How overly optimistic thinking holds us back
Hello Friend,
Sit back and get cozy. I’m about to share a story that highlights the “do as I say, not as I do” aspect of being a freelancer. Or maybe it’s a “doctor fails to take her own medicine” type of story. I prefer to think of it as a hero’s journey but maybe that’s because I have an overinflated sense of myself (like some of those “bro” marketers on LinkedIn, but without the bluster).
I’ve recently decided to switch my business from being content-creation-focused (writing and editing) to being strategy-focused. After taking a 5-day boot camp on strategy, I joined a mastermind group, which started last week.
So far, it’s been fantastic. I know this is the right direction for me.
Over the Christmas break, I had some time on my hands and started thinking about whether or not I should revise my marketing strategy to let people know about my new focus.
But, gentle reader, I didn’t.
Here’s why. Because I got it in my head that someone would read my first LinkedIn post about content strategy, and hire me right away. I, being brand new to offering it, would fall apart, fail miserably, and out myself as the great content strategy fraud. The Bernie Madoff of content strategy, if you will.
I thought about taking action. I pondered it. I agonized over it. Then I got hungry and ate while I contemplated it. In the end, I did nothing. I told myself to wait until I felt more confident in my abilities.
Those of you who know me know that this is the exact opposite of what I advise people to do, so we can add the word hypocrite to fraud. Fraudulent hypocrite, maybe? Or hypocritical fraud?
How this thinking hurts us
We often hear about how negative thinking (this will never work) can hold us back, but we hear less about how positive thinking (what if it does work initially and then I fail because I took action too soon?) stops us.
This posi-negative thinking (my guess is Germans have a special word for it that involves an umlaut*) has two very important components:
Overly positive thinking: What if it works too well?
Overly negative thinking: I won’t be able to handle it.
This hurts us because it stops us from taking early action for fear that success will harm us, even in situations where early action means we’re more likely to be successful.
Why it’s harmful to wait
The positive thinking in this mindset is somewhat delusional, like a tone-deaf person auditioning on a singing show. Very few marketing tactics work immediately, except maybe advertising during the Super Bowl. But I’m not Apple or PepsiCo, nor do I have their market share. Yet.
It takes time to build up a reputation for expertise. Just ask Galileo. Almost no one would read one post about content strategy and think, “Man, I didn’t know that existed before but I do now and I’m definitely going to hire this person who managed to write 250 coherent words about it. Find her, sign her up, and let’s get to it.”
I’m more of an acquired taste than an immediate crowd-pleaser. My marketing has always been more relational. I focus on building up my expertise and growing relationships with people, which takes months.
If I waited until I’m done the mastermind (June) before I start marketing, then it could be a year from now before people think about hiring me.
If I start marketing now, chances are by the time I’m done the mastermind people will begin viewing me as an authority on the subject, and start engaging more with me.
The other half of the thinking
Of course, the other half of that negative thinking is that things will fall apart if someone reaches out to me, of which there is very little evidence.
I’m reasonably intelligent and have shown I can figure things out if I need to. These days, there are tons of online resources to help me, and I’m part of a mastermind group I can turn to for guidance on the off chance someone hires me for content strategy tomorrow (which is still highly unlikely).
So even if someone does reach out to me right away, the worst-case scenario is still implausible.
I’d love to say that I realized I should market myself right away on my own. It feels a lot better to be the architect of your own epiphany, especially in a hero’s journey.
But I didn’t. It took the leader of the mastermind telling us at the first meeting, “Start marketing yourself now. You need time to build your audience, and if anyone hires you, you’re smart enough to figure it out. Don’t wait until you’re finished this program, get started now.”
When she said that, I had a few immediate realizations.
I should start marketing myself immediately (which I’ve now done).
I was doing exactly what I advocate against—waiting until I felt comfortable and confident before taking action.
Sometimes we don’t even realize it’s a lack of confidence holding us back until we thoroughly examine our thoughts. I told myself I was being smart and avoiding wasting any potential client’s time, but really I was holding myself back out of fear that I couldn’t do it.
Start marketing now, even if you’re not quite ready
If you’re starting a program or taking steps to learn something new, don’t wait until you’re done to talk about it in your marketing. Start now, so by the time you’ve finished the program (or course, or area of study) people will already see you as the authority you’ve become.
If you’re really nervous about it, talk about what you’re learning as you’re learning it. “Here’s something new I learned today about how koalas can better market themselves” is the sort of thing you might want to post.
Just kidding. Koalas are already great at marketing. Just look at them. They don’t need help.
If you wait, you run the risk of finishing a program full of enthusiasm and optimism for the future, only to have it take months before your first clients come in. And that can be incredibly disheartening because then all you have to occupy your mind is wondering where all the clients are and looking up cute pictures of koalas.
For anyone who needs to read this
Stop waiting to feel comfortable or confident before you take action. Remember, confidence comes from knowing that whatever happens (good or bad) you can handle it. It doesn’t come from believing that everything will go perfectly.
Waiting to take action doesn’t always result in better results. Sometimes it just kills your momentum, and that can be very bad for business, and for your mindset.
Here’s to your continued freelance success,
Heidi
*I just learned the word weltschmerz and now I have a lot to contemplate about my life and also how wonderful the German language is.