What I learned from 3 failed podcast attempts that helped me create a podcast that I LOVED to create
Today’s blog is about how you can always find a way to do things that you don’t think you can do! And how sometimes, if you can't find the way forward, you may just need time before you can see the opportunity!
So, by this time next week I will have actually launched a podcast. And I had COMPLETELY wiped it from my list of things I could possibly do. I didn't think there was ever going to be a way it would be viable for me.
2019 is the year that I can pin down was my very first attempt at starting a podcast.
I found a post in Chromatical Club asking people if they had any recommendations on someone who could help me record an intro!
I definitely didn't launch a podcast then 😂
Nor the other two attempts I made after that!
I had so many blocks when it came to starting the podcast, but the biggest block for me was that every time in the three prior times that I attempted to record it, I would be extremely fatigued! I wouldn’t even dare listen to them back because I knew that they were awful and I dreaded the idea of recording another episode to the point that even before I BEGAN recording, I was drained. Podcasting was not aligning with me in any form and I literally could NOT do it.
The ‘BUT’ that kept me from moving forward
But... I hadn't actually sat down and pulled apart 'why'. And looked for an alternative way until this year. 2022. Whoops!!
I have 3 years of episode attempts on my Zoom recorder, that I shudder to think what I even talked about and that will never be released.
The reason I shudder to think about them isn’t because I was too nervous to do it, or speaking is out of my comfort zone, or I didn't believe I had the knowledge or anything like that! It’s because I was trying to fit inside a typical podcasting box, doing things the 'traditional way' instead of finding a way that suited me.
It's no wonder it didn't work for me. I don't have the same brain as others. I don't do things traditionally. My office is in a bus ffs haha. Why did I keep trying to do podcasting the same way everyone else was, instead of trying to find a way that worked for me? Why did I rule it out? Why did I think 'nope' instead of finding a loop hole or a new way around it that DID work with me?
I'm literal QUEEN of finding ways around things that work for me. Especially for my clients but still, usually for myself too. Why did I spend so long fighting against the way I operated to try to make something work when it clearly didn't align with me?
If you're reading this realising you're doing things one way and you LOATH IT!!! I hope this inspires you to stop, analyse and look into what other options there could be to get the same (if not better) result.
So these are my tips on how you can find things that work for you, if there's something you want to do, but it isn't sitting right with you yet, or the way your mind works doesn't match.
This is important because when you try to do business or marketing things in ways that other people are doing things, instead of ways that work with you and your mind/life/budget etc, it can be really exhausting, depressing, and you can really feel like you’re failing because it's so hard to do something that you know that is important to your business, but just struggle so hard with it.
What do you need to do to progress???
Stop drop and roll.
Seriously. Remember being taught that in school if there was a fire?
If you're blocked by something in business, or think there's no way something is possible for you.... same rule applies. It's time to put our your own fire. STOP DROP AND ROLL.
RULE 1. STOP. This is what I didn't do those other three podcast times. I didn't stop. I just kept trying to do the same type of thing over and over again, sucking at it and hating it every time. 2019 didn't work, but I never stopped recording these episodes the same way each time. I was doing the same thing that wasn't working for me over and over again. I kept trying to 'do it right'. To follow the 'podcast framework' instead of following MY framework. Stopping and listening to myself and what I wanted to do instead of what I was expected to do.
I needed to STOP and actually dedicate time to figuring all of this out. To thinking about what all of this means. To journal and prompt myself to understand why I was struggling so much. Instead of just being grumpy about it not working and then keep doing the same thing again next time. I needed to stop and analyse what was actually going on.
The moment I realised why it wasn’t working for me
When I actually STOPPED and spent the time pulling apart why I 'couldn't do a podcast', I realised the reasons it wasn't working for me was because...
Traditional podcasts in my industry are generally very structured, planned, and organised. I am none of those things when it comes to teaching. I love to read the room and feel the flow and I really do love to just talk freely. Clearly not a good start if I'm trying to be the complete opposite of how I am. I needed a podcast style that allowed me to just show up and let my brain do the work where it does it's work best.
I never remember what I've talked about once I've talked because I have 5 levels of thoughts happening at one time #adhdbrain and I don't know what I've said or what I just thought. So by the end of each episode when it was just me talking at the microphone, I went down so many paths that I don't know what I said, I didn't finish half the conversations and if you wanted me to write show notes on it afterwards, I couldn't tell you what I covered as it was a blur. I need to not just talk 'at' people. I need back and forth unstructured/planned conversation.
I work best from thinking on my feet and being challenged. Sitting there for hours preparing and writing out a podcast episode brought me no joy and didn't challenge me and THEN, when I actually recorded it I couldn't follow the structure because my mind always wants to go in a million directions and it was painful to do. Whereas having a client on the call with me who could ask me ABSOLUTELY anything was THRILLING. The challenge of uncertainty about what they could possibly ask me and how my mind might naturally strategically think gave me goosebumps of adrenaline at just the thought of it. That is my jam. That is my specialty. I LOVEEE strategy and getting to come up with new concepts and ideas on the spot. WHY WOULD I WANT TO DO ANYTHING ELSE? Now, I know that's some peoples version of a nightmare hahaha, but it's not designed for you, which is exactly why it's important to find things that work for YOU!!
