Pushing that publish button is one of the hardest things, creatives do. It makes it live, it makes it real and it makes us vulnerable. We all work hard to showcase our skill or talent, whether it be problem solving, or music production, we become proud and the work becomes apart of us. So much a part of us that we feel anxious about sharing it with others.

So, how can you get over this paralyzing fear and emotion? Remember when you were in school, from kindergarten all the way to college or university? You wrote essays every week, create art daily, and had to get used to the idea of sharing your thoughts and showing your work. Somewhere along the way of our education days we became more aware of our own imperfections over the value of our contribution. What you have to offer and add is more important than your self doubt.

Pushing publish is hard because we don’t do it nearly enough – here are 3 steps to help you take action today:

1) Regularly Set The Right Goal

Nothing is ever perfect, and yet that seems to be the goal of every creative person out there. “Good enough” gets a bad rap. When trying to build a habit “good enough” is much better than “nothing at all”. Go back and view any famous YouTubers early videos. They all were cringy as they we still learning to speak to the camera and find their voice. The path to success by way of delivering pure masterpieces is nearly impossible to come by. Rather than adding more pressure in your workflow, choose more attainable goals to live by.

Those YouTube star didn’t have big production but they had a consistent bite size deliverable. Not having all the right tools or knowledge of what to do next can sometimes mentally block us from that next step so change the flow. Break down your goals and revisit them if you keep missing the mark. There’s nothing wrong with lowering the standard for the sake of building your strength in another area.   

2) Publish Early and Small Over Late and Big

When you’re in the process of developing good habits to see great results you need to have a macro view and if you’re new, focus on the habit more than the result. Results come over time. If your goal was to bench press 200lbs, you wouldn’t start there but when it comes to writing, composing or design we expect to accomplish all we set out to do without the habits to support our desire.

Being early to the game (like Tik Tok) requires little to see tangible metrics, but when venturing into legary mediums like blogs, or YouTube (crazy to think that those are legacy platforms) you need to play the long game and don’t focus on the surface. Every platform has people who seemingly have the market cornered, don’t worry about them, they may have been early but you can still see result but sticking to the plan. In due time you’ll be benching 200lbs.

3) Build A Publishing Plan 

We’ve talked about the end goal and the starting point, but how do you get from Point A to B? This is the simplest and yet hardest step in accomplishing anything – having a system that you stick to. What good is a meal plan or budget if you don’t stick to it. Similarly, how can you write more if you never write when you said you were going to write ;). Publishing more of anything will require you to set time and honour it. To ensure that you stick to the plan, write it out. You can use a Google Calendar template like this one from Hubspot or plan ol paper and pen always works too.

Breaking down your goals into smaller sub goals allows you to feel like your really getting somewhere. Your goals are only as good as the plan you have to get you there, spend just as much time writing out your plan as you do itemizing your goals. If publishing is something you find hard to do, find some outside help. Build your plan to have someone listen to your demo or view your short film when you have it “good enough”. These people can keep you honest and encourage you to push that publish button. As creatives we often are very hard on ourselves and can use the help of someone who is familiar with our work to keep on nudging us to prioritize the habit.

Recap

1. Regularly Set The Right Goal
   1. Good Enough
   2. Every YouTuber has a cringy start
   3. Lowering your goal can be a good thing
2. Publish Early and Small Over Late and Big
   1. Developing good habits
   2. When you’re new focus on the habit
   3. Don’t focus on the pros out there already
3. Build a Publishing Plan 
   1.  Dedicate and honour time
   2. Write out the steps
   3. Don’t be shy in including outside help