When am I going to learn this lesson?

I’ve noticed a pattern, in myself.

In 2013 or 2014

I started a content marketing collective / marketplace called The Philadelphia Content Company.

You didn’t hear about it?

That’s probably because I came up with a concept, gathered the people, put up a website, and then proceeded to get completely swept up in running my agency and all of my other projects.

It just sat out there and languished.

In 2016

I started a daily vlog. I made it 21 days before I ran out of steam and got too busy running my agency and publishing a weekly podcast.

In 2017

I bought the domain Shareable.fm with the intention of starting the Shareable Podcast network. The site exists but there are only two shows on it because I’ve done almost no marketing, promotion, sales, or operational setup to ensure it runs smoothly. I got too busy with other things.

In 2019

I once again started a daily vlog, this time calling it The Variety Show. I made it 15 episodes. It was fun, but extremely time consuming.

I also announced a new Podcast called Rogue that I intended to launch along side all of my other content initiatives. One year later (just last week), I finally finished editing the first draft of the first episode. I have two more waiting to be edited. With each episode requiring hours of editing, I have no idea when I’ll find the time to produce a full season. So, I’m going to table the show idea and launch the existing episodes on Shareable.

Pete and Repeat are on a boat…

One day I hope to resurrect each of these projects as I think they’re still great ideas. Shareable.fm is still very much alive but, currently, neglected.

There’s a lesson I think that I need to learn…

One thing I seem to do over and over is announce the launch of something. Around half of the time, it becomes a reality. The other half, I bite off more than I can chew.

The good news is that by constantly pushing myself to do more and more, I wind up publishing and launching more than had I not added a little too much to my plate.

The downside is I’m also distracting myself and spreading myself too thin which may leave me less focused to do my best work on the high priority projects. I’ve also spent thousands of dollars on wasted domain names for ideas I never pushed through.

R.I.P www.liljonmashup.com

The Lesson

Focus isn’t just about being able to stay on task in the moment, it’s also something happens at a macro level. What I choose to do and what projects I add to active column on my big list of projects, is a matter of focus just as much as my morning routine.

I only have 24 hours in a day, and I can’t use them all for work. To achieve mastery at anything takes an estimated 10,000 hours so expecting that I can do everything at a high level is to fail to see that the math just doesn’t add up.

This is something I’m only just coming to understand and maybe one day I’ll learn this lesson.

But while I have your attention, I’m happy to announce that today I’m launching…

just kidding.