The Power of Starting Anyway

I used to be someone who really really REALLY prided herself in being super duper prepared and well informed before I started any task. And I mean any task. Anybody who was raised by a Virgo mother knows! And don’t throw in that I was the firstborn AND firstborn daughter. IYKYK okayyy! I would spend hours researching on Google and watching YouTube videos, then I’d still ask for advice and do trial runs on my own to make sure that I was perfect before anyone saw the results. This level of perfectionism is not only exhausting, but it’s dangerous. I don’t mean that it’ll kill you per se, but it’ll definitely kill your spirit and your creativity. Plus, do you really want to do everything in the shadows?

Here’s why you shouldn’t! Being afraid of starting anything pushes you back from true learning. We learn so much when we try and fail. You are afraid of failure for various reasons, including what we pick up in our formative years. What makes it even worse is that you hinder yourself from truly being seen. People really want to know what you have going on. A lot of people want to know what you’re working on so that you can not only get better, but also so they can support you. You can’t do that from the sidelines!

Using myself as an example, I had been DREADING creating a marketing plan for my pilot, Burning Sage. I need to crowdfund because I need money to make it come to fruition and that requires me to talk to people. Ew. And even worse, sell myself. Moreso than that, BE MYSELF. Me?! The person who soft launches their personality to make sure that I’m with a safe person first. Absolutely not! However, there’s no way that people will support a project if they don’t support me or even know anything real about me. I also had to get comfortable actually talking about my story itself. I had to create a coherent pitch and memorize different length versions of it to fit the moment I was in and my audience. Pitching is the bane of my existence, but people love hearing pitches. Truth be told, so do I. For so long, I’ve been of the mindset that the work should just speak for itself. And I still stand behind that. But I talk with God a lot. He didn’t give me these gifts just to sit on them, He wants me to use them to tell people important stories. They may seem trivial or completely fictional, but He obviously has a greater purpose for them, so my only job is to be obedient. Best believe that I’ve been kicking and screaming WHILE putting the work in. I don’t like it, but it’s gotten more fun now that I’ve gotten organized and have a clear vision of what the posts can be and look like.

So, what does that mean?

I have streamlined my entire process. I have what platforms I want to post across, what types of posts I want to share to them, and exactly what the post will be, down to the caption and hashtags. This way, I can just pull from my list for the week, film them, create graphics, or write them out, edit, and then schedule them. I’ve never felt more mentally free cause social media is not something that I have ever said that I really want to do. I like YouTube, but I can get behind the rest with a clear plan. Am I an influencer now?! I never would’ve gotten this confidence or drive if I hadn’t just gotten sick of myself and just started. I want the film career, so I have to do whatever it takes to get there, including some things I never saw myself doing. It’s still challenging, and I’m sure I’ll dread it at one point or another, but I know who I am and where I want to go. I also know that people are rooting for me, and I cannot wait to see my projects in front of my audience. It’s a long time coming.

There’s something special about starting something before you feel ready. You get the benefit of looking like a beginner, so you aren’t prematurely judged. I mean, some people are miserable and are going to judge you regardless, so you might as well make sure you’re doing something worthwhile. You also get to try things. You can make all the mistakes and figure out your niche and style without any money or added pressure involved when you first start out. It’s truly a beautiful period, whether you see it in the moment or not.

If you are still on the fence about starting your endeavor, please take this as encouragement that we are all the same. Just make sure that you are more afraid of dying with regret than you are of showing up. You will never get your end result if you don’t start, so you may as well do it sooner rather than later. How else are you going to get better? You’re not only delaying yourself, but all the people who are waiting on you to use your gifts.

I hope this was helpful! Go create your best life AND best project today!