Introduction

Have you been working on your course for more than 6 months and haven’t launched yet? Do you wonder how you’ll ever get everything recorded when new module ideas keep popping up? Are you still purchasing solutions and courses to help you get to the point of launch and not making visible progress?

The truth is that course creation paralysis happens to most course creators at some point and it is the single biggest reason that entrepreneurs fail to successfully add a course to their business.

Sounds dismal, right?

Recognizing that you are experiencing course creation paralysis can actually act as a catalyst for getting that launch date set and in the rearview mirror.

Today I’ll help you figure out what piece of the course creation process is creating paralysis in your business and the steps you can take to finally go from being uncertain to being a Six-Figure Course Creator.

What is Course Creation Paralysis?

When I talk with course creators and watch posts in course creation groups, I often hear the same thing over and over again. I’ve been working on getting a course ready for years, but I still haven’t launched.

There are a few reasons this happens. Sometimes not launching occurs because we keep getting new course modules and tidbits that we want to add to an already outlined and mapped course. It is a bit like going to Target for one thing and you walk out with twenty. We go into a revision with the intention of adding one little thing or making one small adjustment but that leads us down a rabbit hole.

Course Creation Paralysis also happens for a counterintuitive reason. Constantly looking for solutions to make course creation easier, faster, and less expensive. I get it. I’m a huge fan of shortcuts, but when we are constantly purchasing or searching for new courses and template packs it takes time away from the actual creation process and things stagnate. That cycle of stagnation leads to uncertainty about what to do next, which can actually kick off another round of finding solutions.

We also hit paralysis when we get into this routine of what I call “treadmill posting”. Posting and posting on social media about the course and our business in general but it never goes anywhere. This puts a huge damper on our motivation to get the course launched AND is also means that we are likely to spend more time trying to figure out social media than working on the course itself.

If any of these feel familiar, you are going to love the ideas I have for you today because while we can all become victims of course creation paralysis at some point in our journey, we get to choose whether or not to stay in that state.

Gosh! When I first got started as an entrepreneur, I collected courses and trainings like they were cheap candy. I don’t regret any of them, because I still use the information I learned every day in my business, but it did slow down the progress I was making.

The truth is that success in course creation and most parts of business is highly dependent on our ability to implement quickly and intentionally.

How do you do that? That is the question.

Step 1: Diagnose Your Actions

What causes us to slip into course creation paralysis? The answer is multi-faceted. It could be any number of things from having tons of course ideas to treadmill posting, to buying new solutions every day. Or it might be a lack of clear strategy, low to no cash flow in your business, a feeling of constant overwhelm, or an engagement drought. It could even be that you hit an impasse after validating your course.

They key here is to figure out what is creating paralysis for you. Most often when I’m working with my private clients, they are time-strapped and so already feel pressure when they sit down to work on their course. This leads to a feeling of overwhelm because all of these ideas start flowing and there just isn’t enough time to do it all.

When I hop into Facebook groups to help out other course creators, I often find myself asking them to share their approach to generating leads and how many conversations they are engaging in. That alone, can shift the tide for many businesses. I know that changing my mindset to have more conversations and building relationships really made a difference in my own business cash flow.

So the first step to overcoming course creation paralysis is to look at your business and pick it apart. What happens when it is time to work on your course? Do you procrasti-learn, add more and more to your course outline, freeze in an ever-growing to do list? Are you trying to cobble together some kind of strategy based on what you’ve seen others do?

When you’ve identified the source of the paralysis then you can choose a specific area to work on first while being conscious of the pitfalls that you’ve been plagued with in the past.

Step 2: Choose a Focus Area

Course creation paralysis is real, but fortunately, it is treatable. I would say curable, but oftentimes our habits can sneak back in if we are not really diligent in our focus.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. Have you ever told yourself that you were just going to check on the post you had scheduled to Facebook and then 55 minutes later you look up from scrolling mindlessly? This is a great example of how course creation paralysis can creep back in, even when we know that it is a possibility. We all know that we can get sucked into social media scrolling, but even knowing it doesn’t stop it from happening.

This is why, if you want to move out of course creation paralysis, you need to choose a focus area and then all roads lead to that focus area. Each week when planning out your task list, each month when setting your goals, each quarter when choosing your primary goals, all of these should be leading to progress in getting your course launched or re-launched.

That is what stops and prevents course creation paralysis in its tracks. And in today’s Sixty-Second solution I’ll walk you through my top two tricks for keeping that focus that might have you scratching your head, but ultimately jumping for joy over.

