One thing I’ve learned in my life is that more thinking isn’t always better.
In fact, I’ve seen a lot of people on the precipice of taking great, courageous actions, but then they overthink it and stop.
They talk themselves out of it.
It’s the salesperson that’s going to pick up the phone, but stops, thinking they should do a little more research first.
It’s the leader that’s going to speak up in an important meeting, but stops, thinking that it might not be the right time to voice their opinion.
It’s the weekend warrior that’s going to sign up for a race, but stops, thinking they’re not quite ready.
I almost did the same thing – multiple times – over the course of the last three weeks.
It started after a conversation I had with a new speaker’s bureau. They wanted some videos, marketing materials, etc., that they could put on their website to help promote me.
No problem, I said. I’ve got plenty of that stuff.
But, deep down, I knew that it was time for my “speaker’s reel” (a short, promo video that all speakers have) to be updated. It was made about three years ago and was getting stale.
So, I thought to myself, how can I do something different than every other speaker out there? Something to set me apart in a sea of “motivational speakers?”
Then I got the crazy idea that I wanted the video to play like a movie trailer.
Think about it – a movie trailer is 2:00-2:30 in length and it only has one purpose:
To get you to watch the movie.
It sounded perfect and I started to geek out over it. I watched the top movie trailers, read about the sequencing and story lines and how they’re created. I even contacted some dude in Hollywood asking if he’d talk to me.
He never responded 🙁
But this is where I’m convinced that the universe conspires to help you, if you’re willing to not overthink it and question whether you’re crazy or completely insane for concocting such an idea.
I thought of someone that I’d done business with about 3 years ago on a site called Upwork (freelancer site). She no longer does work on that platform so I had to google her just to track down her contact info.
It turns out, she now works for a film company. A company that produces MOVIE TRAILERS.
Crazy, huh?
And the rest is history. It’s been a helluva lot of fun to help put something together that is so far outside of my creative boundaries. Invigorating.
Last week we talked about not confusing simple and easy, and my simple take home message is this:
Don’t overthink it. There is very rarely a right time or perfect time, for anything. And ideas that others might think are crazy or nuts are what make you your unique Outperforming best. Don’t forget that.
Keep Outperforming!
