Whatever Can I Do?

Behaviorist Seth Godin coined a label for self-defeating thinkers: “lizard brain.” Sure signs of this state-of-being include criticism of anyone proposing something different; clinging to an attachment that says “what we’re doing is good enough.”

We can add a few more: for example, when we believe it’s a case of natural talent and skill (which we just weren’t endowed). Add “waiting for tomorrow” or cooking-up anxiety and stress over a colleague’s great idea. Or we rationalize, “that’s fine for YOU…but my (insert imagined shortfalls here) keep me from being successful.”

The most engaging and driven people with whom we’ve worked including air talent, program directors, regional group leaders, sellers and driven managers have countered these imagined barriers with a mix of logic and Emotional IQ. Brainiac Bre Pettis stressed there are three states of being under these conditions: (1) not knowing, (2) taking action, (3) finishing!

If we accept the concept that “everything is a draft” it helps us move from uncertainty to a “finish.” Godin stressed there is no editing stage; pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as ‘knowing what you’re doing’. Banish procrastination; if it takes more than a week to go from your “idea” to action, shoot it and move on!

Forget about being perfect; it’s a sucker’s game that prevents us from “finishing.” There’s always some pushback (if only in our own mind). Our profession is to accomplish a plan, instead of “doing a job.” So many people never know the exhilarating experience of creating a format brand, finding talent to drive success, then cultivating and keeping those irreplaceable winners. Losing a “difference-maker” can damage intimate organizations like a radio station. It takes a very long time to fully recover when a top seller or ten-share morning ringmaster drifts off. We read daily about comings and goings in industry trades. Eventually the bill comes due.

The mountain is much steeper at the summit; the mind finds reasons to quit. They say Van Gogh wasn’t endowed with the gift to paint. Paint just happened to be the medium of that age. Who knows what a famous historical figure might have done if they lived in the 2020’s? Take a look over your shoulder: did you unalterably set out to be a radio talent when you were twelve?

Or, did you wake up one day and tell yourself “I’m going to become a master media seller?” Think about it: when we set out to create our professional victories, did any of us envision how difficult that might be or where it might lead?

If you’re beginning a career or redirecting your current identity (whatever that may be) the path won’t be short nor will it be easy. If there was one rule rising above all others, it could be captured in a single incantation: never tolerate “good enough.”