So I spent the time trying to figure out what DOES mesh with me (Some of those points are above), how did I want to feel about it, and I soon found out exactly what I wanted to do and was so surprised it took me 3 years to realise this! But it's because I never allowed myself the time to work on this. I never stopped.
I give some more tips below on how you can figure out what to do when you stop. How to analyse it more to figure out why it might not be working for you.
What you can do to get the ball rolling
RULE 2. DROP. Drop the old idea, drop the expectations of others, drop other peoples opinions, drop the past way of doing things, drop the feeling of having to follow the same path as others, drop whatever you need to drop so that you can figure out what you need to be doing to make you love what you are doing.
I was literally told by multiple people that the way my new podcast (the one that aligns with me that I'm obsessed with doing) wouldn't work. I needed to drop the opinions. Drop the fears and negative beliefs. Drop the doubts. Drop the thinking that if it's different then it's wrong.
Because if it's different, it's probably EXACTLY RIGHT!!! It's why we celebrate the weird kids over here, because if you're doing things differently you have something magical. It may be new, it may be different, it may take a little time before it's understood but it doesn't mean it CAN NOT WORK!! If it works with you and you're passionate about the idea, you'll find a way to make it work, ESPECIALLY compared to something that you dread. How on earth is something you dread meant to work any better than something that you are fulfilled with?
RULE 3. ROLL. Roll with your new idea. Now that you understand why other things haven't worked for you and spent the time 'stopping' to brainstorm other alternatives, it's time to roll with them. You've found something that is unique to you, something that lights you up, that no longer has those blocks you had before! It's time to lean into that passion and drive.
When I figured out that I wanted my podcast to be consulting sessions instead of the typical interview style or speaking on my niche, I all of a sudden felt energised instead of drained, I now want to book podcast episodes every day, I am obsessssed with it. I can't stop thinking about it. I'm no longer trying to avoid it and yeah, even though it's not the typical thing people on business and marketing podcasts do, (though, it's not something that hasn't ever been done, just way more uncommon), it works with ME. The way MY mind works. I'm not trying to fit in anyone else's box or structure.
So if you feel that you....
HAVE to post (a certain number of things or type of things) on social media
HAVE to write specific types of emails or blogs
HAVE to have a certain type a podcast haha
HAVE to put your face on social media
HAVE to have a big team to get to your goals
HAVE to run ads to get visibility
HAVE to do anything in any kind of way that isn't what YOU want to do? If anyone else is articulating and delegating how YOU have to run YOUR business and it's making you do the unhappy frowny face way too often than you should???
STOP DROP AND ROLL.
For me that STOP part was incredibly impactful. I had a LOT to explore here!! I realised after working through a lot of the things I mention below that it was because it just literally was the wrong thing for the way my brain worked. I was trying to walk on my hands when my body is designed to walk on my feet, you know?
Questions for you to reflect on
But for you, some things you could look into and explore in the STOP phase could be things like....
Is it that you actually hate it and it doesn't align with you? Or are there deeper things going on like fears or beliefs that are stopping you that some mindset work could really help with and then you'll love it. Like, for example, if you dread posting on social media, could it be because you're scared of getting a negative comment, scared of being judged, scared of putting yourself out there and no one buys, scared of failure. If you addressed those things could you perhaps approach it in a way that made you love it rather than ditching it?
You don't have enough knowledge (or you have the wrong knowledge for you) on how to do it so that it's easy and fun!
Are you wanting to do it because of external pressures? Maybe you see everyone else doing it so think that you must have to too? Do you even WANT to? Does it interest you? Are your people there? Have you done the work that's in The Experience for example, to deeply know your business so you can see if it's something that will align with your business, or are you wanting to do it just because everyone else is? OR are you already doing it and it's not going well but you don't realise it's completely wrong for your audience because you don't know what your people value or want? (MORE than happy to help you with that in The Experience or Chromatical Club).
Are you not enjoying it because you don't like it? or is it actually not enjoying it because it's not working yet? If it was making you lots of $$ or making great impact (or both) would you like it then? If that's the case, maybe getting help changing the results is the way to go. No one enjoys or WANTS to spend time doing things that are a big jolly waste of time. Who enjoys spending 2 hours on an email that no one opens? NO ONE. Who would enjoy spending 2 hours on an email that resulted in $6k of revenue? UMMM That's a pretty good return on investment!! You might not despise it so much then.... again, that's the kind of thing we can help you with in Chromatical Club.
Are things not working for you because you don't have the time or money to invest into it, in the way it needs to be invested in, in order to have the impact you want to create?
Are things not enjoyable because you don't have the knowledge you need to make it kick ass? Like are you posting blogs with no plan so no one's reading them? But if you knew how to optimise them for SEO and you had hundreds or thousands of people coming to your site every day because of them and converting, that'd make you want to write every day? Then maybe education could change things for you!
See what I mean? That's just the tip of the iceberg, there could be a billion other reasons why you're blocked or are hating something in your business. But actually STOPPING what you're doing and spending the time analysing why it's happening will be epicly beneficial for you.
But the main point of this giant marathon of an email is, if something literally just doesn't work for you, if you've tried and it's just not meshing with you, if you're not blocked by beliefs or knowledge or something you can fix, if it IS something you actually want to do (not just something you feel you have to) then it's time to start figuring out how you can do it in a way that works with you!!
Are you in??? Can you see some things you already want to explore and stop drop and roll??