Sometimes Giving Up Is The Perfect Solution: A Possibly Unintended Inspirational Video
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In a hurry?
Since I started publishing and promoting posts full-tilt (in other words, not a hobby), I get asked a boatload of questions: how often do I post, how long does each post take me, where do I get my inspiration.
Each of those questions deserves their own posts actually but I’ll sort of touch on the last one today as part of today’s Feel Good Friday post.
Sometimes Giving Up Is The Perfect Solution is a post I wrote after coming across a Jenna Marbles video on YouTube, which, simply put, is a video of the YouTube star apologising to her viewers for not having any good content this week.
You can view her apology video below.
Who is Jenna Marbles?
Before we dive into the underlying message of her video, I’ll give you a brief intro.
Jenna Marbles (real name: Jenna Nicole Mourey) is an American YouTube celebrity, vlogger, comedian, internet personality, and blogger.
She’s got quite a bit of content since she started uploading videos in 2006 and though she’s generally got a good image, there have been some dips where she’s experienced criticisms and backlash.
Of course, it’s normal to make mistakes. Everyone does.
What’s not normal – for the average person, that is – is to make mistakes in front of a lot of people.
Jenna’s got nearly 20 million subscribers so I can only imagine the pressure she’s in under all that public scrutiny.
Lesson 1: It’s okay to make mistakes
So, why am I focusing on this particular video from this particular person?
Well, first, I love the fact that she shot and uploaded this video in the first place.
As a recovering perfectionist, I am terrified of making mistakes. And all of my posts need to be perfect. Now, for some people, this might mean that they won’t bother doing anything because they fail.
In my case, the fear manifests a little bit differently because together with my fear of not doing my best and not being perfect comes the knowledge that there are just some things that need to be done.
I have a strong Nike streak so I just do it. I’m a blogger. I need to write posts. Period.
But because everything needs to be perfect, I go all in.
For example, if I set out to write a 1000-word post, I usually end up with 2,000 or even 3,000 words because the 1,000-word post just isn’t good enough.
This messes up with my time management so that I end up spending way too much time on whatever piece I’m working on. And when I’m pulled away from the process (because I’m also a mom and a wife)? I get really grumpy (understatement of the century…sorry, Kevin ?).
So, it’s nice to get the message from someone who also generates content and who clearly values the quality of her output that it’s okay to make mistakes. It’s not the end of the world. And sometimes, even when you try your darndest, you don’t get the result you hope for.
And that’s totally, completely okay.
Whew!
Lesson 2: A sincere apology goes a long way
How often do you find someone with a celebrity status apologise just because they feel they should?
Not because they’ve been threatened by bad publicity or they received a backlash from the no-holds-barred Colosseum that we all know and love as Twitter?
It’s refreshing to see someone use their influence to send positive messages.
Jenna is essentially apologising because she won’t be able to give her subscribers the quality videos that they’ve been used to (I’m a new viewer so I can’t include myself in that list yet) and, I don’t know if it’s just me, but I felt that the main reason she’s apologising is that she feels she owes her readers that.
And that’s such a nice feeling – being put on first place by a person who could by virtue of her influence, theoretically, just go her own merry way without thinking of other people.
So, the second big lesson for me is that if I do make mistakes, if the quality of my post is not up to par, and I’ve done all I could, then no need to beat myself up for it. I could just apologise (sincerely, obvs) and leave it at that.
What a relief!
Lesson 3: Sometimes giving up is the perfect solution
I’m exceptionally fond of the saying that “you only ever really fail the day you quit”. I can’t remember where I encountered that phrase, no matter how hard I try.
Actually, I googled it just now with quotes around it to zero in on the actual phrase and Google churned up three different posts, two of which were mine (20 Things You Need To Give Up Now: Unlock Your Future & Fly High and How To Be A Blogger And Get Paid: Nadia Malik) and 26 images (25 of which were mine too) so maybe I thought of it all by myself? 😀
I’d be quite chuffed with that if that’s the case!
But I’m getting distracted now, sorry.
So, anyway, the third lesson I learned from this one video is that heck, sometimes, giving up is the perfect solution to whatever you’re facing.
If your heart is no longer in it, if you know that you’ve changed your mind about something, then maybe you need to step back and actually put your focus on something that engages your passion. Why do you need to keep plugging away for something you don’t even want anymore?
Short answer: you don’t!
Nobody ever said that once you make a decision, it’s permanent and can no longer be changed.
You can change your mind! You can always change your mind (unless you’re the UK engaged in the Brexit process, then apparently, you can never change your mind!)
Or, more relevant to this particular video, if you’ve done your level best to produce the outcome you want and it’s still not quite right, it’s okay to step back and call it a day.
Maybe the timing isn’t quite right just yet.
Maybe you secretly don’t want it and are sabotaging your own success.
Or maybe, there’s a better way that you haven’t discovered yet.
Whatever the reason, sometimes giving up is the perfect solution.
After all, you don’t have to give up permanently. You could just take a temporary break, gather your thoughts, rethink your goals and your strategy and then try again.
That works too.
To recap
And there you have the reason why I whipped up this post after watching this possibly unintended inspirational video.
It’s a short 6-minute video that showed Jenna Marbles talking about her publishing schedule (shoot, edit and upload videos on the same day) and then apologising to her subscribers that there were to be no (quality) videos this week. Hence, the title.
Anyway, I had three key takeaways from this short video:
✦ Lesson 1: It’s okay to make mistakes
✦ Lesson 2: A heartfelt apology goes a long way
✦ Lesson 3: Sometimes giving up is the perfect solution
What about you? What did you think when you watched the video? And if you’re you a faithful subscriber, I’d really love to hear your thoughts about this video. Drop your comments below!
Jenna is an interesting person. I have followed her vids on and off, for years. You know what I learned, Jade? COMPLETE surrender into the process helps you to apologize effortlessly and to absolutely let go the idea of making mistakes. Like, the ego and its judgment vanishes, you accept yourself – mostly – and the apologizing is heartfelt, seamless and loving.
Plus, you become silly prolific with this mind-heart set. I create 10-20 pieces of content daily thru the concept of surrender. All about that complete surrender. When you give it all up, endless ideas flow to you, you execute without judgment and everything flows.
Super message my friend!
That’s interesting. It never would’ve occurred to me to connect surrender with the ability to apologise but you’re right. Thinking back on those moments when I didn’t want to apologise and then changed my mind and did…This morning, I had a wee fight with my young son and both of us were bull-fighting mad. After 20 minutes of power walking on the way to nursery, I took a deep breath and expelled it and then I apologised. But not before experiencing a feeling of complete surrender, a melting of resistance. What a way to look at it. Thanks, Ryan, for the clarity of your mind. 🙂