BEGIN PODCASTING: Permission to F*ck It Up - Episode 50

This is where I tell you to go F-it up. Yes, in this episode I’m personally giving you permission to fuck it up. Because there is a point in time where it becomes more important to START, to BEGIN than to keep preparing and preparing.

You’ve got to start. It’s the moment we’ve been building towards. You are going to make mistakes. You are going to do things that feel less than perfect. You are also going to get better (if you stick with it).

There are so many things that are waiting for you to discover along your journey or see growth in or pivot with and I can confidently tell you that I know FOR SURE that none of that will be possible until you BEGIN. You must give yourself permission to actually start to put action to your ideas and to your preparation steps. And for me that usually means giving myself permission to completely and utterly fuck it up. 

Barsi [00:00:04]:

Hi, welcome back. This is Barsi, your host. I firstly want to say thank you so much for coming on this journey with me as we dove into a hyper focused miniseries, this time all about getting your podcast started to launch or leverage your brand or your creative venture or whatever it has been that you've been working on. The last two episodes were packed with lots and lots of information that were designed to help you in getting organized and getting your topics and themes and guests sorted out and in creating a system and workflow. And in addition, also was working hard at putting together that podcast resource guide as a companion to fill in any of the blanks that weren't discussed here in getting you started with your first podcast. So if you haven't downloaded yours yet, you can grab it@bebold.avanthausmedia.com/pod resourceguide and of course there's a link in the show notes, but I do suggest downloading it once you're on a computer because it's, it's a pretty big document. So as I mentioned, the last two episodes were packed with organizational tools and the first couple of episodes were more about foundational things like building your purpose and your mission and your core values. Working that all together that got us to this point.

Barsi [00:01:19]:

So you should have a lot of information now over the course of these last five to six weeks, plus the resource guide. So that brings me to today's episode, which is our last one in the Begin podcasting series. And it's a little more fun because it's where I tell you to go, eff it up. Yep, in this episode, I am personally giving you permission to fuck it up. Because there's a point in time where it becomes more important to start to begin than to keep preparing and preparing and preparing. You've got to start. It's the moment we've been building towards and this is it. This is the moment.

Barsi [00:02:03]:

And I'm gonna tell you that you're gonna make mistakes you're supposed to. You're gonna do things that feel less than perfect. You're also going to get better if you stick with it and look back at the stuff you've made now and see the big differences in quality or in your ability or in the content, or maybe even the type of guests you have on. Or you may even shift gears in your theme and topics as you go along, or your podcast mission and how you serve your purpose. Or you may discover a whole new audience than who you thought would show up. There are just so many things that are waiting for you to discover along your journey or for you to see growth in or pivot with. And I can confidently tell you that I know for sure that none of that will be possible until you begin. You must give yourself permission to actually start to put action to your ideas and to your preparation steps.

Barsi [00:03:00]:

And for me, that usually means giving myself permission to completely and utterly fuck it up. And in the past, sometimes it was giving my clients, for example, permission to not worry about disappointing me or, you know, not doing it, or changing their mind about an idea or not liking an idea I had and having a different one. There's so many opportunities to give permission to not have to people please, the people in your life or the mentors in your life or the people who you think are watching, and also yourself. For me, it's usually for myself and when I'm working with someone else and it becomes whoever that person is. So these are normal feelings. They do come up. I remember clearly telling one of my clients, you know, don't worry about what I think. I'm here to help you do what needs to happen for you.

Barsi [00:03:56]:

So in this case, we're not working directly together, but we kind of are in a roundabout sort of free, open way. So I'm giving you permission to not worry about any of that. And this is the moment where it's more important to just get started. I'll give you an example from my life. When I first started my business, and when I'd have those nights where I felt like I didn't know what I was doing or wasn't totally confident that it was going to work out, I would, in my mind, remind myself that I was allowed to fuck it up. That if it all went to shit, that I could still go back to my old life. I could use the skills I was using before to make money if I had to, and that it wouldn't mean that I failed for trying. If I never tried and never gave myself the chance to fail, find out if I could do it, that would be the mistake, because I wouldn't be learning from that mistake until I decided to take action.

Barsi [00:04:54]:

And here's the disclaimer. I also want to point out that you still need to be aware and realistic of what your resources are. We talked about resources in a previous episode as well, and we talked about it specifically with your podcast, but this applies to any endeavor. So this endeavor as a whole, the timing of it, do you have safety nets? Do you have people who can help? Do you have some money to invest? And if you do not right now, can you plan for it? What does that timeline look like? So those are the next questions to ask. If you're like, there are still things in my way that have nothing to do with being afraid to start. Sometimes it's the pragmatic, realistic things that are in the way. So don't let those stop you either. Just figure out what needs to happen next.

