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You can't be successful if you never implement that big idea you've been working on forever. It's time to get started, and recognize what's been keeping you from getting your next project off the ground.
A weekly podcast focused on talking to influencers in the barbecue industry, uncovering how they’ve cultivated huge followings, unique income sources, and sponsorship possibilities from a love of cooking over fire. Hosted by Jordan Moore of @thebackyardbrisket
006 Just Get Started w Jordan Moore
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[00:00:00] Voiceover: You're listening to influential barbecue, the podcast where we talk to influencers in the barbecue industry to uncover how they've cultivated, huge following unique income sources and sponsorship possibilities from a love of cooking outdoors. If you want to turn your passion for food and fire into a world of opportunities, you're in the right place.
And now your host, Jordan Moore.
[00:00:28] Jordan: Hello, and welcome back to another episode of influential barbecue. Happy new. Happy 20, 22 happy holidays. I hope you all had a fun, safe, happy holiday seasons, celebrating, whatever you celebrate with whoever you celebrate it with. And I hope you found some time to be able to relax and recharge if that's even possible to do over the holidays.
I find I always have a pretty tough time relaxing and easing my mind throughout the holidays because there's so much going on and I'm not in my routine, but I do always. After the hecticness of the holidays, I tend to come back with more energy and I'm ready to go and get things started in the new year.
So I hope you had a great break. If you had a break, if you didn't have a break, I hope you had a great time doing whatever it was you had to do. And welcome to 2020. So it's a new year and we all know what flipping the calendar means. You know, we got ambitious goals, we got new year's resolutions, we're eating nothing but salad wraps until we look like we did when we were 21 and we're going to have the best year ever, at least for a week or two.
And then we kind of give up on it because we'd been a little too ambitious, but this episode is not going to be about new year's resolutions or eating better or anything like that. I'm not going to be talking about setting huge goals for the entire year and, you know, making sure you follow something every single day or week or month and track all that stuff.
This episode is going to be a little bit different because I don't have a guest with me this week, but I wanted to talk about one single. That could very well change the course of your business plan or your social media profile or your life, if it's big enough. And it may sound like an obvious move or an obvious goal, like, yeah, no, duh, that's what we have to do, but it's held me back numerous times and I've seen it hold a whole bunch of other people back, and it's so simple, but so difficult.
And that is just. Just get going, whatever you're planning, whatever you're hoping to do, whatever you're thinking about. Starting whatever you're putting off. Just get it started. Get the ball rolling. Kick it off. Stop thinking about it. Stop delaying. Start it. Now you may not have all the answers to get you to the end of the project or anything like that.
As soon as you start, it, you're that much closer to getting there, whether it's starting a new style of content for your page, whether it's putting your face in more of your videos, um, reaching out to brands and partnerships for the first time, launching your own spice blends, or publishing a blog that you've been thinking about now is the time to start it.
Because once you start it, you can figure. What you need to focus on in order to make it succeed. If you're just sitting there thinking about how to make it perfect from day one, you're never going to start it because that's impossible to do it. Doesn't need to be perfected and it doesn't need to be totally finished, but it needs to get started in order to be perfected and finished.
So this episode will be me talking about kind of three reasons that I see that prevent people from starting projects. And I want to go through them a little bit in the hopes. You might recognize this within yourself and be able to get yourself over the hump to get started on that project. If this episode helps just one person get that thing started, I'll be happy.
This will be a success it's super nerve wracking to dive into something new. And it's understandable that it's hard to get started, but once you get. It makes each next step that much easier and that much more effective. A lot of times we don't start something big and new because we don't know what the next step will be after that.
But of course, in order to figure out the next step, we need to take the first step. And it's just a vicious cycle of not starting and over-planning and essentially just procrastinating. So of course, everyone's got their reasons for why they are or are not doing things. You know, I'm not here to look down on anybody.
I'm the last person that should be doing that. I just want to highlight some reasons that have prevented me from starting things and hopes that you may be able to reload. And work through it to start the thing for yourself. So the first point that I think prevents a lot of us from getting started, and again, I am a huge culprit of this is waiting to hit a specific milestone.
You know, I'll do that when I hit 10,000 followers, all I'm going to wait until I hit a thousand subscribers. Once I have 15 articles released. I put the blog up. I'm going to create a list of 20 potential partners that I think would be a good fit before reaching out to my first one. As soon as I finished my website, I'll tell people what I'm going to try to do, and we've all done it.
