Day 5–100 Days To Becoming An Online Course Instructor
When uncertainty makes us, well, uncertain
Day 5. Discombobulated. That’s how I felt today following my most recent interviews.
Yes, definitely discombobulated.
Don’t get me wrong — the feedback from the interviews was brilliant. It was also very different from what I had expected. It highlighted either that I have misunderstood some of the requirements of my target audience, or that some of the people who I thought were in my target audience are not. I am not sure which yet — probably a little from Column A and a little from Column B.
Logic tells me that it is perfectly ok for reality and my expectations to be misaligned when it comes to planning this course. I started the interview process so that I could be sure of what my target audience wants and needs. The point of the exercise is to discover where their expectations and my expectations differ. It is better to find a misalignment now than after building a course that doesn’t sell. So, yeah, logic tells me that this is all fine.
Something deep within me, however, isn’t paying attention to logic.
Why the discombobulation?
I’d had a draft course plan in my head. Nothing fancy, just an idea of how the course would look. The outcome of the first interview was that my course plan was validated. The outcome of the second and third interviews was a perception that my imagined course plan needed a lot of work if it was to align with my target audience.
I no longer knew what I would be creating. I didn’t even know whether the topic as I had imagined it was going to be a thing any more.
Ah-ha! The interviews had created uncertainty for me.
Knowledge
In “The Field Guide to Emotions” by Dan Newby and Curtis Watkins, uncertainty is listed as an emotion, with its own story, impulse for action (the action that we tend to be drawn to from that emotion) and purpose.
The interpretation of uncertainty provided by Newby & Watkins is as follows:
- The story that we tell ourselves in uncertainty — “I am not sure which option will be the better one”
- The impulse for action from uncertainty— Hesitation
- The purpose of uncertainty — To tell us when the path is unclear
This resonated. Significantly. It was almost like the authors were inside my head!
Newby and Watkins also mention that uncertainty can get in the way when it becomes a habit. They offer the following:
When we live in uncertainty, we are unable to take a stand for what we believe in and are unable to cultivate the emotion of dignity.— Dan Newby & Curtis Watkins in “The Field Guide to Emotions”.
I was particularly curious about the reference to dignity. It is not an emotion I would have thought to include in my learning for today. However, I wonder now whether it might be useful? According to Newby & Watkins, the story that we tell ourselves from dignity is “I am worthy; I decide”.
Yes, dignity sounds like an amazing antidote for uncertainty.
What I Learned
The interpretation that uncertainty is there to tell us when the path is unclear was helpful. I know it sounds obvious when first reading it. Regardless, it was incredibly comforting to read that uncertainty is deliberately telling me something.
Two questions came to me when I pondered what it meant to have uncertainty telling me that the path is unclear:
- What can I do to achieve clarity?
- Does it even matter that I don’t have clarity? Can I simply accept the uncertainty and become curious about where this will go?
What is interesting is that the interviews that are causing me uncertainty at the moment are the same interviews that will bring me clarity in the future. I want to be patient, curious, accepting of the current uncertainty and in wonder as these interviews progress. Clarity will happen as the number of completed interviews increases.
When I tried to imagine myself operating from the emotion of dignity, it felt fantastic. What I am not sure of is how to include dignity in my way of being for this part of the process. I am going to ponder that for a while. Perhaps it might become the topic of a future post.
Overall, I think that my big piece of learning for today is this:
The key is to keep going.
Progress
On Day 5, I have:
- Followed up with one more person on my list regarding interviews
- Followed up on scheduling of a couple of interviews
- Booked an interview for lunchtime tomorrow
5/5/100 (Days on track / Days gone / 100) On track.
References
Newby, Dan, and Watkins, Curtis. The Field Guide to Emotions: A Practical Orientation to 150 Essential Emotions.USA: Dan Newby & Curtis Watkins, 2019.
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