Creative Projects Aren't Always Easy... But Keep Going

So in my mastermind group, I have eight women who are all working on a project of some sort, some kind of content that they're creating.

Most of them are creating programs and offers. And every single one of them on our last call was like, "It's garbage. I might as well get rid of it. I'm too far gone on it."

It's just they were just also at this place of like, it felt like too heavy and too murky.

And I bet that you have been there too, that you're putting something together that there's some project that you want to bring to the world, but you look at it, and you're like, "This is garbage, trash...This is just what am I doing, this is a waste of time."

And I want you to know that it's a very normal part of the creation process.

If you're creating, like a workshop, or a course or a program, whatever it is, you're creating there's going to be a point where you're just like, so enmeshed in it that you can't see it clearly anymore.

What I want to tell you is beyond that it's normal.

There's a couple of things that you really need to be aware of going what's going on in your brain, the first one is, you're just a little too far in it.

This is definitely a forest and trees situation, you kind of can't find your way out because you're so far down.

That's fine, that's great.

That means you've been really immersed in.

It means you probably have a lot of good stuff going on.

Maybe it needs to be sorted out.
Maybe it needs to be like put in some order.
Maybe some stuff needs to be taken out.
Maybe some stuff he needs to even be put in.

But you're at the point where you can't see that anymore.

And you're like this is total trash.

Totally normal.

The next thing is, I want you to know that when you're creating something because you're an expert in it.

And I don't care what the topic is, whether you're a wardrobe stylist, or you are health and wellness expert.

Whatever it is you're creating, you're such an expert in it that doing this to you feels like breathing.

Whatever you have figured out that you want to bring to your clients is super easy for you.

So what happens sometimes when people get into the middle of something they're trying to produce, they're just like...

Is this too simple?
People already know how to do this,
I don't need to share this with people, it's so simple.
They're always going to get it,.
They're going to think this is so stupid.
I should just trash this.

That's the kind of thinking that goes on.

And I want you to know that what's like breathing for you is really, really hard for somebody else.

They haven't figured it out yet, so they need you.

So don't let that thinking stop you from creating whatever it is you're trying to create.

Don't assume that everyone can do what you can do, because they can't.

Quick example.

I was just in the middle of writing some curriculum for an organization.

And basically, I had to take a whole bunch of ideas from like five different people, put them together and put them into a curriculum that they can teach in a future program.

Now in my head, I was like, "Oh my god, this is garbage like this is this isn't what they wanted. This is like this is too simplistic. This is too easy."

And when I showed it to them, they were all like,

"Oh my god, Jen, how did you do that? How did you take all of our goals and all of the things we wanted, and you made it into a roadmap."

And I realize like, "Oh, I do this too."

When something's easy for me, like it's super easy for me to synthesize a bunch of ideas and put them together, and then present it as a package.

Or it's really easy for me to put together workshops and present them as something to teach.

But it's not easy for everybody and I always forget that when I'm in the middle of it.

So I want to give you a couple of tools. If you're in the middle of something right now and you think it's garbage, because I promise you, it's not garbage.

You're an expert in something and the world needs whatever you're an expert in.

So the very first thing when you are in that moment where you're just looking around, and you're just like, I don't know what else to say.

You might even start repeating yourself, because you're just like, I have to keep going.

No, go take a walk, take the afternoon off, put it away for a day, don't put it in the trash folder.

Don't bury it back on your laptop, don't walk away from it forever walk away from it for a day or a weekend.

And when you return, you might be able to see it with fresh eyes, but those breaks are necessary.

The second thing is, I'm sure there's somebody in your life that you really respect, who has the ability to ask good questions and see things clearly and not judge you for it.

So my suggestion is to think of that person, and either send them the project, or even better talk them through the project.

Because if you have somebody who's like completely objective, and you explain the project to them, and they have great questions, then you know, like, "Oh, I need to clarify that."

Or if they're saying "That sounds repetitive. You said that already back there."

You're like, "Oh my god, I didn't even see that. I said it twice because I'm so mired down in it."

What I want you to know is that these problems when we're in the middle of creating whatever it is a course an offer a coaching program, whatever it is, we get to the point where we can't see our own brilliance anymore, and we really need somebody else to do that.

And actually just this week with that curriculum that I was telling you about I was so panicked about it.

I really want you to understand that like I do this for a living.

I push it out of people's heads for a living, and I was so panicked, that I thought it was complete garbage.

And I had probably put about 60 hours into it so far.

And so I had a friend of mine who I know is a really clear thinker.

I asked her for an hour and a half of her time and I said, "I'd be happy to pay you as a consultant."

She didn't take me up on my offer to pay her but I wanted her to know that I valued her time and her brilliance so much.

And she just sat there.

And I went step by step by step through the whole thing.

She had amazing questions.
She had great feedback for me,

She's not in this business at all.

She's not in the business of anything that I do.

So she's just a clear person who cleared her schedule for me.

And I bet there's somebody like that out there for you.

And if there isn't, there's somebody you can hire.

You can hire somebody for an hour and a half to give you feedback on this kind of stuff.

So I want you to know, whatever it is you're trying to bring to the world, the world needs it.

Your people need your brilliance because you have figured out a solution that they haven't figured out yet.

And even if it's easy for you, that doesn't mean you undervalue it, you still want to put it out there, you still want to charge for it, because you're bringing a solution to their problem.

But don't get lost just at the very end because the two places people really have the hardest time is getting started, and then keeping going when it gets hard.

So I hope this has been helpful to you. This strategy helped me just this week on Monday, I sat with my friend and we hashed it all out and I felt like a bajillion pounds lighter after that, and that's what I want for you. My name is Jen lady. I'm a business development coach. I help my clients put systems in place so that their businesses can grow and they can have a life. And if this is something that you know, a friend of yours needs to hear, please share it with that person because we don't need to stay stuck.

Thank you so much for listening. Bye