Author Your Life
Author Your Life
The Power of Making a Declaration
This minisode is about turning your dream into a tangible goal! I dive deeper into how the podcast got started, what held me back, and what really made the difference.
Resources :
Dr. Shanté Cofield (The Movement Maestro) "How to Start a Podcast"
Chris Harder's "Ultimate Podcast Launch Plan"
Fast Foundations Mastermind (chrisharder.me/fast-foundations)
Landmark Education (landmarkworldwide.com)
Please help this podcast grow!!
- SUBSCRIBE
- RATE and REVIEW
- Share with a friend
Post on social media with the hashtags:
#authoryourlifepodcast
@itsjulieb_
Music: Jason Kay
Cover Art: Angela Spellman
Welcome to author your life, a podcast about making bold moves and big changes, living life powerfully on your own terms, outside social norms and expectations. Through conversations with inspiring individuals who forge their own path in life, we'll explore what it takes to face your fears and go after your dreams. You are not a victim of circumstance, you can always begin again, start a new chapter, and rewrite your story. This is author your life. And I'm your host, Julie B. Let's get the conversation started. I got to be honest with you guys. Even though these short mini episodes are so much easier to record an edit than the full interviews. In theory, they're so much easier. But mentally, they are so much harder. The interviews are way easier because I have another person I have to schedule an appointment with. I show up, they show up. We're both there. We can feed off each other on these solo episodes. It's just me all by myself. It's all on me. As long as there someone else involved, it's usually a lot easier for us to show up. But the question is, can we show up for ourselves when no one else is around and holding us accountable. That's exactly why it took me so long to get this podcast off the ground. I had the initial idea in mid summer 2020, just over a year ago. So even though I had this idea, and got so excited about it, I never actually did anything with it. Fast forward, November of 2020. I go into this intensive weekend self development course. And I come out of that weekend with so much clarity, that the words all through your life, just popped into my head. And I knew in that instant, that was going to be the title of my new podcast. I got so excited. I remember staying up late that night of writing out all kinds of ideas for the premise of the show, brainstorming people I could invite as guest listing out interview questions. I have this notebook I bought at Walmart, it has a black cover. And it has the word ideas printed on the cover in this metallic silver foil. So I decided this notebook was going to be where I put all of my ideas together in one place. See the thing is, ideas can be fleeting, sometimes they come and they go. And if you don't write them down or capture them in the moment, you might actually lose them or forget about them. And even more than writing them down. If you don't write them down together in one place, you're probably more likely to lose them. So anyways, it's mid November 2020. And I have a title. And I wrote down an initial script for the podcast. I ordered myself a microphone. So I put some money down, I got some equipment, I reached out to a friend who was a graphic designer and asked her if she would help create the cover art. So I drafted an email and send it to six people asking them to be my first guests. Now the reason I only wrote to six people was because I honestly did not think I was going to be able to keep up the consistency of regularly producing content. So I set the bar really, really low for myself, I figured I would aim for one episode a month. So with six people, if I got out one episode a month, that would last me half a year. It was ecstatic when the three of them wrote back and agreed. So by the end of January 2021, I had cover art, and I had three interviews officially recorded. And then progress stopped to get. The reason is because the interviews and the cover art, were relying on someone else to help me. I was making forward progress, as long as I could reach out to someone else for help. But when it came down to the back end work and the technology, the things I really needed to do. I was still completely stuck. Every single month, I would write in my day planner, under my monthly goals launch podcast. And at the end of the month, I would look at my list of goals and say, Oh, it didn't happen this month. Maybe I'll do it next month. And the cycle repeated over and over and over again. And once this happens about three or four times in a row, you really start to doubt your own ability to get things done. I wasn't even taking myself seriously anymore. Because if I say, I'm going to launch my podcast, I write it down. And then I don't actually do it. That makes it clear, it's not a priority. I kept giving myself a cop out by saying things like, maybe I'll do it, you know, I'll try. It would be nice. I hope I'm going to launch this month, I'd really like to get it done. We'll see what happens. That kind of language is never actually going to get anything accomplished. The truth is, I was scared. I was scared of putting myself out there of doing these solo episodes, sharing a piece of myself and my life story and not knowing how it would be received. I'm scared of putting my vision out into the world and not knowing would it make a difference? Would people enjoy it and scared of trying, trying something new, I didn't actually have confidence in myself to figure out the technology piece of things. I was honestly so intimidated by the thought of things like hosting an RSS feeds. And even though so many people who already had podcasts told me, it was really simple and straightforward. I still didn't believe I could do it. So months go by months of writing down my goal and pushing it back and not taking it seriously. And as time goes on, I get more and more dejected and defeated and honestly start to believe that it's never going to happen. Finally, this summer, I made a declaration, opened up the calendar, picked a date, that was only three weeks away, and said, This is the day, I'm going to launch. And then from there, everything changed. Suddenly, this dream was no longer a