Documenting vs Creating: how to still look like an expert if you're documenting?

All right, Lindsay here has a great question that I love talking about, which is documenting versus creating. That phrase came from Gary Vaynerchuk. And I've always appreciated hearing the idea is, instead of if you feel the pressure and kind of stress of creating content on a regular basis, maybe you ought to think of it as documenting your journey. Instead of like creating masterpieces or whatever, just think of it as documenting your journey along the way. Because the reality is, if you publicly document your learning and growth journey in your field, you're going to grow an audience of people who are invested in your journey, essentially because they have been consuming your videos or your writings or whatever podcast about you learning and growing in your field. And of course you are going to be the one they think of in your field because they are interested in your journey. They've been seeing you learn and grow along the way. And so you are the default expert for them. And so, Lindsay, question is, that very question is, well, would I be the expert? If I'm documenting my journey and telling people what I'm learning and telling people the things I don't know, am I still going to be seen as the expert? And that's a very valid question. And you know, Gary Vaynerchuk uses the example of, let's say you want to become a world class chef. Right now you're a beginner, you're just learning how to boil eggs properly or whatever. It's like imagine a chef who starts a YouTube channel, an Instagram account, or TikTok or whatever, all the above, Facebook and say, hey, this is the journey to, to becoming world class chef. Today I'm gonna learn how to boil eggs. Don't even know how to like, put the eggs in. It cracks. I, I no idea what I'm doing. I'm gonna show you as I learn along the way. And you kind of like maybe see multiple takes and like edited together or whatever, or just a single take an hour. Like, okay, let me try to figure this out right now. Okay, so you, you don't just put the eggs into, okay, you, okay. And then like they show you. Oh. And then like maybe, maybe half hour later they're like, look, I made a boiled egg. Now I know how to do it. Tomorrow I'm going to learn how to make spaghetti, you know, whatever. And then it's like every single day this person is videoing their journey of. And by month three, they're now making like, you know, stir fry this or whatever, or baking this, you know, this thing. It's like, right? And by month six, by month nine, they're. Because they're like, they're. They're really, really learning every day. They're really. And they're showing you along the way, and they're kind of by default, it's going to grow an audience. By the way, the more YouTube videos you upload, the more likely you win the YouTube lottery of having one of your videos go viral and therefore having your channel become discovered by many people. But because the way YouTube works is by keywords, and just the more videos you upload, the more keywords are literally being out there for your channel. On various. You put different things. I mean, imagine the chef, right? They're saying, learning how to boil eggs in one video, another learning how to make spaghetti, and another learning how to make stir fry vegetables. It's like all these videos are out there. And then of course, there's tons of other videos being out there, but some people will discover that, oh, this, you know, this person's learning how to do this. How interesting. Let me see. See what they're doing. And then over time, like I said, nine months later, this person has become quite a better, better chef than most of us. You see what I mean? And by month 12, by month 16, now this person's like, let me show you the perfect way of boiling eggs. I've been doing this now for. For a year and, or, you know, every week for a year. And I mean, I. By the way, I actually know the perfect way to boil eggs. I. I do it perfectly. Like, stop. Boiled eggs. I can do it perfectly. So because I practiced a lot, like, I could have documented my journey, my own journey. Like, I have the perfect formula. It comes out perfectly every time. So, so imagine the chef is now, now like 12 months, 16 months, pretty damn good chef. Now if the chef were to. Now people are following them to learn from this person rather than just to kind of laugh along with the fact that they're, like, messing things up in the first six months. You see what I mean? Now they're learning from this person, right? And now if the chef were to create an online course on how to make, you know, eggs, various kinds, people are gonna like, yeah, this person, you could watch them. They know how to do it, and they, they know how to know how not to do it too. You can watch them do it right now. And imagine the chef started a restaurant, right? Like, now they have a following and they're like, oh, my God, of course I want to go to the restaurant of the chef that I've been Following their journey. I want to taste the food in person. Because now they're like, this is. This is like a household name in my household. Like, I'm watching this person's videos or reading this person's blog post or whatever it may be. So the secret to becoming an expert when you're documenting the journey is the fact that you're doing it consistently and you are literally growing. And people are watching you grow in front of their very eyes. And of course, they're proud of you, number one. Number two, they want to support you because they've been part of your journey. The aha. Moments you've had, they're having along with you. And that's like the most powerful way of making information valuable is to give people, aha. Moments, like, moments of realization. And how do you give people those moments unless you bring them along the journey? Right? If you don't bring them along the journey, you're just, like, spitting out wisdom, like, oh, wow, that's interesting. But seeing your growth means now, now your information is much more valuable for them because they have been there with you. So, so, so how do you be. How do you continue to be seen as an expert when you're documenting your journey? You just have to keep going. In the beginning, you have to be willing. Remember that chef who can't even boil an egg, right? Think of that person you might be in that, you know, in that stage, in some aspects of your work. Because, hey, listen, I messed up today, right? When I talk, when I work with a client today. And by the way, and I'll just give you one more tip on this. If you're going to say you messed up, or if you're going to be invulnerable and say, today, I'm not doing good, also include. And this is what I'm going to do about it. So the chef, God, I just messed up the eggs. So what I'm going to do about it is I'm going to figure out what's the right timing for putting the. You know, so. But for a coach, right? It's like, man, I feel like I really messed up with a client today because I. I kept talking to the client when I felt like they. Afterwards, I realized they really needed somebody to listen compassionately rather than just give the solutions right away. So next time, you know, my next clients, I'm going to practice it, you know? You see what I mean? Like. Like, you tell them how you messed up and what you're going to do differently next time, and people are going Way to go. What are people going to say? People are going to be like, yeah, you fool. No, people are not going to say that. People are going to say, way to go. That's really, that's a good point. Yes. I wish more coaches did that or, you know, if they're a potential client or if they're, if they're a fellow coach, like, yeah, you know, I learned that lesson too. And that's, they're just going to cheer you on. And then month after month of watching you do this now, you've become quite a, you know, a presence in their life. And who are they going to think of when they, when they need a coach like you or a service provider like you? Of course you, you know, so in fact, what's, what's, what makes content interesting is some kind of arc of a journey, a hero's journey makes the content interesting. If somebody is always just saying, I'm so good at this and here's the tip I'm going to give you today. Ah, that's okay, right? Like, there's tons of content like that. There's. It's not. But someone who's willing to say, I messed up today, now that's interesting. You got my attention. What did you mess up doing right now? You got my attention. I messed up today and then now I'm doing it this way. I'm going to try doing this way. So stay tuned because I'm going to keep sharing with you my, my messes and what I'm doing a little differently to try to recover, so I hope this helps.