Last week I’ve started a 2 week online learning experience on creating videos.
It’s a great programme: We share a video each day and give each other peer-to-peer feedback. Our videos are prompted by our host’s daily video in which he gives us both tech tips and a daily question. Posting my video contributes to my team’s success, and at the end of the week, team points are publicly announced. I’m glad I have signed up for this in the midst of a big transition. At the same time keeping up is a challenge, and most of the days I am only doing the bare minimum of posting my video.
This is a real stretch for me, as I want to perform at 100%. 80% is outside of my comfort zone.
I could look at my 80% contribution as a real success as I have just started a digital nomad lifestyle with boxes to unpack in more than one country and everything being new and in flux. I have less infrastructure, time, and equipment at my fingertip than I’m used to. With my mind deeply in planning and organising mode, my creativity is impacted as well.
Although each day I post my video, I often have the nagging thought that I am not an active enough participant.
Here’s the thing: Our wonderful programme creator Ludwig Linnekogel shares great tips with us, like: Get a cheap little pompon to prevent the wind from messing with your sound, rather than buying a super expensive headset. If you don’t have a tripod substitute it by recycling an old NatSav holder, etc.
I could do much better videos with these small changes, but right now I have to make to with just publishing a video on the fly, sometimes outside with the sound effected by wind or the picture effected by bad indoors light. And I have less time than I wish to watch and feedback on others’ videos.
I wonder if my nagging thoughts about my contribution are an invitation to pierce my perfectionist bubble or whether I should not have signed up and saved this for some other time.
Reliability is one of my keystone values, but right now I have to let go of it where it is not absolutely necessary.
So should I not be part of this programme, because I know I cannot give it 100%?
I don’t think so. I think my challenge lies in having a guilt-free, fun learning experience and to appreciate the wealth of knowledge that Ludwig has put together so well.
Perfectionism comes with a cost.
