It was all going so well.

My UK boss at Agora International called me into his office with some “good news”.

This was almost 25 years ago now, and I had most of my publishing career ahead of me. So I was super-keen to hear what he had lined up.

As I entered the office, my boss grinned from ear to ear.

He was always really supportive and I could tell that he was excited on my behalf.

He explained that I had been chosen to represent the UK division of Agora’s international publishing house at an important event.

Because of this, I’d get to travel to a huge convention in the USA, (flying business class of course), and make a major presentation on behalf of our UK division.

My head started spinning.

Public speaking?

In front of a huge international crowd of publishers, marketers and copywriters?

It was my worst nightmare!

When he finished talking, I smiled and thanked him…

Then I ran to the office toilets to throw up.

Afterwards, my panic did not go away.

I’m ashamed to admit, that I came up with a stupid excuse about a family obligation.

There was a wedding I absolutely ‘had’ to attend, and it clashed with the dates.

But the truth was, it was a ‘second cousin twice-removed’ type wedding and I didn’t need to go at all.

So that was the end of that!

I patted myself on the back that I’d avoided a difficult situation….

But deep down I knew I’d made a huge mistake.

I realised that I couldn’t go through life like this, turning down great opportunities.

And from speaking with so many first-time course creators, I know that this kind of fear is rife among so many people – and it can seriously slow you down or hold you back.

But please don’t blame yourself for it.

As I’ve discovered, this is a deep-rooted, primal fear that’s in every human being.

We just need to recognise it so that we can overcome it!

The Lizard Brain that Works Against You

In his book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, the hugely influential marketing guru, Seth Godin uses the term “lizard brain.”

He describes it as that primitive part of our brain that we developed early in our evolution.

It’s that “fight or flight” instinct that helps us stay primed to look for danger.

At even the tiniest signs of threat, we go into red alert mode.
A rustle in the bushes… a stranger’s face… something that looks like snake…

These can trigger a fear response.

Now, this quality was very useful when we were hunter-gatherers, moving through forests of deadly spiders, tigers and wolves.

But it can be a problem in the modern world.

Even though we feel like we are more sophisticated, advanced and superior to our ancestors, that fear response in the primal part of the brain can still hold sway.

You might not even realise it, but it’s often influencing your behaviour.

Particularly when you are trying to pursue a big goal, like creating a course, or getting on stage to make a major presentation.

You might WANT to achieve the goal.

But the lizard brain has its fears…

Fear of failure.

Fear of looking stupid.

Fear of responsibility and hard work.

And these fears can make you procrastinate… make you hesitate… and hold back when you should be taking action.

Here’s how Seth Godin puts it:

“The lizard brain is the reason you’re afraid, the reason you don’t do all the art you can, the reason you don’t ship
when you can.

The lizard brain is the source of the resistance.”

This primal fear can work subconsciously and manifest itself in funny ways.

For example…

You are working on a course idea, but you’re spending hours and hours messing around with fonts… looking at pictures… changing your mind over colour schemes…

It feels like these are essential tasks…

But they’re actually distractions borne out of fear.

They’re ways to avoid getting to the crunch and actually setting something up.

The same thing can happen when you find yourself doing yet more research… buying more books… tweaking the title… trying to perfect elements that won’t affect the final outcome.

You’re doing these instead of launching your course

“Want to know why so many companies can’t keep up with Apple?” says Godin. “It’s because they compromise, have meetings, work to fit in, fear the critics and generally work to appease the lizard.”

So how do you overcome this ancient instinct to hold back, delay and procrastinate?

Ways to Overcome Your Inner Resistance

First, you need to accept that there is never a perfect time to create and launch a course.

Don’t wait for the ideal moment, as it may never come.

Yes, do your research.

Yes, follow my Course Creation Academy training (if you’re not already a member please email me at [email protected]). Yes, make sure you tick off the steps in the right order.

But understand that when you keep circling around small details, waiting and waiting, making excuses, it’s often because there’s an inner resistance to hitting the ‘PUBLISH’ button.

It is better to get your course out there, making sales and earning you money, than to keep tweaking it for months on end.

Secondly, understand that there are always risks – that goes for anything worthwhile in life.

But if you fail, you will always learn something that will allow you to come back stronger.

It is better to make a mistake –and then change or improve your product – than not doing anything at all.

One of my favourite mentors, the Agora copywriter Michael Masterson, wrote a book on this very topic called, Ready, Fire, Aim!

It’s a phrase worth keeping in mind…

Rather than spending years preparing to hit the perfect bullseye in your first shot at a course…

You can always shoot first, then adjust your aim once you see where your shots land.

But the fact is, if you don’t pull the trigger, you’ll never know.

It just takes that bold determination to overcome your deepest fears!

You can do it!