Seven months ago, I ended my 34-year corporate career in order to focus full-time on my writing and speaking.
That’s a big switch after that long.
I had already started writing my eighth book (which I’ll be telling your more about in the weeks ahead), so that’s where I focused most of my energy. The manuscript was due at the publisher a few weeks ago, and I didn’t want to miss my deadline.
I figured that would be easy, since I wouldn’t be distracted by client meetings, Zoom calls, travel and the normal stuff of a “day job.” I was excited to devote my full attention to the process.
Best of all, I figured I wouldn’t get writer’s block – that thing every author faces where they sit in front of a screen with their fingers on a keyboard and there’s no movement. No ideas show up, and no words appear. You feel like you simply have nothing to say, and never will. You promise to give half your income to charity in exchange for a coherent thought.
But I knew I would have plenty of time, so that wouldn’t happen. If I got stuck, I’d just take a break for an hour or so, then jump back in and I’d have fresh inspiration.
The inspiration didn’t happen. And the writer’s block was stronger than it had ever been.
So, I knew I needed to be inspired. I went to my favorite source of inspiration – podcasts. Whenever I’m driving, I don’t listen to talk radio and rarely turn on music. Usually, I just ride in silence and enjoy the quiet (it’s an introvert thing).
Podcasts are different. The good ones are like sitting with someone at a coffee shop and talking about . . . well, just stuff. Life stuff. Interesting stuff. In fact, I’m drawn to the ones that are more conversational than polished. When I listen to the right ones, I’m inspired.
I only have a few that I focus on, so I make sure they really fill my tank. I rarely recommend them to anyone else, because we all have different needs. (I went on Google a few minutes ago, and there are currently 2.4 million podcasts out there.) For me, they’re very specific to my needs (I’ll list them at the bottom if you’re interested).
But my #1 go-to podcast is All it Takes is a Goal with Jon Acuff.
He’s the one who most makes me feel like I’m in the coffee shop with him. He’s an amazing corporate speaker, and we both have the same publisher (Baker Publishing Group). His interviews are totally down-to-earth, and conversational, and humorous, and there’s always practical takeaways. He’s wickedly wise and asks the questions we’d ask over a caramel macchiato.
For me, his most valuable episodes are the non-interview ones . . . where he simply talks about his own ideas. I always come away with a ton of stuff to ponder, and new ways to process old ways of thinking.
He’s that good.
And a few months ago, I broke up with him. Haven’t listened since.
Why? Because my wife suggested it. And she’s always been amazingly insightful.
She knew I was struggling with writer’s block, and observed that I was constantly sharing all the cool ideas I heard from Jon’s podcast. She figured that I had so many ideas swirling around in my head that there wasn’t enough room for the ideas related to my book.
The podcast ideas had become distractions from what I needed to do:
I needed to focus.
So, I stopped listening. To Jon, and everybody else.
And my writer’s block disappeared.
And I made my deadline – early.
Do I miss those podcasts? Yep – but I’ve been amazed how productive I’ve become with my writing when I removed the extra stuff. The good stuff – stuff that fluffed out my brain so the ideas I needed weren’t accessible.
Now, I just finished making the final revisions after my editor went through the manuscript and returned it.
It was the easiest and most fun I’ve ever had writing.
Jon and I are back together again. He doesn’t know we broke up, and doesn’t know we’re reunited. But that’s OK. I just have to be careful not to binge my way through the past six months of his podcast episodes.
Breaking up was hard to do (sounds like a song), but I learned a ton about how to clear the distractions and accomplish important things.
That could be valuable in the future.
What about you? Do you need to evaluate your inputs that are causing you to procrastinate because you can’t focus on what matters most?
Shoot me a note at mike@mikebechtle.com. I’d love to know what it all looks like for you!
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If you’re interested, here’s the podcasts I listen to the most often. It’s not a complete list, they’re on a lot of different perspectives, and they’re not in any particular order:
- All it Takes is a Goal – Jon Acuff – described above
- Online Marketing Made Easy with Amy Porterfield – great stuff about digital marketing
- Speakernomics – conversations within the National Speakers Association (I’m a member)
- The Speaker Lab with Grant Baldwin – He wrote “The Successful Speaker”
- Ordinary to Badass with Marie Sonneman – She’s a friend, so it’s fun to hear her take on things.
- The Boundless Show with Lisa Anderson – A Focus on the Family program for young Christian singles. I’m not single, but have been on her show a few times and listening keeps me fresh about how young people think.
- Hey, Creator with Jeff Goins – He’s also a friend and mentor, and riffs about his random thoughts on things. Usually takes what other people see and takes the opposite perspective just to see what happens.
- On Leadership with Scott Miller (from FranklinCovey) – The world’s largest leadership podcast, and Scott (another friend) lands the biggest names in the business. My second favorite podcast.
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