Are you suffering from information overload? Do you have so many ideas you feel paralyzed and can’t start your next project? At this point, you can’t feel the difference between healthy realism and crippling self-doubt?
Many of us get stuck in the learning phase before taking on a new project or challenge in life. It can feel like a legit pursuit until you realize that project has been on the shelf for years and you’re still studying up on how to get started. At some point, you have to say to yourself – I’ve done enough research to start. You could also ask yourself, “What’s really keeping me stuck?”
We learn the most by doing. Any questions you have before you begin will be answered by actually trying things out. The fear of “doing it wrong” can hold you back from using what you have and taking a risk. I’ll tell you a secret – your project will only be amazing if you make LOTS of mistakes. The more mistakes the better!
We’re not talking mistakes you made because you didn’t put any care or time into your efforts. Even the best-laid plans will result in a good number of errors that couldn’t be foreseen by the maker. These are opportunities. We don’t start off with a completed masterpiece. It takes several iterations before your creation will be who it will eventually be.
How do you jump off the information overload wagon?
- Unplug from outside advice and focus on creating your thing.
- If you get stuck, go ahead and gather research on your specific challenges, but use what you find immediately. Make a habit of using the information you gather right away. This will keep you doing instead of stewing.
- While you’re at it, unplug altogether. Stop looking at news headlines, your Facebook feed, Instagram images, and tune into your inner voice. All of these platforms of connection take up real estate in your brain.
If you’re a highly-sensitive creative, social media will zap the energy you need to get things done, or even maintain your mental health if you have anxiety and depression like me. You can get off the comparison train, or the “everything has been done already” helicopter ride, by staying off these channels as much as possible.
Once you’ve started to clear your mind, get your ideas in order. If you’ve been keeping all your ideas in your head, or in too many containers, you may already have an entire project complete without being aware. Put all of your writing and ideas in one place. Focus on that realm instead of the what others are doing and never-ending preparation.
I use an amazing system to keep my projects in order and capture all of my ideas. I didn’t realize how much I’d written, researched, and fleshed out until I put it all into Scrivener. Now I can see I already have five courses written, all over 50% complete!!
I’ll be sharing this system, and a template for creating an online product from start to finish, in a course launching in early January. You can learn more about it here.
Once you’ve semi-closed the open portal of overwhelm (aka the Internet), it’s time to connect to your BEST and most original source of creativity, your own inner knowing.
Take action each day, and make lots of mistakes!
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