250: A Celebration Gift for You!

Okay…I’m determined not to get mushy here, but I do want to take a moment to congratulate myself.

I don’t know the stats on how many podcasts make it to 250 episodes…or even how many make it to 20 episodes. I do, however, know it is a great accomplishment – and one I am exceedingly proud of myself for.

I’ve told this story before, I’m sure, but before I started my podcast – way back in 2016 and early 2017 – I had it in my head that it would cost $5K to start a podcast. I had no facts to back that up, mind you…I just arbitrarily decided it was too expensive for me to become a podcaster.

One of my earlier “coaches” suggested I do a teleseminar. You know – I talk on the phone, people sign up ahead of time to attend, and they listen on their phone. You had to attend live to get the content of the teleseminar.

I had ZERO energy around this idea…in part because a group I was involved in disseminated their weekly content via teleseminars, and I hardly ever attended. I just wasn’t willing to commit an hour of my day at 9:00 every Wednesday morning.

So I tried to make myself take steps toward producing a teleseminar series…but I never really made it out of the starting gate. Remember: I had ZERO energy around this idea.

The thought in my head? Probably something like “Yuck. Teleseminars. Yuck.”

The feeling that thought produced? Disengagement. Disinterest. Boredom.

The actions those thoughts and feelings produced? Lesa, doing anything OTHER than working on a teleseminar series.

Then, one fateful day, I was listening to…wait for it…a podcast. After all, I LOVED listening to podcasts.

This particular podcaster was talking about challenging our assumptions. You know, those beliefs we have that hold us back from moving forward in our life.

She could have been talking directly to me. She hit me right between the eyes.

Her suggestion was to gather the FACTS, then make an informed decision about the best path forward.

You mean, like the FACTS of how much it ACTUALLY costs to produce a podcast? What a novel idea.

BTW – at the same time, I decided to challenge my belief that getting the undercarriage of my minivan fixed so it wouldn’t scrape the ground was going to cost a gazillion dollars. So I drove my Odyssey to the nearest body shop, they identified the problem and said they could order the necessary part and fix the problem the day after tomorrow.

The cost? $50. And because of my faulty belief system, I waited for a full year to fix that minor problem.

So…back to me and podcasting. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, so my first step was to find…wait for it…a podcast on podcasting. Back in early 2017, there were probably only a few options available, but I found a good one.

He talked about the resources available on his website, so off I went. It told me what I needed and gave best options at three price points – entry-level, mid-level, and highest quality.

I opted for the mid-level, because he said this may be all I would ever need. (I haven’t upgraded since then, so I guess he was right.)

I needed a microphone, headphones, a podcast host, and an editing program. I took his mid-level recommendations on the microphone and headphones, then began researching his options for hosting and editing. (I’ve kept both of the options I chose for hosting and editing since then, so again – good advice from him.)

What was the new thought in my head about podcasting? “I can do this. This is possible for me. I AM going to do this.”

What feeling did that thought produce? Excitement.

What actions did I take? I bought the necessary equipment, I came up with the topics for the first 12 or so episodes, determined my process (weekly, about 30 minutes or less most times, dropping on Wednesdays, no guests initially) and then I got after it.

Result? I became a podcaster. A fact, BTW, that I’m still very proud to share with people. And when I tell them there are 250 episodes in my catalogue?

They are super impressed.

But more importantly, I am impressed with myself.

Now that I’ve told you my podcasting genesis story, I invite you to think of something you have been putting off because you don’t think you have enough.

Enough money.

Enough education.

Enough time.

Enough knowledge.

Enough youth/experience.

Enough information.

Take a hard look at where that “not enough” has gotten you. Most likely, as it did with me…not very far. And, like me, you may be frustrated with yourself for not moving forward.

Or worse, you may be “bleeding.” There may be other areas of your life where your “not enough” is sabotaging you.

If you believe you don’t have enough money to start a podcast, maybe you also don’t believe you don’t have enough money to go on that trip of a lifetime.

If you don’t believe you have enough education to seek that promotion, you may also believe you don’t have enough education to seek other opportunities outside your current employer.

If you believe you are too old to learn to ski, you may also believe you are too old to start dating again.

What’s the solution? Here is a four-step process:

1.    Find something you have wanted to do in any area of your life, but have believed you don’t have enough money, education, time, knowledge, experience, youth, or information to do.

2.    Decide on a new thought that will serve you. For example, “I will explore what it actually costs to become a podcaster.”

Make sure it is a thought you can fully believe – and begin practicing it regularly. Write it out on index cards; put it on your screen saver.

3.     Map out your first steps, then get after them. You may not yet know every step you need to take, but at least get started and the next steps will reveal themselves.

4.    DECIDE. Then decide you’ve made the right decision – in other words, have your own back. If, after all the steps above, you decide not to proceed with the thing, that’s okay. Just don’t waffle.

I would love to hear from you about the area of your life you looked at!

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