I still do it all the time, but I'm more aware of it now. And I actively tried to stop myself. And although it seems in your head, it seems like a really good idea to be in a certain position. Before starting something it's really just procrastination. You're giving yourself more time to try and prepare yourself for the task ahead because you're nervous about doing it and that's all it is.
You're just putting it off to try and give yourself more time to be ready. And a lot of times this could be a case of imposter syndrome. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with imposter syndrome, a Wikipedia defines it as a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments, and has a persistent, internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud, despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve all they have is.
So basically imposter syndrome is just, I'm not good enough for this. I'm not good at this. And I can't do this despite having been good at it and done all of these things already. And that's all it is. You're hoping that by the time you reach this milestone that you set for yourself, you know, 10,000 followers or 20 posts already written or whatever it is, you're hoping that you'll have magically figured.
How to be more competent in what you're doing, or it will help you be perceived as someone more legitimate in your field. And the truth is you can begin at any time. There is nothing stopping you from starting now, whether you have a hundred followers or a thousand followers or zero subscribers. Brands don't care.
If you have 9,700 followers, they care about how you interact with your audience, your YouTube Watchers, don't care about how many subscribers you have. They care about how compelling your content is and how much you can teach them and interest them and entertain them. Your readers don't care. If you've only got two recipes posted right now, they're interested in the recipe that they're looking at and whether or not it tastes good and is easy to understand and follow.
And really what do you gain from waiting? What do you gain from writing 15 blog articles, you know, vacuum and posting them all at once. If you write two or three and release them, you then at least open yourself up to getting feedback from your readers and your peers and your friends so that you can improve and write the next two or three articles better and continue to improve on them.
Each time you do it. If you have 15 articles or recipes, all typed up or 15 pieces of content, all cut in a certain style. And. Your audience points out something that maybe isn't working or you don't think it's hitting is the way it should be. You've then got to go and change everything from the beginning.
If you start releasing things now and start your projects, now you can improve things faster as you go. You can get better as you grow with your idea. If that makes sense. So instead of waiting for a specific milestone to give yourself the green light, give yourself the green light now. And set smaller goals for yourself.
Make one post a week in the new content style, you know, trying to gain a hundred subscribers a month by continuing to post regular videos. Perfect. Your template for your blog and send out to a week, the only way to improve on what you're doing. To start doing it. You can sit at home and do 800 pieces of content by yourself and release none of them because you don't have 10,000 followers, but by not releasing the content or changing the way that you are going to do things for the better, you're not going to reach that milestone anyway.
So you're shooting yourself in the foot by putting it off. The only way to get things rolling is to get things started. And that's just the way it is. One of the next reasons I find people have a hard time starting something new is simply because they don't know where to start. Whenever you're starting something new, whether it be a content style or a business or a blog, you're probably going to have a tough time figuring out what you need to do to get things going.
It's not something you've done before. So that makes sense. There are so many steps between having an idea and getting to the final stage and launching that idea. And there's a couple ways you can tackle this one is to find resources online, to help you learn the new skills you're going to need. You can find tons of educational videos on YouTube, Instagram.
On just about any topic you could ever think of. I personally forget this quite often. I, you know, I've never been big on the educational videos. I don't watch a lot of things. I learned better by doing and screwing things up, but you can learn just about anything on YouTube. You just need to find the content creator that you gel with, and I'll bet you, they have a video for what you need.
If you're a. One potential issue with this method though, is you're learning the methods of somebody else, uh, who may or may not have had any formal training. So be wary with that. Cause they could be teaching you something that works for them, but may not work as well for you. So don't take everything too literally, but try and really absorb the concepts and ideas of what they're showing you and then apply your own, spin to it, to make it yours and find out the way that works.
You can also sign up for classes and programs, whether it's classes at your local college or university or online programs through services like Skillshare and masterclass, you can learn a wide variety of skills for pretty low fees. Those services also typically have referral programs or free trial coupons floating around.
If you're trying to save a little bit of money to get this started so you can get started for free and see if it's a good fit for you a lot of the times, and keep in mind too, that your favorite influencers or professionals may have their own online courses as well. And that's a great way to learn more about how they're achieving their success while you're also supporting the people that you're following.
Um, just make sure you're adapting what you're learning from them, similar to the YouTube videos, um, by adding your personal spin to it and not just taking what they are making. Copying it another pretty simple way to figure out where to get started is to just ask that's sounds pretty obvious, but we all forget it from time to time.
The chances are you're already connected with someone who's doing something similar or has in the past or know someone who's done it. So just connect with them and ask if you can pick their brains. Most people are more than happy to share information with you. Any good hearted person will want to see other six.