Barsi [00:05:45]:

So let's just take a sec to really hone in on what I'm saying here. If you've listened to the other four episodes, five if you include the introduction episode, which was called launch the creative business you've always wanted by starting a podcast, and you've maybe re listened now a few times to some of them and taken some notes and hopefully done some of the exercises and applied the principles I've outlined in the in the past few weeks to your own process, then that means you're doing the work. And we talked about assessing your assets and resources regarding starting a podcast, like I just mentioned, meaning figuring out what you have in your favor now that will help you get started, and also acknowledging where your roadblocks are so that you can find some solutions to keep the flow going. And if you recall, one of the examples was post production. This is a roadblock for many people. It can feel like a lot to learn or a time sucker, which it totally can be both of those things. So maybe you find a way to outsource this, but what if you absolutely cannot afford to do that right now? You have maybe two choices. You can devise a plan to save money or raise money to specifically fund post production, or you can find an easier show design that allows you to have less post production needed and you can still get started sooner than later.

Barsi [00:07:04]:

So those are some ideas of how you can begin to solve that problem. Neither of these choices are good or bad because they both offer a path to getting started. The third option that I didn't mention is putting it off altogether. So the thing here is, there isn't anything wrong with that choice either. Not necessarily. But here is what I ask Ask yourself why you want to postpone. If you've done the work this far, like I outlined a moment ago, if that's you and you feel like it's the thing you want to try, you feel excited, you're feeling inspired, but you're also feeling scared, then choice number three is not the choice for you. I believe you can find solutions to figure out your start.

Barsi [00:07:53]:

In fact, I know you can. It can be done. That might mean finding a way to outsource A task or it might mean asking for help from your community. But I know that if you challenge yourself to find a way, then I truly believe that a solution will arise. If this sounds like you, then I'm here to tell you to take the risk. You deserve to find out what happens next. You are worth knowing what you're capable of and to learn from your mistakes. You're worth making mistakes.

Barsi [00:08:23]:

Think about that for a moment because that is what risk looks like. It means there will be some bumps and some scary moments and mistakes. And as you keep at it, you get to grow and learn and gain the experience you need in order to garner the successes that come with building something you love. Now if you go through the process and you assess your resources and you realize that you do not have the time, the support and the means or the capacity to start a new venture right now, then that is a very valuable realization. Your passion for your purpose and what you care about will not just disappear. You have that. That's you. That's who you are.

Barsi [00:09:08]:

That's yours forever. Instead, use this time to game plan how to become ready when the right amount of resources to create the circumstances you need in order to take the next steps to begin and launch. This has also been true for me in some instances where opportunities presented themselves that I felt aligned with, but I was not in the financial situation to invest or co found, for example, or things like that. Time of life has played a factor for me in some cases where I realized that some opportunities would take away from other goals I had and that my actions and how I was involved would be influenced by that. Those were not regrets because they were not driven by fear or roadblocks, but rather by a clear assessment of my goals, my resources and my core. In each of those cases, I listened to my gut and and then took a realistic look at where I stood with my assets. There was always a way to fulfill what my desire to create was. But the details of how I pursued it looked a little different than maybe what was presented to me.

Barsi [00:10:12]:

Sometimes it just meant waiting while I planned more or chose a better time. But the things I cared about found their way to the surface. They always do if you stick with them and let them be your guide. Now I sound like a Disney cartoon. So now that it's time to make this decision of beginning, it's important to look at the whole picture. That's why I'm taking a moment to really dedicate this episode to knowing what it means to really look at the whole picture. So I'LL tell you another funny story. I don't know if you've heard of Clubhouse yet, but it's this new app where basically people at all levels, from all over the world, like everyone, I'm talking like Elon Musk to, like, your neighbor, like everyone, meaning like anyone, are creating conversations and forums that almost look like little conference rooms with panel speakers about whatever decided upon topic.

Barsi [00:11:10]:

And then anyone can join the room and listen, meaning those who are on the app can join the room and listen in. It's audio only. And of course, I'm a little obsessed with it. And the whole thing is really new. It's actually still in beta and I've only been on it for like a week now. And I'm really anxious to try it, like, meaning to speak on it and to moderate a room. But to my surprise, I found myself starting to feel super anxious about it. And all of this fear was popping up for me, which I thought was interesting.

