One of my clients just wrapped up the first season of her podcast that I helped her launch. She’s a psychologist who tends to specialize in helping people through trauma, and she is writing a book about how to overcome whatever holds you back. Her work is inspiring.
The first season of her podcast, called Fix Yourself, has more than 30 episodes.
This week she published an episode where she reflected on the lessons she learned learned in the podcasting process, including:
- “If you do something new, you will be forced to face your fears. You will need to surrender your fear that people will judge you. They will. Focus on your goals instead and you will be able to take the next step forward.”
- “New endeavors mean new skills and learning. I learned how to use a microphone, record interviews, use new software, ask people if I could interview them, and lots of other new things I didn’t know a thing about!”
- “I was able to tap into creativity that I never thought I had. Learning I can be creative was an amazing gift. These days when I’m out running, I’m thinking of topics for podcasts or things I can share.”
Over the past year, she has reached out to person after person to interview them and to connect with. The result is not just the podcast, but the relationships that she forged in the process, clarity and confidence in her voice, and her own ability to connect with her ideal audience.
This is the power of taking action. She also shared a powerful story from a podcast episode where she talked about the power of forgiveness. She heard from one listener who told her that for decades, he couldn’t let go of the anger he felt towards his ex-wife. Evidently, their daughter was killed in a car accident, and his ex-wife was driving at the time.
After listening to Shannon’s episode, he said he finally let go of that anger and filled himself with forgiveness. Everything changed in that moment.
Her conclusion: “If I did 30 podcasts this year to help one individual, it was totally worth my time.”
All of this work is aligned to the platform development and launch of her upcoming book. What I see each week is Shannon getting out there and connecting with the people who will not only buy her book, but also become the foundation for word-of-mouth marketing. The people who will leave early reviews, connect her with speaking events, recommend her for interviews, and tell friend after friend that this is a “must buy.”