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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Mark Des Cotes, my favourite sports team is the Toronto Maple Leafs, no matter how bad they do, and I believe if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I talk about what it takes to get started.
Today’s Fun Fact of the Day: Did you know that male kangaroos are known to flex their biceps to impress female kangaroos? Any listeners from down under that can corroborate this?
Welcome to the middle of the week. I hope you’re keeping warm wherever you are. We had some nice weather over the weekend here in my corner of Ontario, creeping a few degrees above freezing. But, Mother Nature was just toying with us and it’s now unbearably cold again. If you’re facing a similar climate where you are here’s what I suggest. Stay inside, bundle yourself up in some nice cozy clothes, grab a warm cup of your favourite drink and think of something to send in to our Friday Forum. Once you’re done you can visit our Feedback Page at goldenspiralmedia.com/feedback to submit your audio file, or you can record it directly using your devices microphone. It doesn’t matter how long your story is, just as long as it benefits others. I can’t wait to hear what you submit.
It’s award season! Darrell and I are preparing our tuxes and Mandy is deciding on her gown as we get ready for our walk down the red carpet… OK, maybe it’s not that type of award, but it is award season nonetheless and we need your help. Nominations for the 2015 Podcast Awards are open until February 2 and we would love for you to help nominate Golden Spiral Media in 4 different categories. All the details are at goldenspiralmedia.com/podcastawards.
Please nominate Stuff I Learned Yesterday in the General and People’s Choice categories.
Arrow Squad in Best Produced
The Blacklist Exposed in Entertainment.
All the details you need are at goldenspiralmedia.com/podcastawards
Thank you for your support.
What I leaned yesterday.
I’ve been doing this podcast for two and a half months now and I want to let you in on a little secret. I was extremely nervous when I recorded my first episode. You might not hear it in my voice but I was on edge. I had sat down in front of the mic and got up several times before actually recording that first episode. I’m not talking the kind of nervous where one feels nauseous or breaks out in a sweat. I’m talking about the kind of nervous you feel when you’re afraid to mess something up. A kind of stage fright if you will. Those of you that know me may be wondering why. It’s not like I was new to podcasting. I have over 50 episodes of my Orphan Black and Under The Dome podcast behind me and I was fine doing them. The reason I was so nervous this time around was that Stuff I Learned Yesterday was new to me. I had never done anything like this before. Sure I had sent in Friday Forum submissions but that wasn’t the same. In those cases I was a listener sending in my feedback. Now I was to be the lead, given free reign on what I talked about. Exposing bits of my life to you. I was also worried about replacing Derek and what the listeners would think. I was worried that I wouldn’t live up to the faith Darrell had in me and I was worried that I wouldn’t have anything interesting to say. But I persevered and published that first episode and the rest is history.
When it came time to record my second episode I had no more qualms. It wasn’t because I had been validated. In truth, I didn’t receive much feedback from that first episode. What had changed was that the first episode was now behind me. I had cleared the first hurdle and I was ready to move along.
A similar thing happened to me this past summer. Stephanie from The TV Rewind Podcast asked me to be a guest host on her show. Again, I was really nervous because I had never podcasted with anyone before. Both my TV podcasts are hosted by me alone, hence the name Solo Talk Media. When I mess something up I can edit it in post production but with Stephanie we were recording a live show and if I messed up everyone would know it. But I got over that first hurdle, and the show, at least in my opinion, went great.
A few weeks ago Stephanie was celebrating her 200th episode and asked me, along with a few others to come back on the show. This time around I wasn’t nervous at all. Her listeners knew me and the last time I was on her show it had gone well. That first hurdle was behind me and I had no reason to believe this time around would be any different. And it wasn’t, I had a great time with her and her other guest talking about this seasons TV lineup.
This past Monday I was a guest host on the TV Times Three Podcast along with fellow guest host Johathan from The Sci-Fi Movie Podcast. That episode, number 258, should be released some time today if you’re listening to this podcast the day I released it. Well, guess what? The hour leading up to our 6pm Skype call I was so nervous. When Jason, the host of TV Times Three contacted me to ask if I would like to be a guest host I immediately said yes. It’s a fun podcast that talks about whatever shows from the past week the three hosts have watched.
I don’t know why I was so nervous. I just told you I was fine a few weeks ago being a guest host on Stephanie’s podcast. But this would be the first time I ever talked to Jason and Jonathan. I had never met either of them before but I was familiar with their podcasts. That may have lent to my nervousness. Both those guys are used to podcasting with other people where, as I mentioned earlier, I usually podcast alone. I also know that both these guys are very well spoken and I was worried that I may not sound up to their level. It didn’t take long this time. A few minutes into the recording and I was as relaxed as ever and I think the show turned out great. Let me know if you listen to it.
What did I learn?
My daughter was asked by her school’s track and field coach if she would run hurdles this year. After last year’s track meet, in which she only competed in high jump, the coach had seen her fooling around with some friends and remarked on her near perfect form when clearing the hurdles. He told her she absolutely had to compete in that event the next time. One of the things the coach told her in training was that the first hurdle was the hardest one to get over. Not physically, but mentally. Every time a runner lines up on the starting block they focus on clearing that first hurdle. They know they’ve done it many times before. They’ve practiced and practiced and are ready for the challenge, but they hesitate because this time around the wind may be different. The track may be made of a different material. Their shoes may be tied tighter. Heck, the hurdle may be a different colour. All these things subconsciously go through the runner mind as they’re waiting for the starting pistol to go off. And without realizing it they’re wondering if they can clear that first hurdle.
Then the pistol goes off, the runners sprint, and before they know it that first hurdle is behind them and the rest are taken in stride. Sure they may fault and knock one down. They may even fall along the way. But at that point it’s due to a hiccup in their technique and proficiency, and not the mental uncertainty they experienced facing that first hurdle.
The same goes for everything new you face in life. There’s always that uncertainty when facing the unexpected. Even when that unexpected is somewhat familiar. I faced it when I recorded my first episode of SILY even though I was an experienced podcaster. I faced it last summer with Stephanie and again on Monday when I was Jason’s guest, but each time, I successfully cleared that first hurdle. And my stride never faltered.
The tragedy is that many people let that mental uncertainty stop them from running. Some let it prevent them from ever reaching the starting blocks. Whenever you encounter something new, wether it’s somewhat familiar or completely unknown, you have to face that mental uncertainty head on, put it aside, take your position, and believe in yourself and your ability to clear that first hurdle. If you do this, you’ll be ready when that starter pistol goes off.
I’m Mark Des Cotes and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
Have you tried Lynda.com yet? You really should you know. You can try it for free for 10 days by visiting goldenspiralmedia.com/lynda. What I love about Lynda.com is that their videos come in bite size chunks. What I mean by this is that each course is made up of multiple short videos that make it so easy to consume. They’re great for watching during your break or lunch hour since you don’t have to stop half way through when your time is up. These bite size videos also make it very easy to go back and re-watch certain sections should you every need a refresher. Think of them like chapters in a training manual. You can watch the whole course or just look at the chapters you need. You should really give it a try.
I want to thank Faith, Linda, and Bonita, as well as Geoff, Scott, Ben and George for your contributions to the Stuff I Learned Yesterday Facebook Group this past week. It’s slowly growing into a community where like minded people can share their stories and dreams. If you are not already, but would like to be part of our group head on over to Facebook.com/groups/stuffilearnedyesterday to join. We’d love to have you.
You can Follow Golden Spiral Media on Twitter at GSMPodcasts and Facebook.com/GoldenSpiralMedia. If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, I would be grateful if you’d leave a review in iTunes.
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