In following their passions, they likely won't give you a step-by-step guide to kicking things off and doing things, how they do it, but it's pretty likely that they'll give you some really good advice and useful information. So don't be afraid to reach out to others for advice, talk to people, connect with people and through doing that, you'll also make great connections for the future that could last for such a long time and really pay dividends down the road.
There is so much information out there now that you can learn almost anything online. The hardest part is just finding the resources that work for yourself. Those are some really good ways to get the starter information that you need. If you're finding that you don't have the proper knowledge to start this idea that you have, and once you start learning the things that you need, everything else will come after that, but you just need to learn how to get it started in order to learn how to keep it.
And just to add on to the point of not knowing where to start, it also applies to anyone out there. Who's thinking that they just don't know how to do it, period. You just have to start. And once you start and start learning about. Everything will come. You'll learn the tricks. You'll learn the skills.
You'll learn all the little nuances that you need to learn to start doing the thing. But again, you can't learn those things if you don't start. So I know I'm hammering that home. It's probably annoying at this point, but you got. So the third point, I truly believe is the most common reason that you aren't starting now.
And that reason is fear. Whether it be a fear of failure or a fear of success, or a fear of change, fear is holding back. A lot of people, fear, plays such a huge part in everyone's minds. And I think it has to a little bit, because if you weren't a little scary. It would probably mean that you don't care enough, but more often than not fear gets in the way of making moves, that are good for you and your growth.
There's two types of fear that I kind of want to talk about here. The fear of failure and the fear of success. The fear of failure is a pretty common one. It's pretty, self-explanatory, you're putting so much effort, energy time, potentially money into creating this thing. What if it doesn't take off? What if people don't react the way that you're hoping?
What if it doesn't all end up going? According to. This begins to make you second guess Inspiral, and sometimes even abandoned the project all together. You don't want people thinking you have dumb ideas or that you don't know what you're doing, but let's be real. People are not going to think that typically if people don't like something, they don't think about it.
They see it. They decide not for me and they move on with their lives. I know that sounds a bit farfetched with things like Tik, TOK and Twitter at the moment, but there's always going to be some people leaving comments that are trying to bring you. You just got to keep in mind that those people are not the people that you're targeting.
They're not your target audience. They're not your ideal clients. They're not who your content is for. So why spend so much time worrying about what they're going to think or what they're going to say? The content is not for them. You're not trying to work with them. So just ignore them easier said than done.
I know. And I'm speaking to myself here, but if the people you are doing this for. Chances are they'll at least give you feedback and ideas. They're not just going to shit on you and like, One thing I'm trying to work on a lot with myself. It's probably a pretty common thing is just not caring what people think.
And in the age of social media, where everyone is comparing themselves to everyone that they're following, it gets really hard. And just keep in mind, you're doing these things for you. It doesn't matter what people think. And if they don't like it, they can just unfollow you. If they're still following you, then they must like something.
And there's a great Henry Ford quote that I want to put here. That goes, failure is the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently, basically give it a, go, get up, learn and improve don't bail on the entire project. Just because you're looking at the finish line when you haven't even stretched for the.
Because even if you don't finish first, you'll learn new lessons that will help you improve. Next time around failing is the best way to learn what doesn't work so that you don't do it again. Failing doesn't mean you stop the project, give up on it and go do something else entirely for the rest of you.
If that's what failure means for you, then you have to look inside and figure out why it's doing that because everyone has failed. If you're a basketball fan, Michael Jordan didn't even make his high school basketball team, but he was like, you know, screw this. I'm good. I'm gonna keep playing basketball.
If he had just given up at that point, then the NBA would be a very different place. There'd be no space jam. Okay. And that would be the true crime or space jam would have somebody else in it. I don't know enough about basketball to figure that out. So any basketball fans who would be in space jam if Michael Jordan gave up on basketball, that's the real question.
Anyways, I'm getting distracted. Fear of failure is totally legitimate, but you have to remember that failing doesn't mean you're a failure. Failure is a way to learn how to make it better and learn what not to do full stop. On the flip side, you may subconsciously be afraid of success. And that one sounds a bit weird, afraid of success, but isn't that why we're doing these things in the first place?
Yes, it seems counterintuitive, but it's a real thing. Success can lead to major life changes and changes mean discomfort. Once you start this new project, you're thinking of, it might bring on a lot of changes that you haven't really thought about yet. You might have to quit your job that you've been at for years.
