Episode 145. Consistent Podcasting: What to Do When You Don’t Feel Motivated to Create Content

Successful content creators are highly skilled at showing even when they don’t feel motivated to create content. The tips in this episode will help you become a prolific, consistent, and ultimately successful podcaster.

In This Episode:

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Being a successful content creator who shows up even when they don’t feel motivated to create content

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I’m going to be honest. I really considered skipping this week because I’ve got a packed week. Right now, at the time of recording this episode, it’s October 25, 2023, Wednesday. I wrote this script earlier today, in the morning. Here’s what I got planned for the rest of the week:

On Friday morning, we’re flying out to Bangkok for a four-day trip, and we’ll be back on Monday night. Monday mornings are typically when I publish a new podcast episode. 

Between Friday to Monday, I won’t be working as I’ll be having a great time in Bangkok! All of my coaching calls on these days have already been rescheduled ahead of time, so I have an empty calendar on these days. But this also meant I won’t be able to work on my podcast between Friday to Monday, and before this episode is supposed to be released.

Yesterday, I had a meeting with my ex PhD supervisor and the rest of the team, who I still work with occasionally on a contractual basis to write manuscripts. We had a meeting yesterday to discuss revisions for a paper we’re resubmitting, and there’s a really short turnaround deadline for the revisions.

My ex-PhD supervisor asked if we can complete our individual parts of the revisions by Friday of next week. So in my mind, I was thinking about how I need to allocate a lot of time this week before I go to Bangkok, and next week, after I come back from Bangkok, on this time-sensitive task.

However, when this podcast episode is released, there is still time for you to join the first cohort of The Thought Leader Club.

Prior to recording this episode, my brain was fighting me hard and was essentially throwing a tantrum about how we don’t have time to write an episode script this week so let’s just skip this episode even though we’re technically still in a launch for The Thought Leader Club. 

Long story short: my brain was in defeated energy.

To top it off, I also had the thought that writing a podcast script about thought leadership is going to take a long time, versus if I were to write a podcast episode about cats, or my favorite cocktail bars in Singapore, or my favorite K-pop songs of all time.

Because I also had this thought that writing a podcast episode script about the topic of thought leadership is going to take a long time, and I had thoughts about how there are life events happening this week so I don’t have time, of course my brain was low-key throwing a tantrum and didn’t want to write anything.

But here we are. You are listening to this episode right now, and it is published on time. 

Actually, I decided to release this week’s episode a few days earlier than the originally scheduled date of Monday, October 30. So, clearly something changed, because I ended up getting this episode done.

LET ME TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED.

I was planning on skipping this episode and missing a week of the podcast, and how I got myself out of this rut

I recognized this scenario is the exact situation that I’m sure a lot of you experience as well. 

Those days where you know you want to write content… Actually, those days where you need to write content because you made a promise to yourself that you’d post something and now it’s time to actually write that damn thing.

This is about doing what you say you’d do, but now, you’re just stuck. You’re unmotivated. You’re uninspired. You don’t feel like writing anything. This is something all of us go through.

When I realized this is happening right now for me, I made a decision to stop wallowing in my own thoughts of resistance and staying in BLEH energy and started mentally self-coaching myself through this.

Specifically, there were two parts to my thought process here:

First, I decided to recommit to what I promised I’d do. I said I’d do a podcast episode a week for every week of this launch, and next week was the very last episode that would be released during this launch.

Am I going to just let it slide, or am I going to finish this launch with all that I’ve got? The answer was simple. I chose to finish this launch strong, which means I’m committed to doing this podcast episode.

Second, was acknowledging my thoughts about my launch. Because I could see that I was in a bit of “I give up energy.” I recognized that I had a very strong belief of “the longer I sell this and talk about thought leadership and The Thought Leader Club program, the more people will join the next round, and the next, and the next.” What this thought tells me is that I have the belief that “it is going to take a long time.”

But the truth is, I’ve been building my business and brand for years at this point. It’s been 4 whole years. I’ve also been talking about thought leadership for years as well. So it’s not like I’m starting over from scratch right now. This launch isn’t really a brand new one. Sure, the packaging of my program might look different, but I’ve been known to talk about thought leadership for years.

Which means that it’s possible that someone in my audience right now has been following me for ages and is just waiting for me to say the one thing that will help them make a decision about joining.

In other words, my brain was giving me the thought error that this is a new program so I need to build up demand for it and that will “take time”.

Because my brain has strong evidence in the past, where I was selling a brand new program, that it needed time.

Since late 2020 and throughout 2021 and 2022, I have sold iterations of a group program for side hustlers.

In the first launch, I had zero people join. Second launch, two people joined. Third launch, 4 people joined. Then 6 people joined. And for the final group program I sold, 7 people joined. 

So I was using this as evidence for my thought error that The Thought Leader Club program also needs time to see people come in, versus holding the belief that the demand for this is already there, and that I just need to help people bridge the gap. Because there are people, right now, who are ready to join The Thought Leader Club. I know that at this point.

