If you want to know how to gain confidence to make videos, learn how to beat you’d have to go deep and beyond videos themselves.
For once, it’s critical to stop thinking about videos as a content type or how powerful videos are, and so on.
It’s easy enough to list out the power of online video, the tools for webinars you could use, or several different ways you can use Loom (just one of the tools available for you).
I think all that is useless if you don’t develop the mindset (and a teeny-weeny bit of shamelessness apart from conquering the “Imposter syndrome” — which is a terrible thing stopping many of us in our tracks.
You don’t want things like these (the mess in your head) hamper your own potential. You want to overcome imposter syndrome, take action, continue taking action (and stay consistent), and succeed.
Talking about potential, here are some awesome ways to make money as a content creator
Let’s see what’s stopping you, what Imposter Syndrome Is, the Mindset you need, and how to overcome Imposter Syndrome (once and forever):
Remind Yourself (and Cherish) How Far You’ve Come
How I Overcame the Imposter Syndrome
Remind Yourself of How Far You’ve Come
Chances are that you are pretty much accomplished — you could have spent years at your job (doing what you do). You might know something about “something” way better than most people can hope to know.
It’s surprising that even some very accomplished, skilled, and talented people suffer from the “the great art of not doing videos”.
Lauren Lefkowitz is an Executive Leadership Coach and does regular live streams on LinkedIn on various aspects of leadership, careers, and more. She is a recovering perfectionist herself (see more below).
Here’s a specific live stream I want you to take a look at:
We just don’t celebrate our achievements enough.
As if that wasn’t enough, we actively belittle ourselves, rubbish our achievements, think that what you achieved is no big deal, and severely compromise the foundations you worked so hard to build.
Your achievements deserve an applause.
Which then helps you solidify your mindset, overcome the dreaded imposter syndrome, and take action.
Develop & Nurture The Mindset
In real life, if you had to influence or persuade, you’d never pass a tissue (with something important written on it and have it shipped to your potential client).
You’d go there. In person. Sit there. Look in the eye. Shake hands (or we’ll get back to that soon enough, hopefully).
If you can’t (say you have a global business, modern-day content creation thing), then you do it with videos.
It is important to think of it this way — video is the type of content that gets you the most traction, the best engagement, the maximum number of leads, and the maximum impact you could make as a small business owner or a content creator.
So, you know it’s more important than anything you’d rather do.
Come rain or snow, it’s best to overcome any kind of a shipwreck inside your head as far as “making videos” go.
Overcome The Imposter Syndrome
What is Imposter Syndrome, you ask?
It’s a fancy term for the whiny, shrill, and often overpowering voice in your head that keeps telling you that “you aren’t good enough”.
Or that “you are an imposter for trying to tell the world what to do, or how to do something when you barely got anything figured out”.
It’s all too pervasive, this imposter syndrome thing.
If you suffer from imposter syndrome, you are not alone.
According to Lauren Cochran of Podia, more than 70% people suffer from Imposter Syndrome.
She puts it nicely:
“It’s [Imposter Syndrome] is a beast of a burden to bear”
Read Lauren’s post on Podia titled Feel Like a Fraud? Here’s How to Overcome Your Imposter Syndrome and learn about the types of Imposter Syndrome, How to manage imposter syndrome as a content creator or entrepreneur, and more.
Of all the challenges content creators and entrepreneurs have, this shouldn’t be one of them.
In a seminal study by the Behavioral Science Research Institute published in the International Journal of Behavioral Science by Jaruwan Sakulku and James Alexander
The “Impostor Phenomenon” was first described by Dr Pauline Clance, from her observations in a clinical setting (Clance, 1985).
She identifies it as this:
“Individuals with the Impostor Phenomenon experience intense feelings that their achievements are undeserved and worry that they are likely to be exposed as a fraud. This causes distress and maladaptive behavior (e.g. Clance, 1985; Harvey & Katz, 1985;Kolligian & Sternberg, 1991; Sonnak & Towell, 2001).”
Yes, that’s how far this Imposter Syndrome goes. (I suspect it’s as old as mankind itself).
Even tribal chiefs must have thought “Really? Me? Being the Chief?”
I suffer from imposter syndrome all the time, even while writing this blog post, working on my online courses, doing YouTube videos, doing live streams, and more.
How I overcame the Imposter Syndrome [& Still Trying to]
For a long, loooooong time, I just didn’t start. Or do anything remotely related to videos (I still don’t. At least, not as much as some of my peers do).
I spent several weeks and months trying to consume the kind of video content that other people have been putting up — on social media, on YouTube, and even signed up for a few online courses.
I’ll tell you this: I wasn’t impressed (most of the time). While it’s encouraging to see others take the plunge and create videos for their YouTube channels, online courses, coaching programs, and even live streaming on social media, I realized that most of them aren’t different from you and I.
For all the worry I had about making videos, I was pushing myself too far with exalted expectations from myself (when I didn’t have to have such high expectations from the videos I create).
Taking Action By doing Videos
Sitting down, pressing the record button, and creating videos? That’s the exciting (albeit frustrating part).
Most people just don’t hit the “record button” enough.
I tried.
I first used Loom to practice. Just do videos (don’t publish them). I tried, and tried, and tried.
I deleted more videos than all of the videos uploaded on YouTube combined (Just an exaggeration, but it does feel that way).
Ever so slowly, I started publishing videos.
Here are some YouTube videos (I still don’t show myself as a talking head. These are all screen share videos I create with Loom or QuickTime Player).
Here are some online courses I am working on.
Check out this live stream I did (used Restream)
Take a look at this social media video I created for LinkedIn.
Most of them suck.
But I do it.
Letting go of perfection For Videos
I’ve been an advocate of taking action for a long time now (especially when it comes to things that relate to digital marketing — such as to ensure that you write regularly with a publishing velocity, staying active on social media, running email marketing programs, and so on.
That was easy enough for me because I do this for a living.
Videos? Nah nag.
It was hard to let go of perfection even if I did take action and create videos. This was where the “perfectionist” in me (I guess we all have this bug somewhere) wouldn’t let go. Spending hours on editing, deleting videos just because they didn’t seem right, or because I didn’t like my video background.
The hardest part of making videos wasn’t making videos themselves: it was to let go of perfection.
The need to “not” spend hours trying to make videos perfect, editing them for days or weeks, or not publishing videos at all.
I have one piece of advice: let go of that devil called “Mr. Perfect” — it does more harm and no good.
Reminding Myself: What’s My Motivation to do videos?
I’ve been doing digital marketing for 18 years now.
For most of the time I was working as a digital marketer, I have been a ghost writer for blog posts, or a mere somebody working behind the scenes for brands, helping businesses with Facebook ads, Quora Ads, Google ads, Twitter ads, or LinkedIn ads and so on.
Years went by with me just creating landing pages for campaigns with tools like Unbounce, leadpages, or Instapage.
As you might have guessed by now I am usually not visible, and people usually don’t know that it’s me working behind the scenes.
This role did its part. I did well for myself. It paid well, I sustained my business for almost two decades, and I am happy.
The only problem?
I was invisible. No one knows me. No one barely ever sees me. I never got to “influence”, “move the needles”, or “push the envelope”
It’s time for me to show up, rear my head up, send my voice out, and show myself. It’s time I do my part to help (however I can), and speak up before it all fades out.
More importantly, I don’t want to end up retiring somewhere without ever trying something that I could easily do.
What are your thoughts on how to overcome Imposter Syndrome? Are you struggling to hit the “record button”?
Are you trying, practicing, creating, teaching, coaching, consulting, or still deleting the videos that you tried to make?
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