Have you ever gotten all ready to record, only to feel like you weren’t actually ready? It sounds counterintuitive, but if you want to create truly impactful content, you need to learn to stop preparing & just hit record. My own viral video, with 850k views, was filmed at 2:30 am in a ripped hoodie with terrible lighting, and it taught me a crucial lesson about why over-preparation is a content creation trap.
Prefer to watch? I’ve put my video below or if you’re a reader simply continue reading the post.
The Psychology of ‘Preparation’ as Procrastination
This is going to sound completely backwards, but if you go prepare and get yourself all ready, I can almost guarantee your videos will either be crappy or you won’t make them at all. Setting up the camera, wearing the right outfit, doing your makeup, or getting your space just right feels productive. But these actions are often a story you’re telling yourself to delay.
All of that effort is driven by the part of yourself that doesn’t feel ready until it achieves some external standard. Good enough looks, good enough lighting, good enough space. These preparatory actions are simply things we do because a part of us doesn’t feel ready to do the actual thing. People might call it perfectionism, or as someone once told me, “perfectionitis.”
Why Authentic, Unprepared Content Performs Better
So, how do we help that part of ourselves actually do the thing and do it well? We show it that we can skip all that preparation. When we can get comfortable with just doing the thing, that’s where authenticity exists. The best content I’ve ever filmed is content where I just hit the record button the moment I’m having the thought, whether I’m in bed or at my computer.
If I go set the stage, get my ring light, and make sure everything is perfect in advance, it’s much more challenging to create content that feels connected and flows naturally. It ends up feeling staged, rehearsed, and stale. Why? Because it is. People watching can feel that, and they scroll right past it.
A Tale of Two Videos: Polished vs. Authentic
I remember making a video a while back. The content was good, great stuff even. My thoughts were organized, and from a production standpoint, it was a quality video. It got just a handful of views. Then, I saw someone else make basically the same video, saying the same thing, and it was objectively a “shitty” video. It had hundreds of thousands of views, comments, and likes.
I got triggered. Why were they getting all the views? As I compared, I realized the difference was their extremely authentic delivery. They weren’t worried about editing, looks, lighting, or having it all right. They weren’t super prepared; they were just human.
If you connect to the human in your audience, you’ll get a bigger reaction from them than if you are super polished. People will prefer the human most of the time.
For the work we do, calling people into authenticity and vulnerability, we must be open and create that vulnerability in how we are seen. This might be different if you’re selling stuff people don’t need, but for deep connection, we have to meet people at that level.
The Surprising Power of Recording When You’re Tired
An example of this is making content when you’re tired. Many people advise creating when you’re fresh in the morning, which can be great. But what if you have an idea at the end of a long day? Your first instinct might be to wait until morning when you can be more presentable. Don’t. Make it right then.
Make it in your messy hoodie with messy hair. Make it while lying on the couch. Remove the barrier of “getting ready” so you can go from idea to content in the shortest time possible. This keeps the idea fresh, potent, and authentic.
A social media analyst I follow made a great point about this. Your audience is tired. So if you make a video when you’re tired, they see you and think, “They look tired, like me. They’re still doing it. I can do it too.” If you look picture-perfect, you can alienate the majority of your audience because they don’t feel like that. You look like you’re on a pedestal, and they can’t connect.
My 850,000 View Video Filmed at 2:30 AM
True story. The video with the most views I’ve ever posted was created under the least “ideal” circumstances. I was wearing a ripped hoodie after a 13-hour day of hiking, followed by a five-hour live podcast recording. It was 2:30 AM, I was exhausted, and I remembered I had promised to make a follow-up video for the livestream audience.
The room was dark because I was sharing an Airbnb and my roommates were already in bed. You could barely see my face, just the glow from my phone. I recorded it, posted it, and went to sleep. The next morning, I woke up to 850,000 views.
Stop Preparing & Just Hit Record: Break Your Pattern of Delay
The point is this; preparation does not equal good content, and it certainly doesn’t help you break your patterns. The only role over-preparation serves is to appease the part of you that wants to delay or the part that feels you aren’t good enough until you’ve ticked a dozen boxes. If you’re ready to move past these cycles, you may find our Break Free From Self Sabotage training helpful, just check the schedule for the next available event.
Your job is to show that part of yourself that you are good enough, your message is worthy, and you are worthy of simply showing up authentically. That is enough. It doesn’t require a bunch of preparation.
Am I saying never prepare? No. I’m saying eliminate the time between idea and posting. Get that gap as short as possible and teach yourself it’s okay to not have everything perfect. The best content you’ll ever publish will most likely be recorded not in a perfect studio, but while you’re walking to the grocery store, living your real, authentic life. Combine that authenticity with profound knowledge that connects with your audience’s problems and goals, and that’s the magic sauce.
