When I started this podcast back in October 2015, it was a little side project (it still is), and I had no idea how far I would take it and how long it would last.
A couple of months ago, my life was really hectic.
On the work front, I was very busy. I was working a full-time job, producing this podcast, and doing volunteer work for Startup Weekend DC.
My personal life was absolutely insane. My wife and I were in the process of purchasing a home. At the same time, our condo got flooded because of an accident in the unit above us. We had to live in a hotel for a month.
Crazy shit.
After finally moving to our new home, there was just sooooo much crap to do around the house. Things to buy. Furniture to put together. Stuff to fix. Service providers to coordinate.
The list goes on and on.
During that time of craziness, I seriously considered quitting this podcast.
There was just too much to do in my life.
While executing interviews is always fun, seeking out guests and scheduling them became a grind.
And because I didn’t have much time to dedicate to marketing and promoting episodes, I didn’t see the growth I wanted to see in listeners each week.
I was really unmotivated and dejected.
I was ready to quit.
But I remembered the promise I made to myself when I launched this show – to produce this podcast for at least a year.
I was sick of starting projects and not finishing them. Moving on to the next one just because I didn’t see immediate growth.
Even though I was constantly tired and frustrated with everything going on, I wanted to see how far I can take this show – if I can grow and engage my listener base and eventually monetize the site.
It sometimes takes a few months or a few years for things to blossom and grow. If everything happened easily and quickly, they wouldn’t be worth doing.
Sometimes you have to grind your way through tough times.
Promising yourself something and holding yourself accountable is a powerful thing.
I was really, really close to quitting this podcast, or at least taking a break.
Growth has been pretty solid since I decided to keep going.
Just a couple of months ago, I was getting about 500 downloads per episode, now I’m close to 1000.
I have listeners from all over the world.
More and more entrepreneurs reach out to me to ask to be a guest on my show.
And while I haven’t closed any deals yet, a couple of companies have reached out to talk about advertising on my podcast.
The lesson here is that there will always be times where you will want to quit. Things won’t always go your way, and you might be discouraged and down.
But if you make promises to yourself and to others, you’ll feel like shit if you break them.
If you set clear and measurable goals and objectives, you’ll work harder to achieve them.
If you hold yourself accountable, you’ll get yourself going to complete what you started.
So the next time you’re thinking about quitting, think about what you set out to do when you started that project, how excited you were to launch and grow, and who is dependent on you to continue to deliver.
Onward!
What do you do to keep working on projects when you’re unmotivated and don’t see the results you desire? How do you hold yourself accountable? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
And make sure to grab my e-book, 10 Apps You Can Use to Maximize Your Productivity!