Almost 10 years ago, I recorded my first video. I found that very uncomfortable. I remember that after take 386 my puppet JaNee had enough of it and recorded a video on her own. A video about how annoying perfectionism is. JaNee had no trouble with the camera and soon took the lead in my videos. Nice, but nobody understood what I was doing exactly and it didn’t result in registrations for my courses, so that had to change.
In 2020 I asked Elisabeth Griffioen, the video professional, for advice, and she taught me how to tell my story. JaNee had to fade into the background a little more, and I had to be more in the picture. That was again inconvenient, but I got used to it and video turned out to be a great medium for my business.
For the past year, I have been working on the 3rd hurdle to overcome in my video career; the videos had to be shot in English to increase my reach. Moving to Bonaire was a fantastic plan, but it did have some consequences for my company. Nothing that can’t be solved, but I had to overcome myself again. With my secondary school English, I could manage reasonably well on the street, but talking about my work in professional terms was really too ambitious.
I went looking for someone who could help me with my speaking skills and found Matty, a Dutch woman who has worked for years as a teacher in Canada, Aruba and Curaçao. Matty was a perfect match, not only did she speak the language very well, she also understood what I was talking about and made it her job to make sure I looked confident on YouTube.
It took me about a year to get here, but yesterday my first English-language video finally went online on YouTube. He’s not flawless, but I’m so proud of myself. I did it! And it is not a one-off action, because I now see even more advantages of English: I have a greater reach and can tell my story in English more concisely. This saves recording time and the viewer saves time, but still has the same content, so a win-win situation.
I’m still excited to share this video with the world, but I’m doing it anyway……. I have conquered myself again and know that this will not be the last time. Something else will come, in which I will meet myself again and ask myself whether I dare or not. I now know how such a process works, and I also know that it is ultimately less scary than I thought. Exciting adventures are also beautiful lessons, and I like to share beautiful lessons with you and with the children I work with. My video is not flawless, and it doesn’t have to be (anymore). It took me a long time to realize that perfectionism is mostly insecurity, and that it costs me more than it gains me. Do I want to pass that example on? Or do I want to be more accepting, more compassionate with myself and appreciate the efforts I make to grow? I chose the latter. Good is good enough.
This is the video:
Thank you for reading 🙂
With Love,
