Take Imperfection Action
I was listening to a webinar yesterday and it was talking about 'Taking Imperfect Action not Perfect Inaction'. I remember that all too familiar block to getting 'stuff' done.
I know that I am a perfectionist and I have worked really hard to not let it stand in my way. I used to record videos, write blog posts, start writing ebooks and never do anything with them.
In my mind they were not as good as I would have liked to them to be so they stayed on my hard drive. Over time I have had to make myself put out content that was 'good enough' because frankly sitting on my computer they might as well not existed at all!!
As I said in my #Introduceyourself post - I love to teach - and the videos/ posts that I had created were all really useful tutorials. Frankly if someone was looking to solve a problem or gain valuable information I don't think that they would have been that bothered if I had stumbled over my words or made the odd error. Surely by not putting them out there I was doing them a disservice?
Someone once asked me - when I was training a class of people and couldn't go back and erase any errors, did it mean that the content was not good? So why would my recorded videos be any different? Very true!
The other block I would find was feeling that didn't I know enough, I wasn't an expert. Since then I lived by the motto " teach your yesterday's self".
When I learned a new skills I created a new video tutorial (partly because I often forgot what I had done) but also to help people who didn't know either.
Slowly my video channel, grew and grew. I was taking ACTION! I look back on some of my old videos and the audio was not great, and I was scared of showing myself on camera.
Overtime I have improved the audio and now appear on camera most of the time. I appear in my 'warts and all' state (I don't actually have warts!), often I have no make up on, my hair might be sticking up, or hastily put into a pony tail. I sometimes make quick videos because I am in a rush. I do minimal editing. I am me!
Someone asked me yesterday 'What if I fail?'. Surely if you don't start then you have already failed?
I thought I would post this to inspire. Don't worry about being perfect, or what people think (most of the time they are too wrapped in their own lives to care), just do it. Record your videos, write your blogs - you will get better the more you do!
I am sure you have heard the phrase many times 'consistency is key' - it's true. Don't set yourself up to fail. Do what you can easily achieve. One blog post a week, 2 a week - whatever goal you know you can meet. One good video or post per week is 52 a year! That's a lot of content :)
Until next time
J x
Yes yes yes! Grab life by the balls and jump in with 2 feet. Do your thing, show it to the world and keep putting it out there. Consistency is key, content is king and you've got to be in it to win it... I think I've run out of sayings. But I completely agree. It's always better to be doing and creating and putting it out there than not. Lovely post. E x
Thank you @eveningart I am glad you liked it. Thank you for commenting - and I couldn't agree more - grab life by the balls!
Amen ;)
@jenniferbailey, its very hard to get a foothold on Steemit, I was fortunate enough to make friends with a dolphin early in my 'career' or I would have given up.
Just keep posting and visit other blogs, vote up their posts, and comment. That's really important, its all about building relationships.
I'm not a dolphin yet, but have invested in the platform. If you can do it, I would advise you too. Once you get hooked here, its hard to shake free, but in a good way.
@slobberchops I am finding my feet at the moment but I am definitely looking to invest in the platform. I haven't quite learned how it all works. Any guidance that you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your comment :)
The biggest tip I can give you so far is use your voting power, and upvote others' posts. I know your vote is worth little now but people notice. You don't need to do it with comments, as that's a personal preference., though I do.
When you get a little SBD, send 0.1 to @dustsweeper as it will stop some of your incoming votes from being wasted. There's a ton to learn but I will give you a hand if needed.
I was talking to @steevc this morning about a subject named 'Sponsor a Plankton'. I'm sure he's writing it now, he's a good guy to follow and helped me no end when I started.
Nicely said! I love to teach just as you do but have been held back by the "I just don't know enough" issue as well. I think too often we do not realize just how much we really do know.
One time I decided to learn something just so I could make a video about it. Once I learned as much as I thought I needed, I made the video. It was amazing the response I received. People had no idea who the person was I was teaching on and they all seemed to enjoy the video. I had thought the video was very bad, they all found a use for it. That is such a good thing to find out. It's encouraging.
I really appreciate your encouragment on this post. Thanks so much for it and keep up the good work.
Ren