Your new content style may start getting a ton of views. And now people are seeing you all over the world and you're not ready for that. It could be that people are starting to use your recipes and following your directions and measurements. And, oh no. What if my recipe is not as good as I thought it was, or maybe your blog takes off and you have to figure out how to deal with updates and sell ads and make money with it all at the same time, it might just be that you're feeling anxious about new responsibilities.
And that things might get a little more complicated than you're ready to handle. There's a lot of things that can contribute to a fear of success, but that confidence that will come with experience is not something that you can teach yourself overnight by not experiencing things you need to get out there and learn firsthand how to deal with these different types of success and what comes with them.
Once you do that, you'll start to feel so much better as you learn what it takes to do what you're trying to. You may have to retool some parts of your life to be able to continue your success or to grow it, which all seems scary as well. But you have to remember it. That's why you're doing this in the first place.
You're doing it to get out of an old dead end job. You hate to give yourself the freedom to build your own path, or you're doing it in order to supplement some income so that you can upgrade that house or get that car, buy a boat. Whatever you want to do success means change and change is Tara. Straight up change is scary.
Everyone likes being where they're comfortable, everyone likes being cozy. And once you start doing new things, it gets uncomfortable, but that means you're doing something I don't want to say. Right. But it means you're doing something new and that's the only way that you can drive change and you have to think.
Wanting a change of some sort is why you're starting this new project in the first place, but then you're subconsciously scared of succeeding and having to make changes, which is why you haven't started this project that you want to start. So really think about that when you're deciding when to not start something, are you just procrastinating again?
Because. You don't like change because you can control the changes that happen. Once you start succeeding at what you want to do, you can guide where the changes are. It's totally in your control. It's all in your hands because it's your thing that your running. So please keep that in mind when you're thinking about starting something, it might lead to success and it might lead to big changes, but those big changes are also in your.
So to recap, there are many reasons why we all delay in starting something, but these three are some of the ones that I feel are the most prominent, at least in my own life, in my own experiences with the people I know I've done each of these on more than one occasion, I still do. I actively try to avoid doing them, but sometimes you just need to take a step back and reset.
So just to reiterate one, don't wait to hit a milestone. All you're doing is procrastinate. Start the thing now and just get going because you're not getting ahead by waiting. The only way you're going to know is if it's working or if it's going to help you reach more milestones is if you get it started now, instead of waiting for other milestones, number two, you may be stalling because you just don't know where to start.
Look into local classes, look into online courses and reach out to people in your network who can help you figure out what it is you need to learn to get the ball rolling. We're in the age of information, you can find anything you need to online. You just have to take the time to look for it. And three fears holding a lot of us back.
Just remember that the only way to get over your fear is to face it. If you're afraid of failing, keep in mind that not everything works on the first try and it's not a failure. If you're able to learn from it and improve upon it. And if you're afraid of succeeding, just remember that was your whole goal in the first place.
Everything will get easier. The more you do it, and you're not going to be overwhelmed forever. If you do get some success, so stop putting it off. Put your plan into action today. Take the first step and kick it off. Even if you stumble on the first step of starting it, pick yourself back up and start it again.
You've been spending time planning out various parts of this project or idea. It could be camera angles, launch plan, scripts, outreach forms, anything but all that planning and preparation and initial excitement that you had when you thought of it all goes to waste. If you never end up beginning. So just do it, just start it, get going, go.
Now, send that email, post, that recipe message that brand launched the new project. Start the blog, build the website and as Shyla buff said, just do it.
And that will do it for this episode of influential barbecue. Thank you so much for tuning in this week. If you take anything away from this episode, I hope it's the courage to start the thing you can't get better if you don't get started. And I want to put a huge thank you out there to everyone who has listened to the previous episodes, shared the podcast here.
Left ratings and reviews. It all means so much to me, it helps me get this show going, helps me motivated to keep it going. I've really enjoyed the messages I've received so far about how you've learned so much or that you really enjoyed an interview with a certain guest. That truly means. You can find everything I talked about today on the show notesPage@influentialbarbecue.com.
I'm always looking for feedback on this show. I'm just kind of sitting here by myself, recording in front of a black hole. So any feedback you give me will help improve the show and bring better episodes. Just shoot me an email. Podcasts@influentialbarbecue.com or send a DM to influential barbecue on Instagram.
If you enjoy the podcast, please share it with those that you think would enjoy it. I'm Jordan Moore. You can follow my barbecue adventures on Instagram at the backyard. Thank you so much again for listening. Happy new year, happy holidays. We'll see you next week and just get started.