The Impossible Task

Let me guess: you probably keep a lot of to-do lists (written or mental) with the things you need to do.

For high-functioning overachievers, these lists are endless, with ten new things popping up just as one old thing gets crossed off. After all, overachievers know the world is their oyster. Anything is possible! It just takes hard work and dedication! Why not add this and that and this and that and this to the list as well?

All is good until we come across “the task that can't be checked off”. 😫 The task that sits on your list and stares at you with contempt. 😡The task that is big and heavy that you shutdown at its sight. 🤖

Occasionally, you view that task with an open heart and a willing mind….and then you open your social media or turn on the TV or say yes to a friend for an outing you deserve. 

(Sound familiar?)

Sometimes, getting started is the hardest thing to do. And everyone is prone to this, including me.

My friends know that, for years, I actively pursued the creation of my own talk show. I was not quiet about it. I had the internal confidence, the practiced skills, and the belief in myself to back it up. I even had success in the early 2010s when I finally landed the darn thing! My very own talk show! It was filmed in a studio, with an audience, and I had a production team. Wow! It only lasted one season (due to the implosion of the production company), but the dream did not fade. 

The solution was made clear to me by many professionals in the business: Leigh, you should record your own show and put it on YouTube.

As happens, life got in the way. I had many things to do (ALWAYS) but, I still wanted to work on my show. So I did what a lot of overachievers do. I put it on my to-do list:

⃞ Record an episode of your show.

I don't really want to admit how long I had this on my to-do list, but….

It was 9 years.

9 entire years.

…..NINE 👏 FUCKING 👏YEARS 👏

But I finally got around to it. It only took having a global pandemic to upend my life for me to finally accomplish what I had wanted to accomplish for nearly a decade! 

✅ Record an episode of your show.

I even made a limited series of the darn thing. And man am I proud of myself.

Of course, in hindsight, the mistake I made is obvious. I never used the tactics I teach my own clients. I left the task as it is. “Record an episode of my show.” I left the task as a huge, nebulous, intimidating mega task.

I mean, it sounded easy. All I had to do was record something on my camera, right? But, if I’m being honest, there was so much more substance that I left off. I had just been telling myself that if I wasn't going to complete this task, I was a failure in some way. And it sure felt like it!

Importantly, I never solved what was really blocking me unconsciously in this situation, even after bringing this up for years in therapy. It was just this magical block that I couldn't get past and it felt fruitless attempting to complete it. I thought the solution was to have a magical discovery of renewed determination, or someone to discover me off of the street to get me going (man, that would been so much easier), or an agent telling me that all I needed was to have my own show (which happened...and yet, I still didn't take action on my task.)

Finally, during the pandemic, left with nothing to do, everything else checked off my list, and no other distractions, I finally figured it out. I recorded my show. And, wow.

It. felt. so. good.

For 9 months, I recorded about a video a week! I’m so proud of the result: youtube.com/c/leighcambre. I can’t tell you how good it has felt to have completed this task. That wave led me to a wave of more than 23 videos!!! After having trouble completing even one, that’s HUGE!

Obviously, I haven’t continued with that series, but I got the data I needed. I have a different calling. And more importantly, I did it.

I was so moved by what happened that I created a really fun system for it. It’s my “Focus Me” system. It’s a free video series that will help you (or anyone you know) get “that thing” checked off your list. You can find it here:

leighcambre.com/letsgetmotivated

Give this system a go. Let me know how it goes.