How to do Scary Things 🙈
Hi all,
I wonder how you feel about doing scary, stretching things? When you’re being pulled well and truly out of your comfort zone? Do you let yourself go there or do you pull well and truly back to safety?
As you’re well aware we recently launched the You’re Better Than That podcast. For me, this was an out-of-my-comfort-zone experience. It was something I really wanted to make happen, but at the same time I was well aware that I might make a total idiot of myself.
In this week's episode, I pull back the curtain and let you in to the reflections we have made since the podcast launch. I’ll summarise a few key points below, but there’s a lot more if you listen to the conversation
• Launching something is vulnerable
I commented to a friend that I felt like I had pulled my pants down in public. Like I was exposed, being scrutinised and coming up short. I found myself wondering what people were thinking - random people - like people I used to go to school with and other selected acquaintances whose opinions really shouldn’t matter. It’s normal to feel vulnerable when we step out - but is this a reason not to do it?
• Launching something is a team effort
Whoever thought that success means doing it alone needs to have a rethink. We soon realised that we needed help to make this happen. How can you know how to do something if you’ve never done it before? If you’re thinking about doing something brave or new - get help. Get experts to give you guidance and share their learning. It’s OK to ask - you’d do it for them
• Launching something is a learning curve
Do you wait until it's perfect? Do you wait until you’re one hundred percent sure you’ve got it right? You could do, but I would argue that perfection is a myth and stifles creativity and progress. Our podcast is a long way from perfect. The first few episodes had some sound issues. But we are learning, and I’m modelling learning with you. It’s important to me that I try to model what I value and that’s pushing against a perfectionist expectation. Would I have liked us to get the sound right first time? Yes. Was it a reason to can the first three episodes? No. It’s a learning curve and I’m learning.
• Launching something is challenging
When we do something new, when we decide to put ourselves out there in a new way (whatever that is), we need to avoid comparing ourselves to others or using unrealistic measures of success. I have some friends who have been speaking on podcasts for years. Is it sensible to compare my first podcast with their 40th episode? On top of this, is it wise to use metrics that are outside my control as the driving measure of whether the podcast has been worthwhile? No. And so, don’t you do that either - especially not straight away. I’ve made a point to create a set of metrics and measures for the podcast that have nothing to do with downloads. It won’t help me or push me to do better - perhaps this is a personality thing - it will just leave me feeling downhearted and demotivated.
Have a listen to a very personal episode as I share what it felt like to go back to the learning curve and do something that felt very exposing. I hope it encourages you to do the hard thing and that most of us feel like we’re winging it when we’re first setting out.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Love,
Hannah