10 Things I’ve Learned in 2 Months of Moving FAST in 2020!

What did you learn during the pandemic? Did you capitalize on your speed? Are you prepared to use those lessons as a foundation for going forward?

I learned a lot, I’ve capitalized on those lessons, and I’ve got a fabulous foundation for my future.

In March 2020, I hit the ground running – the world was shutting down, my business speaking on stage collapsed, and I needed a plan.

So I built the worlds’ most sophisticated virtual broadcast studio and had an extremely healthy and lucrative run delivering virtual keynotes online.

Two months in, I wrote a blog post that summarized what I learned. The key points are below. My mindset is found in this quote from a stage from my earlier life.

I’ve always believed that we should often make the effort to move forward despite uncertainty – action is better than inaction.

My journey echoes the journey of the other action-pioneers I see out there. Reflecting, these are the lessons I’ve learned as I thought about my own voyage in the last two months:

• Keep your plan vague: don’t overdo it. The old world had us in long, luxurious planning cycles. That’s gone – both the time horizon and the certainty of the plan. Speed matters more than a plan, more so than ever before. I had no idea what my real goal was with an online broadcast – I keep figuring that out as I go.
• Learn as you go. You are an expert at nothing in this new world and an amateur at everything. Just-in-time knowledge has long been my key skills watchword. It’s now a reality. I know WAY MORE today than I knew a month ago, and I will know more next month than I do today.  My thirst for new knowledge is at an all-time high.
• Make mistakes. Don’t be scared. Make mistakes. Learn from them. Repeat. I committed to going live online even though I wasn’t certain it might not work. Some things blew up along the way, but it wasn’t totally awful. Just a bit awful. That’s ok.
• Go for the small wins. This is not about excellence. This is about achievement.
• Work the criticism. When you get it wrong, take the lumps. Listen to the critics. Learn from what they tell you. My 2nd broadcast was a dog’s breakfast mess, and someone took the time to tell me so. It hurt at first – but then I took it as an opportunity to do better.
• Keep the faith: don’t give up. There is no immediate return like it was in the past – whether monetary, emotional, or other forms of reward. But when they happen – oh, they are SO much better!
• Collaborate more. See ‘learn as you go.’ The global hive mind is your new best friend. Learn how to harness its riches. I discovered an online community on Facebook for the software I am using – Ecamm Live – and for me, it is now like drinking from a video production firehose!
• Modify more. See ‘vague plan.’ If you had the planning wrong, adjust the plan. What will I be doing online a month from now? Heck, I don’t know. I’ll know when I get there!
• Think longer term. This too shall pass. Everything you do today might have a return tomorrow, even if we have no idea what that might be. Because – what’s the alternative? I’m pretty convinced that my efforts will make me a standout success compared to my speaker competition because my product offering is so much better.
• Embrace the uncertainty. It’s here, it’s everywhere, and it’s not going away. Accept it, and let it motivate you rather than detract you.

Get moving.

Do it now.