The Power of Commitment
By: David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer

Last year I was encouraged to start a podcast. I found the idea interesting, but then the doubts came. Who would listen? What if people didn’t like it? What do I have to say that is worth listening to? During a discussion about the topic I said to Marisa (my co-worker at MACNY) that I would do it if she did it with me. I really didn’t expect her to say yes, but she enthusiastically agreed. When I got home that evening, I mentioned the idea to my youngest son, Tim. True to form, Tim asked me WHY I would want to record podcasts. Who would listen? What would I have to say that people would be interested in? Tim isn’t being rude or distrustful, he just has a gift for helping me think through ideas. After explaining my rationale, I asked if he would be our audio technician and post the podcast for us. His reply surprised me. “I will, if you agree to do it for a minimum of one year.” Tim knew there would be days when I would be discouraged about a lack of listeners and may want to quit. He knew that podcasts take time to catch on and develop a tribe. Tim knew that sometimes you have to wait until there are six months to a year’s worth of episodes before your podcast can get noticed.

Well, this week marks The Next Page’s one-year anniversary. It’s hard to believe that a year has passed so quickly. So how did it happen? The simple answer is commitment. As my mentor, John Maxwell always says, “Anything worthwhile is uphill.” You need to be committed to your goal and work hard at it each day.  To reach our one-year anniversary we needed to complete fifty-two episodes. Let me let you in on what that includes:

• Researching and writing fifty-two weekly blog posts that drive the content of the podcast. This task takes an average of three plus hours per episode. This doesn’t include the time Marisa spends editing my writing (and boy does it need editing), posting the content to our website, and sharing via e-mail.
• Recording the podcast which takes about forty-five minutes per episode.
• Editing and posting the podcast, a task my son Tim does, which can take between thirty minutes to an hour depending on how messed up we have it.

The big question is, was it worth it? Absolutely! The feedback we have received has been so encouraging. Tim was right, it took time to build a tribe. Currently, The Next Page has listeners in 27 states, from Maine to California, and from Washington State to Florida. We have also had listeners in Canada, Costa Rica, Spain, Italy, China, Japan, and Taiwan. There are over 1,300 minutes of digital content available online for our members. It was and is absolutely worth the effort.

I want to especially thank Marisa for all her help, support, and guidance. I would not have attempted this without her. She is a remarkable young lady and I am honored to call her my friend.

If you would like to hear more about commitment and the ups and downs of our journey with The Next Page, please join us for episode  53.

Download The Next Page Here: iTunes | Google Play | PodBean