Right as Rain: Creating Over Consuming

When I was in “The Pit” (as I call it) a few years ago, there were a lot of things I needed to do to dig myself out of it. 

One of the most effective tactics I used was to study the “greats” — people that I looked up to in filmmaking, writing, fitness, and business.  I wanted to learn all I could from them so I could apply it to my life.  

Because what I was doing wasn’t working.  

So I dove head first into consuming as much content as I possibly could from these experts.

I read five or more times as many books each year and set goals to read even more.  I subscribed to dozens of podcasts and listened to them while traveling, cooking, and exercising.  I took courses. I attended conferences. I followed people on social media. I subscribed to their newsletters.

I gobbled up as many bits of information as I could and I regurgitated them into a “Things I’ve Learned” notebook which I then revisited and reviewed once each week.

I needed answers and solutions to questions like: How do I write a book? How do I grow my email list? How can I invest wisely? 

I was trying to find some spark of inspiration, something that stuck, so I could find the right path to salvation and get myself out of The Pit.

It helped. 

Eventually I got out.

But once I was out of The Pit and back on level ground, I continued the same practices I had established and performed over the past few years to get out.  The problem was, those tactics worked to get out, but they didn’t work to help me climb further and build something of my own.

I realized I had used what I’d learned to help myself, but I hadn’t actually done anything.

I was just stuck on the ground. 

I was over-saturated — full of all this knowledge, just like we can get full of food, but I needed to convert it to energy.

I needed to use it.

My focus from that point on switched to creating.

My goals were to be a filmmaker and writer and to help people through storytelling.  But the days of just learning about it were over. I couldn’t talk about it anymore. I had to actually take action.

This is a problem many of us face and I believe it causes us to procrastinate and put off our dreams because of fear of failure.

The people that succeed and excel don’t do it because of all they’ve learned through reading other people talk about it.  They do it because they are out there, in the arena, trying it.  They fail, they learn, and they get back out there until they get it right.

They don’t “wait for the right time” and they certainly don’t wait for inspiration to strike.  

They take action.

The people that I looked up to and learned from weren’t spending all of their time reading and watching other people’s work. They were too busy creating their own.  Of course, when they had time they could (and did) read great books or watch great films, but only after they’d done their own work.

This is what I had to do.

I knew I had something to say and I knew it could help people.

I just needed to believe in myself, put down the book, and pick up the pen.

 

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Rain Bennett is a two-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker, writer, and competitive storyteller with over a decade of experience producing documentary films that focus on health and wellness. His mission is simple: to make the world happier and healthier by sharing stories of change.

You can read the rest of “Right as Rain” here, and check back every Wednesday on Chapelboro for a new column!