I firmly believe that action brings clarity – but that doesn’t stop me from overthinking things.
You see, I’m probably the queen of overthinking and over-researching – especially when it’s something new and challenging. And as course creators, I’m sure you can relate.
Let me give you an example. I was recently approached to narrate a book, which is something I’ve never done before. I’ve done some voice work for course content but never a full book.
Now usually I’d deep-dive and investigate every single aspect of book narration until I feel like I understand it. And often this is where I get stuck and don’t actually do the thing because it still feels ‘murky’ and unclear in my mind.
But this time – I decided to just take that first step. I psyched myself up, sat at my desk and recorded a couple of paragraphs.
Then when I listened to the recording, I realized that I had a lot of ambient noise that I’d need to clear up in the editing process which isn’t easy. So, I took the next step and figured out how to reduce that ambient noise and tried again. Only to realize that I was creating clicking noises scrolling through the book pdf. So, I took the next step and loaded it up onto a teleprompter so there’d be no clicking sounds.
You see taking that very first step in what seemed like a pretty challenging task led me to my next step, and next, until what seemed challenging became doable, and now I’m halfway through narrating the book.
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” – Martin Luther King Jr
So, if you have a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) that feels overwhelming – whatever it is – a course, a podcast, a sales funnel, a lead magnet. Don’t get stuck overthinking or over-researching it. Take the first step – because taking the first step leads to clarity on what you need to do next.
It doesn’t have to be perfect– just give it a try – and if you find out like I did that it didn’t work so well, make a couple of changes and try again. But without actually taking that first step and trying the thing – you’ll never get started.
So, if you are like me and are overthinking and over-researching your first course – perhaps it’s time to take that first step and see what happens.