I just dropped my daughter off for swim practice at 6:45am! She is starting high school and has never done competitive swimming before, but she signed up for the swim team in order to meet some people and get some great physical activity.
Honestly, I am incredibly proud of her for doing this. She is way outside her comfort zone and is learning lots of new things every day. She's not going to win her first meet, but she is getting SO MUCH out of this experience already.
I see a lot of similarities here when it comes to creating content for your business.
Jump In
She told me that the pool is pretty cold when you first jump in. Especially at 7:00 in the morning!
I used to be the type of person who could stand at the edge of the pool (or on the first step) for a LONG time. Maybe never even getting in.
We host a lot of pool parties - in fact we have one coming up this weekend - and it's interesting to watch different people handle it. Some will just strip down to their suit and dive right in. Others will stick their toe in the water first, or dangle their feet in. A lot of women will slide in gracefully, careful not to get their hair wet. Of course, there are always the people who hang out by the food table, drink in hand. They didn't even bring their suit and have no intension of going in the water.
I think this is a perfect metaphor for many things in our lives. The things we want to do but find ourselves hesitating to step in.
When it comes to creating content, the hardest part is jumping in. The beginning can be new, scary and uncomfortable. A lot of people stand on the edge for a LONG time, like I used to do at the pool. They can see what they want to create, they imagine the platform they want to have, but they haven't created a single piece of content.
It's easy to stand on the edge for a long time and look into the water. You want to go swimming. But the hardest part is getting in the water!
I've learned, both with content creation and with swimming, to just count to 3 and lean in. There is a point where you can't go back. Your weight is far enough over the water that you're going to end up wet. Whether it's graceful or not, well, that's another matter. But you can't undo it.
How can you create a point of no return when it comes to your content? Hit record. Have others watch and count down with you. (By the pool, I always have my kids count down.) Have some support to count with you and cheer you on, even if you belly flop into the water initially!
Keep Moving
The girls on the swim team have each other to motivate them. You certainly don't want to be the only one outside the water when everyone else jumps in!
They often start out with goose bumps trying to hide their chattering while they listen to the coach. But once they get going, and do their 150 meter warm-up, the water actually feels really nice!
That's the second part of the content creation journey. Even if your first video or article isn't perfect, it's important to keep going! The more you do it, the better you'll get. Your results will improve. Your platform will grow.
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