I liked today’s episode about when things don’t go according to plan and wanted to share a similar story with you, coincidently about starting a podcast.

My family and I have been producing a family podcast (http://pizzagohere.com) for two years now and during that entire time I have had an idea about a new podcast. Even though the draw of podcasts are that people all over the world can listen, I wanted to start a local podcast that would highlight how great it is to live where we do. Our city has had it’s share of bad press through the years and last year became known as ground zero for the foreclosure crisis. All the negative press last year really got me motivated. Then Forbes ran an article declaring our city the most miserable in the US and I finally put my plan into action.

I drew out the show concept, acquired the domain and started writing out the first few episodes of Podcast Stockton in January and early February. I had planned on recording the initial episodes and start releasing them in late March. I couldn’t wait to share the project with my community. After hearing all of the bad things about living here I was eager to share just how awesome I still thought our city was.

My plans were all coming together. That was until, our home was burglarized on March 11. During the day when my wife and I were at work and our kids were in school (and, it’s important to mention, our dog was in the garage), someone hopped over our back fence, pried open our back door and ransacked our home. They stole mostly electronics and jewelry and left a wave of destruction in nearly every part of the house.

My family and I were devastated. Most of the items taken from us can be replaced. Our sense of security, however, will not be so easily recoverable.

I was angry and hurt. I was also questioning my own desire to roll out Podcast Stockton. It was, after all, a show that was to highlight the positive side of living in Stockton and I had just been through a very negative event. I considered throwing in the towel and scrapping all of my plans. Later in the day, however, I realized that my feelings were normal and that the best course of action was to continue as planned.

I made the decision that evening that the show must go on (although I didn’t exactly say it that way at the time). I chose to find the positive aspects of our ordeal and Podcast Stockton episode 0 was released ahead of schedule on March 22. Another nagging thought about quitting was the fact that I made a soft-announcement a few days before. Lucky for me, one of the writers from our local newspaper picked it up and put it on his blog. That reminded me of a great lesson: tell others about your goals; it’s harder to quit that way!

Again, great show guys! Thanks for letting me share.

- Matt Beckwith
Stockton, California
http://mattbeckwith.com
http://podcaststockton.com
http://pizzagohere.com

Love it!

Whenever things don’t go as I expect, I see that as a signpost to turn on a dime and see what lessons I can learn. Took many years to develop that outlook, let me tell you. :)