There are podcasters. And then there are people who have podcasts

I was really inspired by the speech Herb Brooks gave to the USA hockey team, right before their game in the Olympics against the Soviet Union in the movie Miracle. The Soviets were heavily favored, and the Americans were a rag-tag bunch of college kids by comparison. But Brooks had turned them into a real team in a very short period of time. 

At any rate, the speech in the movie was not a verbatim quote; it was probably inspired by his players recounting the moment. But in the movie, he said, “You were meant to be hockey players, every single one of you.” It’s interesting he didn't say “you all are athletes.” Or, “You all are Americans.” It was “You're hockey players, and you were brought to this moment for this specific purpose so that you could rally your country in its time of need.”

What’s the difference between a hockey player and someone who enjoys going ice skating on the weekends, and maybe plays a pickup hockey game here and? The hockey player gets up at 5 am every day, whether they feel like it or not. They work on the fundamentals every day, work on being a good teammate every day. These are all essential elements of being successful playing hockey, so a true hockey player will do these things. Not because there’s any type of reward, but because it’s just what hockey players do.

The person who goes ice skating on the lake, maybe plays some hockey here and there is not a hockey player, at least with the definition we’re using here. If they don’t feel like getting up at 5 am to do shooting drills, they sleep in. If it’s too cold outside, they might stay in and watch a movie.

Not that there’s anything wrong with this. It’s just that the true hockey player has a different level of dedication, he has a completely different motive for getting out there, putting on his skates and doing the work.

Let’s reframe this type of mindset for our purposes, and say, “You’re a podcaster.” Are you really? Or are you just someone who has a podcast? There's a big difference.

A person or a business who has a podcast, well, it’s just something that they do. They get some enjoyment out of it, maybe they get to meet some interesting people doing it. But should they miss an episode, it’s no big deal in their mind. “Nor harm, no foul” is the mantra of the day.

A podcaster has a completely different mindset. For the podcaster, this isn’t just something he does, it’s who he is. Of course the podcaster has a podcast; maybe they have multiple shows, it doesn’t really matter.  

A person with a podcast is content to do what everybody else is doing, to simply take what is working for someone else, and tweak it and apply it to their own unique situation.

A podcaster is always looking to make the craft of podcasting better with their podcast. They can't imagine life without doing it.

If you're just going through the motions, or simply doing what seems to be working for others, you're not a podcaster in my view. You’re simply someone who has a podcast. 

You might think what I'm saying is pure semantics. Maybe I’ve just thought about this way too much. I’ve put my valuable and limited mental acuity to waste. Maybe that's the case, but this is the way I see it. 

A podcaster will not allow a week to go by - when they’re scheduled to release an episode obviously - and say, “Oh well, I missed a week, it’s okay.” Because you miss one episode, and it becomes so easy to miss another one, and another one. You’ve given yourself moral permission to slack off. Your show is worse off for it, and the podcasting craft is not better for it. You’re merely existing, not actively growing. 

That being said, life happens, and sometimes missing an episode is inevitable. But for a podcaster, when they must miss an episode due to circumstances beyond their control, they’ll have almost a visceral reaction to it. They’ll apologize profusely to their audience, explaining the circumstances, etc. 

It literally hurts the soul to miss an episode, as though they've failed.

I should know, as I missed an episode of my own podcast just this week. It's not a good feeling.

At any rate, I'm looking for some content creators who are interested in not just casually putting stuff out here and there, or hobbyists. I want to work with people who feel like creating is their purpose in life - or at least contributes to their purpose in life.

If you want to check out what I have to offer, it's called Prolifically Profitable, and as you might guess, making a buck with our content is part of our objective.

To check out the program while its in its infancy stage, click this link: https://jamesdnewcomb.com/prolifically-profitable/