Have you ever listened to a podcast? That’s a fancy tech word for someonerecording themselves talking and then charging you to listen. In so many instances, you think, “I could do that.” Soetimes you think, “I could better than that”.
Fear is what holds the 90% back and opens up the highway for the remaining 10%
The difference between the voice you’re listening to on the podcast and the voice in your heaad that tellin you that you could do it too, perhaps even better, is fear … fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fearstarting something you might not be able to finish.
Sit in boredom- even if only for a few hours, days if possible- start to take in the world around you, write out or think about what is working, what isn’t, things in your home or environment that could use fixing or attention. Watch some funny movies or a few documentaries, read some books, go on walks, ask lots of questions, and recognize what sparks you. Meditation helps the entrepreneur process too. This can be difficult because grandmas have spent so much of their lives “mommying” that when their kids are grown, they must re-learn how to think about their own needs first.Monitor conversations – specifically in the space you are interested in- Reddit and Quora are underutilized platforms. Get in there. Medium is also a great way to read deeper thought-leadership. Reach out to these authors. Connect and perhaps you can collaborate. I have found better content on Medium than on LinkedIn.Be vulnerable yet authentic- this is the toughest one of all, but you must put yourself out there to get feedback and engagement. My latest venture is a podcast with one of my best friends about grandma-ing (“Aba and Lolli”). It started as more of a fun project with the idea of building it into a business. I have begun discussing very personal things in our podcast that have happened in my life, and I am receiving some of the most heartfelt responses I have ever encountered. My stories are helping others. (And isn’t that why we do what we do on this planet?) And as proof that people are responding to this authenticity, the podcast is only three months old and we already have interested sponsors, celebrity guests, and merchandise outlets who want in.Approach as a Designer- everything I want to build and grow I always color out with crayons or a storyboard on canvas. I play with the concepts. Pinterest is great for inspirational quotes and visuals. Opportunities to collaborate with others often emerge within the pins, sometimes through something as simple as signing up for a complimentary product. No exaggeration. I have hundreds of these conversations and shares going on right now.Tie it into a cause- I do not necessarily mean a non-profit. For ex., it could be anything that helps our sick planet. Whether you believe in climate change or not, trees are being cut down, species have been rendered extinct, oceans are filling with more toxins. The list seems to grow daily. And the environment is just one issue. There are tons of “causes” needing defenders . . . and you never know what that will lead to. I have started turning my entire property into a food forest, and have begun reporting on that journey on my blog and podcast. Lo and behold, one of our first interested sponsors is an organic food plant company. Amazing.
Fear is what holds the 90% back and opens up the highway for the remaining 10%. The good news is there is an answer to fear. Its name is knowledge. Have you ever watched a small child, excited, trembling, having second thoughts as they approached that brand new bikes, or a grownup who never learned to swim, starring out at the endless, bottomless, stretch of blue water, waiting to consume them as soon as the swimming instructor orders them into the swimming pool, you know the fear associated with NOT KNOWING. Knowledge changes all of that. You kick yourself and wonder why you were so reluctant to try, why you wasted all of that time sitting on the sideline with the 90%.
Sit in boredom- even if only for a few hours, days if possible- start to take in the world around you, write out or think about what is working, what isn’t, things in your home or environment that could use fixing or attention. Watch some funny movies or a few documentaries, read some books, go on walks, ask lots of questions, and recognize what sparks you. Meditation helps the entrepreneur process too. This can be difficult because grandmas have spent so much of their lives “mommying” that when their kids are grown, they must re-learn how to think about their own needs first.Monitor conversations – specifically in the space you are interested in- Reddit and Quora are underutilized platforms. Get in there. Medium is also a great way to read deeper thought-leadership. Reach out to these authors. Connect and perhaps you can collaborate. I have found better content on Medium than on LinkedIn.Be vulnerable yet authentic- this is the toughest one of all, but you must put yourself out there to get feedback and engagement. My latest venture is a podcast with one of my best friends about grandma-ing (“Aba and Lolli”). It started as more of a fun project with the idea of building it into a business. I have begun discussing very personal things in our podcast that have happened in my life, and I am receiving some of the most heartfelt responses I have ever encountered. My stories are helping others. (And isn’t that why we do what we do on this planet?) And as proof that people are responding to this authenticity, the podcast is only three months old and we already have interested sponsors, celebrity guests, and merchandise outlets who want in.Approach as a Designer- everything I want to build and grow I always color out with crayons or a storyboard on canvas. I play with the concepts. Pinterest is great for inspirational quotes and visuals. Opportunities to collaborate with others often emerge within the pins, sometimes through something as simple as signing up for a complimentary product. No exaggeration. I have hundreds of these conversations and shares going on right now.Tie it into a cause- I do not necessarily mean a non-profit. For ex., it could be anything that helps our sick planet. Whether you believe in climate change or not, trees are being cut down, species have been rendered extinct, oceans are filling with more toxins. The list seems to grow daily. And the environment is just one issue. There are tons of “causes” needing defenders . . . and you never know what that will lead to. I have started turning my entire property into a food forest, and have begun reporting on that journey on my blog and podcast. Lo and behold, one of our first interested sponsors is an organic food plant company. Amazing.
