Our Perspectives Is Our Reality
Not Everyone Else's
Happy New Year! Wait….should I even say Happy New Year? Is it too late to continue to say Happy New Year? When do you stop saying Happy New Year? Or do you say it to someone the first time you see them in the new year because you haven’t seen them since the previous year? Well, it’s my first post of the year, so Happy New Year!
I hope your New Year’s Eve was terrific and that you are starting your new year off to a great start. I started walking again in the mornings, reading my bible study and devotionals. Hopefully, I continue this consistently throughout the year.
Today, I want to talk about perspectives and how I realized that my perspective is my reality, but that doesn’t mean it’s everyone else's reality. So, in a sense, there are different realities because there are different perspectives. Let me explain.
In the middle of December, I looked at the podcast episodes recorded, the episodes that were scheduled to be recorded, and my release schedule. At that moment, I realized I had episodes planned until October 2024, and I immediately started to freak out.
“People are not going to want to wait almost a year to have their episode be released.” “No one is going to want to be on my podcast!” “It will turn people away when I tell them when their episode will be released.”
All those negative thoughts started running through my mind. I also thought about changing my publishing schedule to weekly instead of bi-weekly so the episodes would be released sooner.
However, I do everything myself. I edit, write show notes, pull quotes, make clips for social media, schedule the newsletter, create the graphics, send out questions to guests, etc. And I don’t have the capital to hire a team yet, so a weekly show will only add stress. That’s definitely not my intention with the podcast. I never want this show to be stressful for me; I always want it to be fun!
After thinking about all of this, I immediately marched over to my husband to express my concern. I told him why I was freaking out, all of my thoughts, and asked him what he thought if I changed the show to release an episode weekly.
First, he asked me, “Why is it a problem that people wait for their episode to be released? It’s their story, and the story isn’t going to change in a few months?”
“Yeah, but what if they have a product, service, or book they want to promote?”
“Well, then that’s their choice if they want to be on the podcast or not. You tell them when their episode will be released, and they will decide if they can wait that long or not. Plus, your podcast is about their story coming to the United States; that part isn’t going to change; the promotion is extra. And think about it: movies are released months and years after they are filmed. It is the same with reality TV shows - those aren’t published immediately; it takes years, but people still act, and people will go on TV shows. And if anything, people will see the demand of being on your show since you’re so far ahead; that will make people want to be on your show more.”
“Oh yeah, I guess you’re right.”
My husband gave me a completely different perspective that I wasn’t seeing. It calmed me down for a while until a potential guest wrote me about being on my podcast to share their journey, but also wanted to know if the episode could be released in April 2024 because that is when their book will be published. There I went freaking out again as soon as I saw the message, and I told my husband. “See, this is what I mean, her book is released in April, and she wants to know if the episode will be published by then.”
“You haven’t even talked to her yet. Let her know your schedule and see what she says first.”
I responded to the potential guest, and she had no issues with the episode being released in October - where I had an opening. And honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. And all my husband kept saying was, “See, you were freaking out for nothing.”
Another time I realized that my perspective was actually my reality was when I was talking to another potential guest on the phone. It was about the same situation. We were chatting a little about our business, and she was telling me how everything was going, so I told her about my little freakout.
She told me, “Girl, when you told me that my episode would be released in August, all I thought was, ‘Perfect, I can talk about the Summer collection.’ And I also thought, ‘She has her stuff together.’ And now that you’re telling me you do everything yourself for the podcast, I’m like, ‘She’s a superwoman!’
This guest is SUPER SWEET; she’s the sweetest, and her words truly touched me. But it also made me realize that I was putting a false narrative in my head of how I thought potential guests would react. That was my perspective and reality, but it wasn’t the same for everyone else.
Each person has their own perspective and reality. This is important to know and understand, especially when it comes to others.
So, how many false narratives do you put in your head?
And how does understanding that each person’s perspective is their reality change how you look at certain situations?
With Love, Heidy
P.S. If you need a copywriter for writing services or looking to launch a podcast – let’s get in touch; I want to create with you!