Fear of Failure?
I've had different versions of my website for the last 12+ years. I created the first one when I started publishing novels and needed an online presence. It was static and I received very little traffic. I installed WordPress and saw an uptick in traffic, but I found I didn't have time to nurture my site. I went back to a static site and, surprise, lost traffic.
When my husband lost his job after 29 years, I decided to reinvent my site and market it to writers instead of readers. I've been hard at work adding posts and trying to find some affiliates.
I decided that I wanted to offer my own "product" as another stream of revenue (especially because I wasn't seeing any real action from my affiliate marketing).
My product? A course: Writing a Fantastic First Chapter.
I planned out the lessons, wrote the text for each lesson, made PDFs, and created assignments to help students learn the material better. I uploaded all of that to the platform I chose.
The last piece I need to do is make a video for each module for those students who would prefer a video. I've created all the Power Point slideshows and all I need to do is add audio to them.
I'm almost done.
But I'm not.
I keep putting off adding the audio to the slideshows. I've cleaned, done laundry, walked around the neighborhood, talked to people, gone shopping, and even gone to the gym.
All to avoid making my videos.
Why?
Fear of failure.
In my head, my course is successful and my online business has taken off. In my head, I have students eager to take my course--they're begging to get into my course. In my head, I'm helping people learn how to write a fantastic first chapter and helping them to get that much closer to their dream of publishing a novel. In my head, I'm making money and helping with family finances.
In my head.
Once I make the course available, well, that's a whole other ballgame. Then all the things in my head might prove to be false. I could fail miserably. I could have zero students. I could have nothing to offer on my website.
And my entire online business could go down the drain.
Fear of failure.
Anyone else experience this?
I know the remedy: sit down, add the audio to my slideshows, upload the videos to my modules, and launch the course.
That's no different from what I had to do with my novels. Just. Get. It. Done.
So: butt in chair, audio on, and here I go to create the videos for my course.
Recent Comments
7
Is it fear of failure or fear of success Rebecca.
You have done so much work designing and writing your course that you have to put it on the market to allow people to have the opportunity to accept or reject it.
Positive thoughts bring positive results so you should be thinking in terms of it being a great success and what you are going to do with the money you earn from it.
There is only one way to go for you. GO FOR IT.
Derek
Could be but not necessary. Our subconscious mind take over sometimes but reactions are always based on emotions.
I worked with many product developers, myself included who have problems finishing products.
One of the subconscious reaction is seeking perfection... because this is your product, you want it to be the best. Therefore, you hold back unless you can deliver your best effort... any small distraction becomes an excuse to postpone getting it done because subconsciously you are telling yourself, you can do a better job when the circumstances are better...
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Great post!
You make a great job!
I think it's easier to fail than to succeed. Most people are more afraid of success because we all know what a failure is. It's a feeling we are familiar with. While success for many people is an unknown aspect of life that can be scary. For a long time, I was scared to succeed and that really slowed us down in life, it's so much easier to try and see. You did a great job so do not hesitate to try your luck, I'm sure it will be a success, just believe in what you do.
Ingrid