wish or a hope. It was actually a tangible goal. Something that I could work towards. The very next thing I started doing was telling people about it. And the more I told people, the more real it felt. So when you're trying to turn a wish, a hope or a dream into a tangible goal, and something you really want to make happen. The first thing I would say is give yourself a deadline, pick a date, put it into existence, write it in the calendar, don't be afraid of failing or falling short. Because the second thing you're going to do is tell everybody about it. Share your goals, because the more you speak it out loud, you're actually speaking it into existence. Your subconscious brain hears the words that you're saying, and starts to internalize those thoughts as your own and actually believes it's true. And I'll tell you, the more people that I told, I'm going to launch my podcast on the state, the more real it felt. There's so much power in the spoken word. The more you can verbalize something, the more real and tangible it becomes. So now this dream of my podcast was no longer something I simply wanted and hoped was going to happen. It actually became something I knew was going to happen. Within those last three weeks, I managed to book 22 more interviews. I've recorded 12 So far, I created a launch plan, a marketing plan, I listed out everything that needed to be done. And instead of feeling overwhelmed or daunted by the technology. I actually felt excited about all the things I got to figure out and learn. And I did it. I learned to edit audio, I made audio grams, I made graphics, I assembled a virtual street team created and implemented a marketing plan. I had four episodes ready to roll by launch day. It was the coolest feeling in the world to finally be working on a creative project to create something from nothing and put it out into the world. And the best part of it all was I finally had the confidence in myself to do it, because I saw it and felt it happening. And before we wrap up today, I really want to give a shout out to all the people and resources that helped make this podcast finally happen. They gave me the courage, the skills and the knowledge I needed. to bring this to life, and without them, author, your life might still just be a dream and an idea. So first of all, there's Shanti Caulfield, the movement, my strap, she's been running her own podcast for about four years now. She is an incredible human who exemplifies living your own life and living your best life. And Shawn Tei created a free guide about how to start and launch a podcast. So this gave me everything I needed to know about the technology, the hardware, and the software and getting set up. So I just want to give her a shout out. If anyone listening is thinking about starting your own podcast, definitely go grab her free Guide. For the marketing end of things. I have to say Chris, harder. One of my business coaches created a very succinct, extremely valuable workshop, all about launching and growing a podcast, he gave me all the ideas for the marketing, I need to thank my fast foundations mastermind group. This is a business coaching program, it's run by Chris harder, and Laurie harder. Just being surrounded by all these people who are up to such big things in life really helps broaden my awareness of what's possible, and what I can create for myself. It's been such a wealth of resources, and knowledge and support. And the best thing about being in a group like a mastermind, is you are surrounded by people who are doing the thing that you want to be doing. When you're up to something big, you're never really going to believe it's possible until you're surrounded by other people who are actually doing that thing. Once your brain sees that someone else is doing it, that becomes proof that it really can happen. And then you start to think if they can do it, I can do it too. And that's exactly what happened for me. And finally, I need to thank landmark education. I'm participating in one of their programs this year, that is really intense and uncomfortable. But what the coaching made available to me is it just created this space. It takes away all the stories of the past and creates a space for inspiration, creativity and growth. And suddenly, this project that was so daunting and scary and overwhelming, became fun, and it was something that I could just do and play with. And without a doubt, the level of confidence and self assurance that I gained the last couple months was hands down due to this training. And when you think about it, even with all the tools, the resources, the technology, the marketing plan, the fancy microphone, if I didn't believe in myself, the podcast was still never going to happen. I'll tell you guys, I listened back to those interviews that I recorded back in January, compared to the ones that I've done recently. And I can actually hear the difference in myself. I remember how incredibly nervous I was, I was in my head stuttering over my words. And now I'm just so much more relaxed and at ease. I get to be with my guests. And the feedback I've gotten from my guests has just been phenomenal. They love the questions, they love the opportunity to share. And they said that I really got to the heart of things. And that is exactly what I want to do. Before I sign off, I just want to remind you all I welcome all your feedback. I would really love to know what's working about this podcast? What parts do you enjoy? What kind of changes or suggestions do you have anything that can help make your listening experience even better? Thank you for being here for supporting me and for allowing me to contribute to you. You are amazing. I love you and have a great day. Thank you so much for joining this conversation. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to leave a review a five star rating. Be sure to hit subscribe to catch all future episodes. I would love to know who's listening and your biggest takeaway from this episode. If this podcast was valuable, please share with a friend. Take a screenshot and post to your social media. Hashtag author life podcast and tag me. It's Julie B underscore Your support helps this podcast grow. Until next time, friends. Keep writing your story and author your life