I will be breaking barriers this year. There are many things that I desire to accomplish this year. I will publish books, make a YouTube channel, sell an online course, conduct a facilitator boot camp, and create a new company.
My website will contain training videos, and I project that I will get 200,000 views each month before the end of the year. I get more than 100,000 views as of this writing (March 2023).
I am living up to one of my life principles: Start before you are ready. So I write and publish a post when I feel like writing. I am okay with not having everything perfect first. It does not even have to be complete. Like this one.
Breaking Barriers
A barrier is anything that prevents you from getting to the other side. It’s what prevents you when you want to move from x to y. Often, the hardest work is right before the barrier.
To achieve anything worthwhile, one needs to break barriers.
Some barriers seem insurmountable. But most barriers are in the mind. The hardest work is right before the barrier. It is the mind that stops and freezes us.
At times, one needs to keep making small wins to break the barrier in the mind.
Let me give you an example.
Surely, I have the ability to write a book. I can sit down, like what I am doing at the moment, to write words. In an hour or two, I can write hundreds of words. And I write each day as writing is easy for me.
But a book is a barrier. And all I need to write more books this year is to write the publish one.
Books
One of my goals for this year is to publish books. I am looking at two or three books that teach leaders how to build and lead teams. It is a moonshot, I know. It takes years to write books.
On the other hand, I also know of ghostwriters who can produce books every 30 days. Is it easier to write a book when your name is not on the cover? Perhaps.
Or is it because necessity pushes people to break through barriers? I made some breakthroughs in my life because I was on edge.
I used book writing as an example when I published an article on personal development plans. Though very few people have read that article, it is one of my most important contributions to my readers.
Most of our fears about creation have something to do with the fear of failure. People worry about the worst possible, and there is no more space to hope for the best possible thing to happen.
The worst possible thing to happen when publishing a book is nobody reads it. That may be no better than not writing a book.
But we are sure that nobody reads unwritten books.
A few of my clients will read the books I will give them. Some of them read my articles of 4000 words.
Did that surprise you? Yes, I have articles composed of more than 4000 words, and they usually get more readers. On the other hand, articles with less than 200 words usually get zero reads.
I need 20,000 words to publish my first book this year.
I will write shitty first drafts every day. I will record my thoughts and will not be afraid of bad ideas.
So, I won’t worry about not having a reader. Writing the first book will break the barrier, and that’s more important than worrying about people who will not read the book.
I will keep you updated here.
Youtube Channel
I’ve been on Youtube for many years but have yet to publish a video. It has been my desire since Youtube became popular in the Philippines.
I know it will help me, but I have been reluctant to become famous for many years. It was enough for me that my readers find inspiration and learning in my words.
There was a time in my teaching career when students watched me teach via webcast. I also had no problem conducting webinars and virtual workshops. I could do these because I focused on adding value to clients.
But when it comes to creating videos on Youtube, there is a barrier I must break.
Do I fear rejection? I am not sure.
I always thought that I had a healthy relationship with rejections. People may not like the videos. People may disagree with my ideas. But I know that if one stands for something, some people will go against him.
I imagine that no videos about flat earth will be created if flat earthers fear rejection.
So, I am not afraid of rejection.
Do I want everything to be perfect? I am willing to start even when I am not ready. But this is one of those barriers that I do not have an explanation.
But I know how to break the barrier.
I will publish my first 20 videos in the next 90 days. I will publish crappy videos. And people don’t watch them, that’s fine with me too. All I want is to break my barriers. And if in doing so, I will learn some things, then I will be doubly grateful.
I hope you’ll be there to watch my crappy videos.
Podcast
I am thinking of a weekly podcast of 45 minutes per episode. I will interview experts and practitioners. What makes this difficult is the invitation of guests.
But I can do a daily podcast that may help Filipinos pursue personal excellence and growth. Of course, it will take time to learn this. My barrier will be 30 episodes.
I may still do the expert interviews. My barrier is 20 experts. But I may go directly with vlogcast or perhaps a compilation of video interviews that I will host in a youtube channel or a category of jefmenguin.com or in momentum.courses.
I have nine months to break barriers. I must recognize each. I won’t judge myself harshly if I cannot do all of them. I follow the 4% Rule. My objective is not to go all in but to prove that I can break the barriers.