Barsi [00:11:40]:

So I kind of just like observed that and tried to see where it was coming from. And I realized that I had a fear that no one would show up. Also that I would suck at moderating because I don't know the app very well, and that no one would want to do it with me or that I wouldn't know what to talk about. And then, then I started to feel feelings of inadequacy because I noticed I was now comparing myself to these other, like, huge influencers I was seeing there who had, you know, millions of followers but were in my industry and were dedicating lots of time to this app. You're probably noticing by now which category I fall into from my earlier mentioned choices. I feel excited. But all this fear is coming up. So I'm excited because I can see how much potential this could all have in growing my brand and my visibility and in helping people, which also brings up fear of success for me, which is in the background sometimes.

Barsi [00:12:40]:

It's just one of those old default fears. Okay, Talking on a new app for the first time is not the same as launching a business and a podcast. But I use this example one, because I want you to see how even something seemingly small can bring up these feelings. And it's what I'm going through in real time right now. Even though I literally teach people how to show up and I speak for a living, and I still have these fears pop up like this, even over something that is seemingly much smaller than starting a business or a podcast. So my first move after, you know, just observing my thoughts and being Aware of what was happening, how I was feeling. My next move was to immediately try and find a collaborator to help me moderate a room that we can create together. And I decided I wanted to do it with someone who has experience and can talk about subjects I'm knowledgeable about.

Barsi [00:13:36]:

Because this, I realized, would curb my fears. That's what would make me comfortable and make me feel safe to get started. The other thing I realized is that the people I see dominating here in this space are spending hours a day and day and many days in the week in this app, and I currently don't have that kind of time to dedicate to it. So that level of time is just not a resource for me yet. So I started to think of systems I can create in order to create more time for myself so that I can dedicate some attention to this. But that means I have to do some organizing and planning first. So again, this is a smaller decision, but I use this as an example because things like social media and large groups of other seemingly dominant other people seemingly dominating in the space can quickly become overwhelming and bring on imposter syndrome. And I could easily just completely pass on trying a new platform that could literally boost my visibility and connect me to people I would not otherwise connect with so directly.

Barsi [00:14:41]:

But these reasons are ones that I know that I can overcome. And to me, I don't see them as good enough reasons to not get out of my own way. Because whenever I'm the one standing in my own way, that's not the thing I want stopping me. Because the things I just outlined. The connecting factor for most of my roadblocks here was myself, my fears. The other factor, though, I realized was time. So now I know what I need to do in order to get started. I need to create more time to dedicate and I can plan for that.

Barsi [00:15:12]:

It's doable even if it's finding one hour a week. And the fear based stuff was identified. And then I found solutions to what I think would make me feel comfortable enough for me to begin, like finding someone else to lead a room with me. So if, if that kind of sounds like you and how you're feeling right now in your venture and in starting a podcast, for example, because that's what we're doing here, I want you to ask yourself these questions. One, what do I need to feel safer or more comfortable in getting started? In the case of podcasting, it might be getting a co host or bringing on guests you know really well. First, for example, the second question, how can I plan or Organize my next steps to create the assets or resources I'm missing to start right now. Usually it's time and money. Those are the most common things that we have that we struggle with.

Barsi [00:16:06]:

And their third question, number three is not really a question. I just want you. It's the theme of this episode. I want you to give yourself permission. Permission to plan, permission to be scared, permission to do it anyway. Permission to start too soon or start too late or start badly or start because everything feels right. And permission to fuck it up. Just go make stuff.

Barsi [00:16:38]:

This is your time and we're listening. Look, I cannot wait to see what you create. So go out there and make it. I would love to hear what you're creating and building, so please share it with me. I would really, really love to hear what it is that you're working on. You can email me directly@barsievanthousemedia.com you can DM me on Instagram Hebarsi, or you can just drop me a note in Apple Podcasts in the review section about your podcast or business. You don't have to even talk about people. Begin.

Barsi [00:17:12]:

I just want to hear from you. I want to hear how you're doing. I want to cheer you on. And, and also if you just have questions or run into roadblocks, just reach out, Reach out in one of those places. There's links for everything in the show notes. And I just want to thank you so, so much for joining me on this Begin podcasting journey. I've. I've thoroughly enjoyed it, I promise you.

Barsi [00:17:36]:

It was so much fun for me to create and so was the resource guide. So make sure you get your free resource guide because it's freaking free. And it's@bebold.avanthousemedia.com podresourceguide and I will see you next week. Bye. Thank you for listening to Be Bold. Begin. Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcast so as not to miss an episode. So the best way to ensure you get all the new episodes is by subscribing.

Barsi [00:18:09]:

Help us build a positive community by joining the Facebook group, also called Be Bold Begin. I'll be checking it daily to answer and acknowledge any of your questions and comments. Stay positive and safe out there.