254: 8 Lessons Learned from 8+ Years of Podcasting (Pivot Crossover)

Written By Jenny Blake

Today is a crossover episode from the Pivot podcast celebrating eight lessons learned from over eight years of podcasting.

The Pivot podcast first launched in September 2015 as a teeny tiny scrappy side project to supplement the Pivot book while I was writing it. I had so much fun interviewing people and hitting record that by the time the book launched in the fall of 2016 one year later, the podcast had almost eclipsed it as the favorite thing that I do on a day-to-day basis. Now, thanks to you, we have over two million downloads and over 600 episodes across both shows.

The Free Time podcast is now approaching its third birthday—I launched it on March 21, 2021—a year prior to the book coming out, which is almost celebrating its two year bookiversary. I encourage you to grab your copy if you haven’t already, or even better—🎁 give the gift of free time to a loved one in your life for 2024!

As we start to plan the year ahead, I hope that you can apply some of these pointers to the creative projects that you're working on. Happy New Year, and I'll see you on the other side!

🌟 8 Key Takeaways

  1. Ride out the inevitable dips and plateaus: Ask, how can I fall in love with this again? Keep the bar high—strive for jump-out-of-the-chair-with-glee-to-record level of guests and topics.

  2. (Re)connect with the even more meaningful metrics: Don’t obsess over download numbers or charts. They can be instructive, but they don’t have to be the one-and-only indicator of whether or not to continue.

  3. 51/49: My antidote to inexplicable nerves and overthinking: 49% fear and anxiety, 51% take one small step forward. Just tip the scale toward action by two percent.

  4. Eyes on your own paper: Don’t get lost in what other people are doing or how fast they are going. Remind yourself what’s in it for you, regardless of what “the competition” is up to. There may even be downstream benefits of having others in the same space.

  5. Keep up with new software, don’t worry too much about sunk costs: While you want to avoid chasing shiny software objects, don’t be afraid to jump from one lily pad to the next when it improves your systems and process.

  6. Hire help! To truly achieve consistency escape velocity, hire a team so that someone else owns the outcome and you can show up and do what only you can do.

  7. Go your own way: Be aware of diminishing returns on shiny shoulds that, if you were to chase them, would stop you from doing the creative thing you enjoy altogether.

  8. Keep experimenting—one might say pivoting! There is no there there. The project will evolve alongside you, even when you lose steam for a little bit. You will always find a new way forward. And if you’re so stuck you truly can’t see straight, it’s okay to call it quits too.

🔗 Resources Mentioned

📚 Books Mentioned

🎧 Related Episodes

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Jenny Blake

Jenny Blake is a career and business strategist and international speaker who helps people people organize their brain, move beyond burnout and create sustainable careers they love. She is the author of PIVOT: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One (Portfolio/Penguin Random House, September 2016). Jenny left her job in career development at Google in 2011 after five and a half years at the company to launch her first book, Life After College, and has since run her own consulting business in New York City. Find her on Twitter @Jenny_Blake and subscribe to the Pivot Podcast. 

http://PivotMethod.com
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253: Channeling Main Character Energy into Writing a Debut Novel with Jamie Varon