My general philosophy about learning new things is give me the internet and enough time and I’ll figure it out.
I’m forever amazed at the amount of information that is free for the taking online and just how easy it can be to find answers….
Effect or affect?
What does BPA stand for?
How do you carmelize an onion?
Define ______ (because I love knowing the definitions of words)
How to tie a slip knot?
Yep, I heart google.
But there comes a point (and I reached that point yesterday) where the sheer amount of information coming at me is just toooo much, I go into overload and shut down.
I’m in the beginning stages of creating an E-course about photography. But before I get busy creating the videos and documents that will be the heart of the course, I have to set up the actual foundation for it – the website, the structure and the delivery system. I’m pretty much clueless about how to do this so I start where I know to start – Google!
How to create an E-course
As you might have guessed, there is no clear answer for this question. After several hours of bouncing around the web I was more confused than when I started. Apparently there are various types of software that do the same thing and I need that software but I’m still unclear why I need it. Somewhere along the way I read an article about the importance of writing great headlines and how you must have a good hook. I’m not sure exactly what a hook is but all of a sudden I feel like I need one or my course will be doomed to failure. Another site claims to have had amazing success in developing E-courses and promises that I can too. I just need to take their E-course on how to create an E-course for $1000. Um, no thanks.
By this time I am drowning in information and marketing ploys and questioning if I have what it takes to pull this off. Thank goodness I had enough sense to call a time out, shut my computer and get quite. I pulled out my markers and a big piece of paper because I’m visual and I need to see things. I scratched out a timeline for what needs to happen (the bare bones of it) and started to break it all down into bite-sized pieces. Then I filled my paper with the little reminders that I most needed to hear in that moment and will likely need to hear again along the way.
Keep it simple.
It doesn’t need gadgets, it just needs heart.
Don’t get stuck overthinking it, go with your gut.
In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield talks repeatedly about Resistance, which he defines as “an energy field radiating from a work-in-potential. It’s a repelling force. It’s negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work.” Resistance manifests in many forms – procrastination, self-doubt, self-sabotage, etc. In my life, it often comes in the form of perfectionism. If I’m not mindful I will spend a lot of energy trying to get things right instead of just getting it done. I will get distracted doing research. I will think I need to take a class or read a certain book before I start. There will always be something that should happen first and then I’ll be ready. But I’m still not sure what ready means. Are we ever really ready? Especially when what we are doing is new and awkward and requires a vulnerable leap on our part? So, I’m done with getting ready and I’m accepting that uncertainty comes with the territory of walking down a new road. It’s time to move on to the next stage.
I can hear Steven Pressfield in my head, Finally! Now sit your ass down and get to work.
How do you experience Resistance in your life? I’d love to know.
