View 112

My last podcast episodes: Be a Doer and Focus on the Work sparked my first listener question!

What best practices do you have for a person wanting to try something new and stuck in the research phase of a project?

1. The Research Phase. You can always tell my interests or opportunities based on what I am reading. Literally everything from running to recipes, I've read several books on subjects in which I need more information. I think there needs to be a balance between books and articles. Books go in detail and you can find varying opinions. The thing about books is depending on the industry, the information can grow outdated. MagazInes and online articles will give you the latest and greatest information. I love a balance of both. I would like to caution: you cannot live in the research phase forever. You have to start DOING things…which brings me to

2. Experiment. The example I gave about this before is with this podcast. I have listened to many podcasts. I have done research about podcasting. I understand conceptually what I want to achieve via a podcast platform, but until I actually start podcasting, I will have no idea what I’m really doing. Learning through experimenting is vital. You can learn from mistakes you don’t want to make again. I’ve also learned from feedback. Just in the first 4 episodes, I’ve received a lot of feedback that make my podcasts better. Feedback, brings be to my final point:

3. Seek counsel/mentorship. Is there someone excelling at what you are looking to do? Ask for help. People really do love helping people. One of my favorites thoughts around this is from The Alchemist “And when you want something, the universe conspires in helping you achieve it”. When you seek, help, people will help you in ways you never imagined. When I started the 112 books challenge, not only did I get over 300 book titles, I got actual books to read too. To this day, people still give me titles. When I said I wanted to be serious about my writing, I had friends help me with my wevsite and the pdocast. All because they wanted to see me be successful.

The 100th book I read during the 112 Books reading challenge was Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday.  There is a line in the chapter titled "Talk Talk Talk" that caused me to evaluate how I do things.  Here is the quote:  “It’s a temptation that exists for everyone-for talk and hype to replace action.” p.24

How often do we talk about things we have yet to do?  You see, up until that moment in my book challenge, I would take a picture of me with the book and share it on social media. I'd say I'm going to read this or #currentlyreading.  People would ask me what it was about or if it was a good book and I couldn’t respond.  My blog posts were also shallow because I wasn’t ready to review a book I had not read.  Going forward, I decided to read a book, write a blog post reviewing the book, and then share on social media.  I had so much more insight and could connect with people better.  That small simple change made all the difference.  

Allow me to share why this simple shift was huge for me.  In the sales world we are all about forecasting, setting lofty goals, competing and bragging.   To simply shut up, put your head down, do the work and THEN share the work is not the way I’ve gone about my life professionally.  Everyone wants to know what you are “working on” and how you foresee executing something.  If I am honest there is a part of me that likes the validation I get.  I like when people are excited to see what I am reading.  Talking trash motivates me and makes me accountable to what I’m about to do.  But I’ve found greater rewards as of late from focusing on the work. I still get the validation but now with better results.  

This week I got a suggestion to throw a party for the launch of View112.com and the View 112 Podcast. The idea was to help showcase my work and market the platform. My immediate response was meet with surprise: absolutely not I said.  I went on to explain 2 reasons why: 

1. I don’t believe I’ve accomplished anything worth celebrating. I’ve invested some money into a website that is less than a month old and recorded 3 podcasts. What is the party about? In Ego is the Enemy, Holiday warns that by celebrating or telling people about your aspirations early, you could fool yourself into believing they are already accomplishments.

2. If you are going to build a tall stage and cast a wide spotlight, you better put on a killer show! I’ve run a company before and I am a pretty good sales person. My biggest mistake as a business owner in the past is to drum up business that my team was not prepared to handle. I did not have a good production plan in place to accommodate orders causing a lot of stress on my team and failed delivery times for my customers. I need to have strong content, posting schedule, and delivery in place.

Trust me when it is time to party, I will be there with my dress and champagne!  I just want to make sure I’ve done the work.

How often do you talk about things you have yet to do? What will you do differently?

For my 3rd podcast, I’ve stepped my game up!  Allow me introduce myself. I am Jeanita Morris, a professional living in the Washington, DC area with over 17 years of experience in a variety of different verticals, but mostly in sales. In my spare time I freelance write and I read a lot! Last year for my 38th birthday, I challenged myself to read 112 books before my 39th birthday. I completed that challenge in just over 11 months. The blog, 112books.com was created to document my journey with book reviews. This year, I evolved 112books.com to view112.com because I wanted to write about more than just books. There are lessons in my life and books that I’ve been able to apply to my art and professional success. 

Consuming vs Creating:

During my reading challenge, I consumed a lot. In fact, last year was all about consumption and excess. This year, I want to share what i’ve learned and contribute to the reading and business community. Here are a couple ways I’ve started to do this:

1. Create. I wrote a blog post, I Do What I Want. There is a notable difference in aspiring vs doing. For example, I wanted to become a writer. A writer becomes a write the moment he/she begins writing.

2. Start with what you have. God gives us all we need to get started. I have the ideas, the education, the ability. I just need to put them to use. My first 2 podcasts I recorded without much planning. The first recording software I thought to use was QuickTime player since it came installed on my Mac. Once I shared the podcast with people, I was told about GarageBand. I took a GarageBand workshop at the Apple Store. This is my first podcast using GarageBand. I am figuring it out as I go along. If you wait for things to be perfect (environment, conditions, skills set) before you get started, you will never get anything done. Start with what you have. I love the trial by error approach. Since the first 2 podcast episodes, the quality has vastly improved. Of all my writing projects: He Said She Said Football, Mr and Mrs Football, 112 Books, and now View 112 ,each one is better than the last.

 Stay on this journey with me as I figure things out. As for you, be a doer.  What is holding you back from starting something?  

Welcome to the View 112 Podcast! For my birthday (1.12), I made the decision to give podcasting a try. Thank you for going on this journey with me!