Knowing When to Walk Away

I tried something new this month and while I think the experiments went well, I don't think I'll be doing them again anytime soon. The one thing I have learned about feeling empowered is that we have to know when something doesn't work for us and be able to walk away before investing too much time and energy. So, what did I do today that has me blogging on an "off" day?

SPREECAST & USTREAM

Three shots from my live streaming experiments.

Top left -- Spreecast of BIAD LIVE
Top right -- Spreecast of BIAD LIVE
Bottom left - Ustream of 10 on the 10th LIVE

You can watch the 10 on the 10th episode here.
and
the Book-in-a-Day episode here. (The sound doesn't start until 16:06).

It has nothing to do with SPREECAST or USTREAM directly, I actually LOVE their platforms. Each has pros and cons, and nuances that I liked and didn't like, but that's for a different kind of blog post.

What I'm saying here today is that I'm not built for live streaming while making art. I didn't LOVE it and I want to LOVE the things I do that connect to my art. I think my favorite part of the entire stream was getting to chat with the viewers and bringing one of the viewers on to show the book she made at the very end. The rest of the time it felt like work to tangle with the technology and to constantly check to see if I was working inside the view of the camera-- it was all work and I was exhausted by the end.

The whole reason I was trying this new way of filming BIAD and 10 on the 10th was because I wanted to engage with the viewers in a way that feels authentic to who I am -- this was not it. Yes, we were engaged, but boy it was different from how I like to interact. For example, when I talk with someone (especially about their art) I like to give them my undivided attention. That cannot happen while I am trying to create and keep the camera focused and follow the chat stream and think ahead to the next thing I need to do on the book that I'm making. I felt really disconnected and several times wanted to say, "Hey, let's forgot about making a book and let's just talk about art and have show and tell."  I really wanted to see the kinds of projects people are making and what kinds of things others were creating.

So in the end, I'm pretty sure that I'll just keep making books alone in my creative space with my camera on, edit the videos, and pop them on YouTube. That feels good and right and true to me and my style. Plus, I don't think I'd want to watch 2 hours in real time unless I was actually there to interact with folks.

FOR THE CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURS out there, this is also a lesson that carries over into our businesses. There are a lot of wonderful things happening in the world with the plethora of technology we have access to. I coach new business owners who want to come out of the gate trying to do ALL of the things they see other people doing successfully, not realizing that these people have been in business for years. The newbie tries to imitate and before long they burn out or they discover that they have invested so much time (and money) in something that was really just their way of jumping on the bandwagon.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some wonderful bandwagons to jump on, especially if you're just trying to see what works for you and your community.  I suggest the following strategy when experimenting:

• Use what's free.
• Do a soft launch or a beta test before fully committing.
• Give yourself permission to walk away if you don't love it.

Life is way to short to spend a ton of time doing something you hate. Been there, done that!!!! Today I choose to do the things that bring me joy and turn my nose up at the rest. That's one way I live empowered and intentionally.
What's yours?