Takeaway 01
By: Madhurima Sappatti
Tags: Lessons Learned, Journaling, Evolving, Growth, Personal Thoughts

This is a journal entry from 11th September 2021.

Yesterday was meant to be an amazing day for me.

I had spent the last two months working on a small introductory course. It was meant to be a test course for another big course that I have been planning for the past year.

I wanted to see stats, build a community by inviting a new audience that fit into my target market. It was meant to be really huge.

My equipment was pretty basic.

I used my laptop’s webcam because most of the course was meant to be a presentation with just my head visible from the corner.

I used a Boya mic for recording (something that I have been using for my podcast for the last two seasons).

I also used noise-canceling headphones and edited my recording on Windows Movie Maker.

I tried to record multiple times, but something always ended up wrecking the recording, be it loud noises or bad lighting.

One day, I don’t even know how it happened, but everything fell into place and I managed to record the entire thing with minimum distractions!

The course came out to be awesome, the content was great, the recording and visuals were good, considering my equipment was basic, and everything looked and sounded really good!

I launched my program and was waiting for the course to start working its magic!

After a few hours, however, I got a notification telling me that my course was hidden because it did not fit into the guidelines set by the platform. I was shocked as I checked the reasoning behind it.

It was things like bad lighting, the recording wasn’t in HD, and at some places, there was a buzzing noise…

Damn.

To say I was pissed, irritated, and exhausted was understating my emotions. I was glad that the content wasn’t the reason behind my course being hidden, it was the fact that my recording wasn’t the best.

I was annoyed that small-time creators like me were unable to share our content because everything wasn’t perfect.

I knew that I had to re-record everything if I wanted my course to be out there. A small part of me tried to feel grateful and look at the positive side of things that this gave the opportunity to redo everything but at a higher quality, but the irritation didn’t go away.

I put up a story to let people know that there was some issue with the course and that I will be re-uploading it soon. I also told them that I will be off the grid for a while to rest and relax otherwise I would burn out. I switched off everything and went to sleep, hoping that I would feel better the next day.

However, when I woke up today morning, that nagging feeling remained.

And I realized why. I keep telling creatives that perfection is over-rated, I believe that you can put something out there and then improve on it as you grow. Progress over perfection.

And here I had a reminder that told me that this might not work in real life.

I decided to have a chat with myself. After all, the answers to some of the most difficult questions are found within.

This is how the chat went —

Me — I worked so damn hard to get this course out there. You know that!

My soul — I agree! You worked really hard!

Me — Then why did this happen?

My Soul — Because your work did not meet the standards of the platform you wish to publish on.

Me — I get that! But-

My Soul — Look, these are the standards of the platform. You knew that. Someone is investing their time and energy into watching your content, they have to make sure that your content meets their standards!

Me — I know! But does that mean small-time creators like me need to have the best of the best to create awesome content to put it up on sites like these?

My Soul — Yeah. Listen, this is a matter of perception. The site did not hate your content. Your content is awesome, but the quality of the recording was good but not great. This is not about you. It is about their standards when it comes to quality. Think of it like this. It is their duty -

Me — Hehe duty.

My Soul — Hehe yeah *rolls their multi-dimensional eyes*, you weird kid. It is their duty to include content that meets their standards because the learner/student is spending and investing their time in viewing your content. They want to make sure that you get the best opportunity to succeed. And to do that they need for you to rise up and evolve. You can still create content with the things you have available and share it on the platforms that you have been on for the past few months. But if you want to get the opportunity to teach a bigger audience, you have to get better equipment. So… what are you going to do?

Me — Damn. Didn’t need to call me out like that.

My Soul — It is what I do.

Me — I think I am going to rise up and evolve… as you said. I have been recording content for a while now… I think it is time for an upgrade. Plus, I don't ever want my content to be rejected because it did not meet the standards of a platform.

My Soul — Yeah?

Me — Yeahhhhhh!!

My Soul — So, how are you going to go about that?

Me — Don’t I deserve some rest? I just found my key takeaway!

My Soul — Nah man. You know I don’t work like that.

Me — Damn, you are right. Hmmm, I am going to create some offers to build up and market my Patreon and start connecting with people on LinkedIn and Clubhouse to create awareness, get clients, help people, earn a lot of money so that I can buy all the equipment I require to further evolve my content.

My Soul — Damn. Noice.

Me — Thanks!

My Soul — But didn’t you feel weird on Clubhouse?

Me — Dude, I love you, but I think imma enter that door tomorrow. I have had enough learning for today.

My Soul — Fair enough. Now go ahead and rest yourself so that you can enter the battlefield with glory!

Me — Yes! We are about to conquer my content marketing strategy and grow sooooo much! SO many new opportunities await!

My Soul — YESSSSSSSSSS! Let’s gooo!!! How are you planning on resting by the way?

Me — Imma create a publication to share my takeaways and then, maybe watch Doctor Who? I have been meaning on watching that for a while.

My Soul — Smort. Alright, love, I am going to rest now. Hit me up if you need anything!

Me — Bye queen!

Anyways, if you guys stayed here for this long, this is how a typical day goes in my head. It is weird, quirky, sassy, and full of wisdom, and weird references.

Follow this publication for more conversations with me and my soul and for some key takeaways!

Tell me in the comments what is the one thing you plan to do to evolve in your life so that a particular aspect of your life is never rejected! Also, let me know if you had any other takeaway from this entry!