Step 3: Create a Deadline

Overcoming course creation paralysis can feel a bit like climbing Mt Everest, but with a few key steps we can conquer the paralysis and begin making progress. This is especially doable when we implement deadlines.

I always laugh when I talk about deadlines because around our house, everyone knows that I work best with deadlines. I was creating a training not too long ago to go with my Effortless Lead Magnet Email Sequences and I had been putting off creating the training. Not because it was hard, or would take a lot of time, in fact it only took about an hour of my time total, but because there wasn’t any urgency. The moment I had a deadline, that training got DONE!

When I took Sell from Stage Academy with Colin Boyd, I set a nearly impossible deadline of when I’d launch my offer with a webinar. Then I worked hard to make that a reality. The Sell from Stage course could have easily taken me a year to work through because it was so detailed, but in just a few weeks I was able to get the main content figured out and applied to my business.

Here’s the thing, I know I’m not the only one because I have clients who routinely set deadlines for getting work to me for review and when they do that, they hit their deadlines. When the don’t set deadlines, the work almost always takes longer.

So be sure to set those deadlines, but also keep your focus narrow and keep a look out for the actions that likely got you into course creation paralysis.

Action Item: Gain Clarity on Your Paralysis

This week, take time to diagnose your paralysis. This might not seem like action, but with a diagnosis we can then choose an appropriate path forward. It is just like going to the doctor and working through your symptoms to come up with a diagnosis and treatment plan. First figure out what is creating the stagnation and leading to course creation paralysis, then choose a focus area. Get as specific as you can and keep this limited. Remember that a part of course creation paralysis stems from overwhelm. With too many areas to focus on, overwhelm will creep back in. To keep your course creation focused, you might choose to work solely on getting student resources built. Or you might choose to finish those course slides and get an audit for feedback. You might even choose to get help with the messaging for your course.

The key is to diagnose, find a focus, and then create a deadline. Find someone to hold you accountable for the deadline, but don’t let that search for someone keep you from doing the thing you want to do. If you don’t have someone to hold you accountable, reach out to me via DM @digitalcoursecreatorguide and I’ll hold you accountable.

Create a Strategy for Six Figure Success

This week we have been talking about overcoming course creation paralysis, something that impacts all course creators at some point in their experience, but it is up to you whether you let this become a permanent state of being or just a phase that you pass through from time to time.

As you’ve heard, on the Digital Course Creator Podcast I’m openly sharing the lessons I’ve learned, the tools and tactics that I’ve used so that you can become a Six-Figure Digital Course Creator.

Over the past decade what I’ve realized is that so many of the six-figure tactics out there focus on marketing that doesn’t feel aligned with most course creators and what they need.

We need a way to increase revenue while staying aligned with our core values and mission as entrepreneurs and that, like anything in life, requires strategy in a number of categories. We have to dig deeper and you can get that from a lot of different resources: books, podcasts, webinars, and even courses.

Even with all of these resources, it is still easy to struggle to reach enrollment and financial goals and that is because what we want for our business is going to be 10% what we learn, read, or study, and 90% or more mindset.

As a Psychology Professor and Coach, I share as much as I can about mindset here on the show, in fact, today’s episode was focused primarily on mindset shifts with practical ideas to implement. But to truly thrive we all need individualized attention, accountability, and support.

So if you are ready to say yes to a thriving, financially solid business, I’d love to have a conversation with you.

I hold at least two slots open on my calendar each week to help course creators take action, dig into their purpose, and create a strategic plan for growth so that they can get unstuck! These are free, no obligation calls.

If you are ready to make the next 12 months THE year that you go from being uncertain about your course creation business to a Six-Figure Course Creator, grab a strategy call slot at coursecalls.com. You can also find that link in the show notes, but again, it’s coursecalls.com

Sixty-Second Solution

A big part of avoiding course creation paralysis is keeping the task list focused, but honestly, that can feel like trying to keep your junk drawer in the kitchen organized.

Here are my top two tricks for keeping the paralysis away and the progress front and center.

First, choose just two primary goals for each quarter. When there are only two goals for the quarter, you can stay much more focused, which limits overwhelm and the need to buy more solutions. It also gives you a clearer strategy to follow and stops the treadmill of posting that never ends and keeps you from your other tasks.

Secondly, this might be a little controversial; you should map out your week on Sunday but don’t distribute tasks to each day. Put them all on Monday and then allot time to work each day. As you work, move through the Monday list until your time for work is up. Then stop and return the next day and pick up where you left off. This stops the endless shuffling of tasks from one day to the next, the feeling of guilt for not finishing a day’s tasks, and is faster when planning the week.

Are you ready to give these tricks a try? I’d love to hear about your experience.