I was listening to a podcast after months and months of working on quite possibly the most stretching project I’ve ever done. As I listened to this marketing guru share her list of successes and tips on how she got there, fear came over me. All I could think of was how I was doing it all wrong, I had to change this and that before ever completing. Or maybe I should just start over. The more I listened to the podcast, the longer my to-do list got, the more overwhelmed I became and the further from my purpose I got.
I was completely overwhelmed because I was comparing my personal project to her completed success and it was keeping me from finishing what I had started. More importantly, it was keeping me back from what I believe God had given me to work on. Fear of failure. Fear of not impacting people. Fear of getting it all wrong. Fear of pouring so much time into something that would see no return.
It paralyzed me. On top of that, I was so disappointed in myself for not finishing sooner. For not hitting my “launch date” and for getting caught up in this cycle of comparison and perfectionism.
Have you ever felt this way? Can I tell you, you’re not the only one. But I also have to tell you what I’ve learned: turn off the podcast.
When you feel stuck on one part of your project and you think you need one more piece of advice before moving forward. Turn it off. When you want to know *exactly* how they got there just because your curious. Turn it off. When you feel like you can’t enjoy the journey. Turn it off. When you feel like your work is crap. Turn it off.
The underlying issue? Procrastination. Comparison. Perfectionism. All things I thought I didn’t struggle with. But that day, listening to the podcast as I claimed to be working on my own project, I was hit with the thought: turn it off. You don’t need this right now.
“But these are all great things she is saying” I thought to myself. Trying to defend this cycle I have been in.
But I decided to turn it off. I haven’t turned it back on since. Have I wanted to? yes. But I go back to my purpose for starting this project in the first place: to serve others. Thankfully, since then I have made huge strides in my project and I’m almost finished (!!!). I just felt I should share some of my struggles with this in case you may be going through something similar.
There are a million resources out there for whatever you are working on but if they are hindering you instead of helping, turn it off. You have control over what you are letting in.
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