Let me guess: you've been thinking about that next move for months. Maybe it's launching a podcast, starting video content, pivoting your business model, or going after that bigger audience. You know it's the right move. But you're not doing it.
And if you're being honest with yourself, it's because you're afraid to be bad at something.
I get it. You've built something. You've established yourself. You're good at what you do. The thought of being a beginner again feels like losing face. Like taking a step backward when you've worked so hard to move forward.
Here's the thing: that fear is the ceiling you can't break through.
The Podcast I Almost Didn't Launch
Back in 2020, I postponed launching my podcast twice. I'd already invested in the equipment (that I was terrible at figuring out). I'd gotten the headshots. I had the podcast cover ready for six months. But I was paralyzed.
The story I told myself was brutal: “What if no one listens? Or worse, what if they listen and hate it? I've already built a name for myself. I can't afford to fail publicly now.”
Maybe you recognize this for yourself. You're at a point where you're good at what you do, but you're afraid to do a new thing because it feels like you're going to lose credibility if you become a beginner again.
But eventually, I got sick of myself. I asked the question that changed everything: What's the worst that can happen?
The worst case scenario? I publish the episode and a few people don't like it. Maybe a few people love it. That's it. That's the “disaster” I was avoiding.
So I followed Pat Flynn's podcast course timeline and hit publish.
What Happened When I Finally Failed Forward
First day: 3,000 downloads.
Since then: over 1 million downloads across four podcasts and over 8 million in online sales directly connected to that decision.
A while back I sat in a a podcast studio in West Hollywood after interviewing one of the biggest names in the online marketing industry. I flew there in business class. By myself. Because I did that thing I was bad at and learned to get better at it.
None of this would have happened if I hadn't been willing to suck at something first.
The Beginner's Mindset You're Missing
A lot of people told me not to do the podcast in 2020. “How long are you going to give away free content?” they asked.
I didn't have a perfect answer. I just knew that if I wanted to write a New York Times bestseller someday, if I wanted to interview people like Tony Robbins, I needed to start now. Not when I was “ready.” Not when I had it all figured out. Now.
The truth is, if you don't take the first steps, the next steps are never going to happen.
Over the years after launching, I'll admit something: I started thinking I didn't have to put in the work anymore. I'd reached a lot in revenue. I'd met cool people. I wasn't humble in the way I needed to be. I started feeling too good to learn new things.
But here's what I've realized: the moment you think you know everything is the beginning of the end.
Look at the greats in any industry. They're never afraid to learn something new. They're never afraid to make their hands dirty. They're never afraid to start fresh or to fail.
Why I Changed My Podcast Name Twice in 2023
In 2023, someone told me that if I didn't get my branding together, no one would trust me anymore. They pointed out that I didn't have clear colors, my fonts were all over the place, my Canva login was a mess.
I got paralyzed. Started being afraid of making choices.
I knew I needed to change my podcast name from the FastForwardAmy Show to something bigger than me. Play to Win came up. But I was so afraid of making the wrong choice that I almost didn't make any choice at all.
Then I remembered my own roots: do something perfectly imperfect. You can always change it afterwards.
So I changed it to Play to Win. A few months later, I realized it needed to be Fail to Win.
Because we cannot win without failing. We cannot win without experimenting. We cannot win without allowing ourselves to be a beginner at any new adventure.
Yes, I changed the name twice in 2023. And I'm not ashamed of that. That's the point.
The Question You Need to Answer
What do you want to win at? And more importantly, what do you need to allow yourself to fail at in order to get there?
What do you need to post that you're afraid of? What do you need to embrace in your identity that you aren't good at yet?
If your win is big enough, you're going to be able to allow yourself to fail. But if you don't dream big enough, it's going to be really difficult to get out of your comfort zone.
Failure is normal. Failure is not bad. Failure is just learning as long as we keep trying and experimenting.
A day where you haven't failed is a day where you haven't learned.
So here's my challenge: stop waiting to be good enough. Start being bad at the thing that scares you. Your next level is waiting on the other side of that fear.
Listen to the full episode for the complete story about why embracing the beginner's mindset is the fastest path to your biggest wins.
Leave a Reply