Have you ever taken on a project that was so big and that involved so many new factors that you just didn’t know which way was up? You knew that you were capable of each step—if you only knew what those steps were?!
That’d be me taking The Natural Professional Program online.
Sounds straightforward enough. I know the content, the workbook is done, I just need to record some video and voila! course ready for online sales in two months, right?
Did I mention that I’ve never produced video before?
Let me tell you about a reputation I’ve earned in my family. It comes from scenarios like this: Someone would say that we don’t have anything in the house for dinner. I’d open up the fridge, pull out a bunch of stuff and make a meal that pleased everyone’s taste buds.
Somehow this has turned into a family legend worthy of bragging rights. I’ve overheard my folks proudly tell their friends, not to mention complete strangers: “Our daughter can cook a 5-course meal out of nothing!”
Apparently I’ve a gift for pulling seemingly disparate ingredients together without guidance of recipe or cookbook. And yet, Superhero abilities ablaze, here I was stymied by this video project.
To make my ambitious timeline even more ridiculous, all of my skills of organizing, planning and list making were falling flat.
I’d pull out a calendar, schedule some milestones and then realize a week later that the milestones were all wrong.
I’d start making lists of things to do then realize I still didn’t know what the next steps were.
After numerous false starts it finally dawned on me that my attempts to organize were premature because my fridge was empty. How could I plan when I didn’t know what I was working with?
What was needed was the inspiration of fresh ingredients and mysterious condiments to bring this video project alive in a magical way.
Sometimes, without a plan, without knowing how it’s going to turn out, without knowing what you’re going to need tomorrow, you just have to start stocking the fridge.
If you like veggies, get your favorites. Herbs? Get the ones you like the most. Cheese? Mmmm, you know which elicit a growl in your stomach.
Then when you pull open the fridge door and look inside, those yummy ingredients will practically jump out and combine themselves.
By reigning in the drive to organize, the creative juices were able to flow.
This idea blended with that idea. This content flowed into a side dish, that one into a main dish. Fun little elements popped up as garnish.
Slowly the vision unfolded, one ingredient at a time. Look out, world! Here comes a delicious feast.