The Power of Starting Something Impulsively
When we are starting something new, the natural inclination is to plan it well and start it well. But the tendency to delay the start is also fuelled by the fear of starting and having new things being thrown at us.
Our lizard brain always wants to maintain the status quo. That means, it was to keep the surroundings intact so that there is no danger. If you are alive and well right now, why change something that is working?
Though a change of environment feels like a huge threat to our lizard brain, there is no change in terms of survival risk. If you quit your job and start a business, there is a good chance that even if the business fails, you won't end up hungry on the streets. A little bit of financial planning will keep you on track with your career.
I have heard so many people say that they want to start something of their own, but they never get around to it. Days become weeks, weeks become months, months become years and it is still a dream.
When you get inspiration to do something new, and if you do not act on it immediately, then the motivation to act on it only declines over a period of time. And you start convincing yourself that it was not a great idea after all.
I started my blog DigitalDeepak.com in 2013. I had been blogging about digital marketing on that blog until 2016. My plan to monetize the blog was to launch a digital marketing course for my audience. I kept planning for the perfect course to be launched but nothing happened for years.
One fine morning I was so frustrated with myself that I couldn't create anything solid so I decided it was time to move the needle a little bit. I created an outline for a Google Ads course. The outline had 10 chapters. I wrote what each chapter is going to be about and I published the outline on my blog.
I sent an email to my email list and told them that I am launching this course for 2000 INR but they can get it for just 999 INR if they pre-order it. I put a date for the launch of the course around 2 weeks from the date of publishing this.
I told myself that if I get at least 50 sales netting 50,000 INR I will do the project, else if the sales are less, I will refund everyone and tell them that the project is canceled. I ended up making 2.5 Lakh INR. Without a product! Now that's a lot of money and I didn't want to refund everyone. So I forced myself to complete making the course in a long weekend.
The course was far from perfect. There was no LMS. I just added the videos to YouTube with an unlisted view and sent it out as an email to all my students.
I cringed and I was expecting many refunds because there were 100s of ways I could make the course better (if only I had more time, but I always had more time and nothing happened).
To my surprise, I started getting positive feedback about the course and its contents. Many of my students who wanted to learn Google Ads for a long time eventually were able to get a hang of it and start running their own ad campaigns successfully.
And that's how my whole journey started. If I had not announced that course in 2016, I wouldn't have gone down this rabbit hole. Maybe I would've been just an employee and continue to work as a digital marketing manager.
Getting it done, in whatever level of perfection that is possible, in a limited period of time is one of the most important lessons I have learned in my life.
In 2019, I had a similar breakthrough. I launched my Internship program with cashback that rewards people to complete their assignments. I had no tech, no clear outline, and no proof of concept.
I did a live webinar with around 1500 people live and I announced this program. I had more than 500 people sign up on the same day. December 4th, 2019. That day marks the beginning of a lot of great things. I launched it, then somehow pulled it off. I had to be on my toes to make sure my students are satisfied and they are having the best experience.
I am always going to be on guard to make sure that I do not lose my impulsiveness when it comes to starting something new. When you start something new, you will be either get positive results or negative results with your first few steps, but you will get some reaction for the action you are taking. That reaction is more than enough to get the ball rolling and take you forward.
So do not hesitate.
Start something today.
If you have an idea that has been lurking in your mind for a long time, do something about it.
If it is a blog project, book the domain and install the CMS and publish the first article.
If it is a new YouTube channel, make the first video and get it out there. Even if that makes you cringe.
If it is a book project, just write the first chapter or the preface. Just do it.
That's my message for today.
See you in the next post.
Cheers,
Deepak Kanakaraju
(CEO, LearnToday.com)