Why do artists get stuck and not take action even when they have step-by-step instructions?

Technical instructions alone aren’t enough. People get hung up on fear, perfectionism, and overthinking—especially fear of rejection or fear of not having the ‘right’ equipment or setup. What unsticks them is seeing the strategy and mindset behind the tactic: understanding why it works, seeing someone else do it in real time, and getting permission to ship imperfectly. For example, you might know how to go live on video step-by-step, but you won’t do it until someone tells you: ‘You already have all the equipment you need. Just turn on your phone and talk. You need to do a thousand of these, so stop overthinking and start shipping.’ That context—the entrepreneurial thinking, the perspective on volume and iteration—is what gets people moving. It’s like teaching karate on a whiteboard versus actually stepping into the dojo and kicking. Both are necessary.

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Asked by general teaching point · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-06-13