And yes, of course, there are also people in my audience who will be ready to join the next round. But my job now is to focus on the people who want to join this round.

When I was able to recognize my own thought errors and thought patterns, that got me fired up. Now, I was truly ready to recommit to my launch and write this podcast episode.

How I planned and decided on the topic and content of this episode

It’s now time to pick a damn topic to write about. My thought process here was, okay, I promised myself that during the entire duration of my launch, I’d publish one weekly podcast episode that focuses on the topic of thought leadership or building a body of work. But there’s an infinite number of things we could talk about when it comes to thought leadership or building a body of work.

So what the heck do I do?

I decided to start with what was top of mind for me at the moment, which is “Why the heck are some people, who’d be an excellent fit for the program, still not joining The Thought Leader Club?”

Because this is something I’ve been thinking about day after day, for weeks, at this point. 

Why not start with this as the guiding prompt for this podcast episode?

Then all I have to do is, literally, share my thoughts about this question/prompt, and continue to document my stream of thoughts about this question/prompt.

A question I asked myself was, okay, let’s say some folks are having the thought of, “I’ll just join the next round of The Thought Leader Club instead of this upcoming round.” 

If this is what’s potentially on someone’s mind, then how can I, as the coach, help them see why it’s so much better to join this round? Why is joining the first round of anything, the best decision ever? What are the compounding benefits for someone who joins from day 1?

Well, first, my immediate responses to that question were:

  1. The next round starts in March 2024. Why would you want to wait 4 months? So much can happen from Nov 2023 to Feb 2024. You’ll literally be light years ahead when you start to compound your efforts and touchpoints/body of work.
  2. Stop compounding thoughts like “I’m not a thought leader” or “I’m not qualified enough”, and sink deeper and deeper into the hole. Instead, start compounding actual efforts to build your body of work and thought leadership, compounding your sense of belief and identity, and compounding the results you see because of your body of work and thought leadership.
  3. Thought leaders go first. They recognize their own areas for improvement and are willing to be the first to get support for those areas. Become the version of you who goes first and does things first. This can start with joining the first TLC cohort.
  4. Start 2024 with the support you need to build the skill sets and mindsets that will set you up for the rest of 2024.
  5. The first inaugural cohort of any program will always be the most intimate and where the coach can offer the most hands-on support and touchpoints.

Then, I thought, okay, these reasons all make sense. But if someone is listening to this and intellectually they understand these reasons are great reasons to join the upcoming cohort, but they’re still not making a decision to move forward, why would that be happening?

What is their thought that’s holding them back, despite intellectually and logically knowing that this is a great time to join The Thought Leader Club?

The thought process behind how to speak to my audience about my program

My hypothesis is that for these individuals, they don’t see themselves as a thought leader right now. They want to be a thought leader, but right now, they simply don’t believe that they are one. In other words, they’re aspiring thought leaders and hope to become one at some point.

Right now, when they think of The Thought Leader Club, they see it as, “Okay, so I’m supposed to become a thought leader by the end of the 4 months… But I don’t think I’m capable of becoming a thought leader in 4 months.”

That’s the thought that I’m suspecting a lot of people are having, especially those who are highly curious about joining The Thought Leader Club and would be a superb fit for the container.

Right now, they don’t see themselves as a thought leader and they don’t see themselves as capable of magically becoming a thought leader in just 4 months.

This is exactly what I, as the coach, need to be speaking to.

Because here’s the thing: The Thought Leader Club honestly, isn’t a 4 month, one and done thing. Building your thought leadership is a journey. It’s a journey that doesn’t just end in 4 months. It continues on and on until you fully see yourself as a thought leader.

It’s important for me, as the coach, to make sure that for those whom the program is a fantastic fit, to get them into the room, this round, because your journey starts as soon as you commit to it.

The sooner you sign up for The Thought Leader Club and commit to this journey, the sooner you put in the reps to build your thought leadership and body of work.

Compared to someone who joins, let’s say, the third cohort of The Thought Leader Club, imagine what your body of work would be like by the time you join round 3.

Imagine how many more opportunities you’d have brought in by the time round 3 starts, because you started in round 1. Imagine how your self-concept and identity would be one year from now, because you started today.

Ultimately, my job isn’t to convince someone whether or not they’re a thought leader right now. Because chances are, you’re not! You haven’t built that body of work.

Instead, my job as the coach is to help you see that The Thought Leader Club is the bridge to becoming that person you want to be.

It’s my job to straight up tell you that you won’t magically be a thought leader overnight or even by the end of one round. Because if you are someone who values integrity and knows it takes legit time and effort to create a substantial and deep body of work, you’re willing to put in the reps, starting now, and commit to the journey ahead.

It is also my job to tell you that it is NOT a requirement to renew with me round after round and that you need to join every upcoming cohort of The Thought Leader Club in order to see results. NO.

The point is to take the first steps and build momentum now for the journey ahead. START NOW. You have the choice over how long you want to have me walk alongside with you on this journey. It could be one round of the program, two rounds, three. That’s beside the point. The point is that this is a journey.

