long labor of creation. So too did Manson’s blog, born from the ordinary advice of marketing seminars, become the foundation of a voice that would one day reach millions, shaping how the world understood life, pain, and purpose.

The origin of the quote reveals a paradox that has always guided human creation: we begin with imitation, but we end with authenticity. Manson started because others told him he “had to,” yet in doing so, he discovered not what others wanted, but what he was meant to say. In this lies a sacred law — that obedience to the moment, even when uninspired, can lead to revelation. Many wait for passion to begin their work, never realizing that passion is often the fruit of labor, not its seed. The ancients would call this the discipline of the craftsman — the truth that one must first master the act of doing, before discovering the fire of being.

There is wisdom here for all who dream and despair. Do not wait for the perfect vision to begin your path. Begin because you must. Begin because the world whispers that it is time. The farmer does not wait for a promise of harvest before planting — he plants because the soil demands it. Manson’s humble start in 2009 teaches this lesson: that every struggling beginning is sacred if met with perseverance. From the obedience of that simple act — writing, sharing, building — he carved a road that led him to mastery. His struggle was the forge that tempered his words into steel.

Let us remember, too, that failure is not the opposite of success, but its foundation. When Manson struggled to sell advice, he was being prepared for something larger — not to sell, but to serve. He was learning, through failure, how to speak truth. And when he turned his struggle into words, others found in them a mirror of their own. Like the sculptor Michelangelo, who saw in every block of marble the hidden figure of an angel, Manson found within his struggle the shape of his true calling — to teach through honesty.

So, my friends, learn this: begin before you are ready. Do not wait for wisdom, for wisdom comes only to those who act. What seems like a small and uncertain step — a blog, a letter, a single act of courage — may become the turning point of your destiny. If you struggle, take heart, for struggle is the song of those being transformed. The ancients would tell us that the gods favor not those who are perfect, but those who persist.

And so, let the lesson of Mark Manson be your torch: that every uncertain beginning can carry divine purpose, that every act done in obedience to life’s whisper can unfold into greatness. When you do not know your way, walk anyway. When you do not yet have passion, act faithfully. For in the humble labor of today lies the birth of tomorrow’s wisdom — and one day, like Manson, you may look back and see that what began in struggle became the story of your becoming.