Stop Obsessing Over Format, Start Creating

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Tell me you've been there. You have sat down. You open a blank page or maybe it's the camera app or your podcast mic. You go to hit record or you start planning out what you're gonna talk about. And then suddenly you're wondering, should this be a newsletter?
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Or is it better as a video? Or is it supposed to be a blog post? Should I just wait until I'm clear on what I'm doing here? And this leads to a mindset trap that I see a lot of creators fall into. I've lived it myself many times. And it's the moment where you're making something, but instead of making it, you're obsessing over how it should be made. This is an optimistic podcast episode. We have never had so many awesome opportunities to get our voice out into the world. We've got newsletters. We've got videos, short form and long form. We've got images we can take and write nice captions, could launch a Substack, could be on TikTok, could be on X, threads, LinkedIn, some app that I didn't even know still exists like Snapchat. The vehicle these days does not matter as much as the voice. Using myself as an example, in the past, there's been some weeks where I didn't feel like writing, so then I would record. Other weeks, I would skip the mic, and I would go straight to a Word doc. And recognizing that the fluidity isn't a flaw, it's what's kept me moving. And I speak with creators who, in the beginning, they get tripped up on, like, I don't know how to say what I'm saying or how to get it out. Like, should this be an Instagram story? Should it be an Instagram post?
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It can be whatever you want it to be. There are no rules to this thing, but there is something beneath the question of asking yourself, where should this go that I think is worth addressing? I'm kinda jumping, but that hesitation is, I don't know if I should be saying what I'm saying. Like, does anyone is is anyone gonna care? And they will not care if you don't publish it because nobody will ever hear about it and it just won't exist, which is a safe place to be. If you do not share something with the world, nobody can form an opinion on it, good or bad.
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Think about how many ideas people have and then never act on them. I don't know. I have no clue what the number is. And I bet there's some really great ideas out there that we'll just never know about. Maybe the creator got held up on the format, and, ultimately, they just felt hesitant on sharing what it is that they wanted to share. So if you're waiting for the perfect container to hold the message that you wanna ship out to the world, just start making it.
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Just start putting it in a container, even if it's the wrong container. Because if you put your message in the wrong container, there's no rules that say you can't change the container later on. For example, you go, hey. I'm gonna make this video. Cool. You put the video out there and maybe a couple weeks later, you're like, this would have been better as an email.
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Hey. Nothing's stopping you from putting in an email. The key is just to pick the format that you're drawn to today. That's the one that you're actually gonna follow through on. And this is an underrated creative strategy. Doing what you feel like, not what you feel like you have to. Your energy is gonna change. Allow your format to change too. That's not inconsistency. That is sustainability. The real magic is in the message. Don't lose it trying to wrap it up perfectly. Instead of asking what should I do, ask what feels most alive to make right now. The format can change tomorrow. The platform can shift next month, but the only way to build momentum is to move.
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Do you ever feel like you're making good content and it's still not gaining traction?
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Yeah. Same. Lately, I've been feeling this weird creative gap. The kind where I know the stuff I'm posting is thoughtful, unique, and for someone specific, but it's like the algorithm forgot to hand out the invites. And it's easy to blame the platforms. This is not me being a victim by any means. Here's what I've realized though. Most creators are waiting for the algorithm to do the job of audience clarity, but that's our job as creators. If we're not telling people who our content is for, they'll just assume that it's not for them. Even the best post could become invisible if the right person doesn't recognize themselves in it. So I'm making little shifts in my content right now, and maybe you wanna do the same. Less hoping it lands and more signaling who it's for. Less look how smart this is to, hey, I made this for you. Less being vague to reach as many people as possible to more being obvious to someone specific.
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Not for everyone, but really, really for someone.
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Let's be louder about that. And if you wanna see what I mean, I post a lot of short form videos and little insights. If you vibe with the stuff I talk about, creator entrepreneurship, making without losing yourself, finding momentum through confusion, then I want you in my orbit. And not just listening to this podcast. I'm on all the usual platforms, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. I've got my weekly email newsletter, LinkedIn too, but we're still figuring that one out. So here's me saying it more directly. If you've been nodding along silently, let's stop pretending like we don't know each other. Pick your favorite platform. Look me up at the Dylan Schmidt, hit follow, and let's keep this thing going. I'm not for everyone. I understand that. But if you're still listening, I can tell you right now what I do make is for you. So come say hi on your favorite platform.