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Creator Alchemy by Corey Wilks, Psy.D.

[CA] How to Stop Overcomplicating Everything

Published 7 months ago • 1 min read


Hey! I'm traveling this week, so I'll keep today's issue brief.

If you have a habit of overcomplicating things or getting in your own way, today's issue should help...

Two questions I've been asking daily that have helped me get out of my own way and focus on what matters:

1. What is my actual goal here?

2. What inconsequential details am I obsessing over that are getting in the way of achieving my actual goal?

Here's an example:

My current focus is building my YouTube channel. I've had one for over a year, but it's felt like a huge lift.

So every time I sit down to do a video, there's so much friction, I make excuses to avoid it.

But thanks to these 2 question, I've recorded 7 new ones and just uploaded the latest one.

With the latest video, I started to run into that friction again.

I spent about an hour looking for the "right" music for a background track and trying to edit and stretch it to fit the full video length.

I was in the weeds and could feel my energy draining away from how frustrating the work had become.

So I asked the 2 questions.

1. What is my actual goal here?

To publish this video.

2. What inconsequential details am I obsessing over that are getting in the way of achieving my actual goal?

Music, fancy graphic, and cool transitions.

So I scrapped all that.

The new video forced me to focus on leading with value instead of getting bogged down in the packaging.

Yes, packaging is important.

But my actual goal was to publish the video.

So anything that threatened to get in the way of my actual goal had to get removed.

I'm not trying to be a world-class video editor.

I'm trying to help creators reach their potential and build thriving businesses.

Anything that doesn't serve that goal has to get removed.

So the next time you get stuck, try out these questions.

Here's the final result:

video preview


Let me know what you think and what topics you'd like me to cover in the future!


Until next time—memento mori,

Corey

Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube


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Creator Alchemy by Corey Wilks, Psy.D.

Explore the Psychology Behind How to Succeed as a Creator

"The Psychologist for Creators." I help the top creators and communities in the world reach their potential and build thriving businesses. Each week, I share these strategies and insights so you can do the same. Join thousands of other creators learning about psychology, online business, and content creation.

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