Right now, you don’t need to believe that you’re already a thought leader. It’s not a requirement. It’s also not a requirement to believe that you will become a thought leader in 4 months.

My goal right now is for you to believe that you CAN do it in the journey ahead. But it’s so, so important to start the journey NOW instead of waiting another 4 months. And another 4 months.

This is exactly what The Thought Leader Club is for. It’s the room for aspiring thought leaders to start putting in the reps to create their body of work and build thought leadership for the years to come.

That is why someone who’s been eyeing The Thought Leader Club should book a discovery call with me ASAP and join before we officially start the next cohort on March 11, 2024.

This is also how I got out of my little rut of feeling like I don’t know what the heck to write about for my upcoming podcast episode and throwing a mini temper tantrum about how I don’t want to work on the podcast so let’s just skip this upcoming week.

Exactly how I got over this hump of inertia when I was about to give up and not write this podcast episode at all

To summarize how exactly I got myself to climb over this hump of… inertia. A block of inertia that was creating so much friction for me to the point where I was literally going to give up and not write this podcast episode… here’s what I did:

  1. First, recommit to your goals. Recommit to your vision. Recommit to what you say you’ll do. If you need to self-coach yourself, do it. If you need to throw a mini temper tantrum like I did, do it. If you need to simply sit through the discomfort before you can get into creative flow, do it. But ultimately, remember what the hell you say you’ll do.
  1. Choose a topic that’s easily accessible to your mind right now. For example, you can talk about something that happened recently. Or something that recently got you fired up and now you have so much to say. Essentially, anything where it’s recent, and all you now have to do is document your thought processes regarding this topic.
  1. Then, simply add some additional sentences for context, supplement any points that you feel like need further explanation, and add on an invitation to work with you.

Here’s my invitation to you today:

You already know what you want. You already know what your goals and dreams are.

But what’s likely happening is that you just don’t want to say them out loud or do anything about it because you are already doubting your ability to reach your goals.

Maybe you’re having thought such as:

  • What I want to do or build is not as legit as someone else who’s in a more formal or traditional role or business 
  • I’m not even in the top 10%, there’s no way I can build thought leadership or become known in my industry 
  • I need more practical experience, training, education, credentials, or accolades before I can start showing up online to share my ideas and experiences
  • I don’t want people to think that I’m trying to make myself look “better” or more “legit” than I actually am. What if they think I’m overselling myself but don’t have enough substance? 
  • Honestly, my LinkedIn profile and resume is just alright. I’m low-key embarrassed for anyone to see my profile or professional history.
  • People are for sure going to judge me for posting on Instagram and LinkedIn  

But notice that these thoughts aren’t coming from you. They’re coming from the voices around you. Your doubts about the dreams and goals you truly want? It’s stemming from someone else’s definition about who you “should” be, what you “should” be doing, and what you “should” be aspiring towards.

This is why it’s my job as your coach to help you first recognize what you truly want, and then to help you commit to that vision, create a plan of action, and equip you with the tools and skills you’ll need to follow through on your plan.

The first step is to acknowledge your real dreams and goals, the ones you truly want for yourself, not because anyone told you that you should.

The second step is to commit to your goals. Commit to building a body of work so you can pave the way for your goals. Commit to becoming the person who builds the skill sets and mindsets necessary to make your goals happen.

Then, I want to invite you to book a discovery call with me so we can have an actual conversation around:

  1. Your dreams and goals in the next 1-3 years
  2. The coaching, skills, and actions you need to make these dreams happen, and 
  3. How The Thought Leader Club will support and guide you with all the above

You can schedule a discovery call by first filling out a short application form on the sales page for The Thought Leader Club, which is: www.cheryltheory.com/program. After you submit the form, you’ll get a link to book a discovery call. 

Finally, as we now come to the end of today’s conversation, I want you to offer this one last thing, which is that right now, you have two options: 

  • Option 1: Focusing on whether or not you’re a thought leader (and trying to convince yourself that you are)
  • Option 2: Focusing on building a strong body of work, becoming known for your story and opinions, communicating your ideas in a structured yet compelling way, and continuing to hone your craft and skill sets 

If both option 1 and 2 require equal amounts of cognitive effort as well as intentional action-taking, which option will you choose?

I’ll let you decide.

Sounds good? Awesome. Let’s get to work.

Listen to the Episode

Additional Resources

THE AUDIT: BUILD A DIFFERENTIATED & TIMELESS BODY OF WORK

– Audit 9 different parts of your body of work

– Identify the specific areas you can improve on right away to set your business apart from the rest

– Book a free 60-minute AUDIT CALL with Cheryl to create an actionable plan together

Get the free audit: https://cheryllau.com/audit 

Other Episodes You’ll Enjoy

Episode 153. How to Grow a Successful Podcast and Increase Podcast Listeners

Episode 143. Building Thought Leadership: A Behind-the-Scenes of My Podcast Rebrand

Episode 140. Best Tips for a Weekly Video Podcast

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