Thank you to everyone who wanted to see the video, and gave me vote of confidence in my submission. IT WORKED, and even if it hadn’t, your support made me feel great!
When I got the e-mail with the acceptance, you’d think I would have jumped around, singing and yelling, and generally making a commotion, but I didn’t.
I got scared. “Now you’ve done it!” that inside voice said.
As my friend and fabulous speaker Sterling Hawkins once said, “My past self keeps putting my future self in situations that make me very uncomfortable!” And here we are.
But this is how we grow! We do the scary things, and boy oh boy, sometimes they’re really scary, and coming up with some confidence can be hard.
So as I’m sitting here having a lapse in confidence in myself, I remind myself of a few things.
- People with much less experience on stage have ROCKED their TedX talks.
- I was chosen for a reason.
- But mostly I remind myself of the brilliant resources I have. The people who will be willing to help me make this speech a success. (like you did when you crossed a few fingers for me a couple weeks ago.)
I recently learned of the 5 factors of stress that lead to overwhelm and burn out from Dr. Terry Wu, a brilliant neuroscientist and speaker. I’ll tell you about all of them in another e-mail, but one of them, and one I remind all my audiences of when I’m speaking about building resilience within all the change that’s going on around us is.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ALONE!
Social support is a massive factor in getting through anything! We need to feel like we have that support, and if we do, the hard stuff gets a lot easier.
So next time your inner fear voice says, “Now you’ve done it!” or “I didn’t see that coming! (or want it!)” phone a friend! Text someone what’s up, read an article or listen to a podcast, or holler at someone in your network for help! People are always happy to help, and if the first person you ask isn’t in a place to help you right now, pop over to the next one! But whatever you do, don’t do it alone!!
And if you’d like to be on a list to see a video of my talk before I give it, reply to this e-mail with “Hit me with the sneak peek!” and I’ll give you a preview when it’s ready!!
Go get ‘em Tiger!!
What’s on the Dancefloor?
alk about not doing it alone, Martinus Evans danced in the discomfort zone when his doctor told him he was overweight. “I’m going to run a marathon!” to which his doctor replied, “You will die.” Well, he didn’t die! Quite the contrary! He created a running community to help people like him embrace the accomplishment of running and getting fit! It’s an amazing story created by a wonderful and incredibly influential man. You’ll like this one.
What I’m excited about
Exhalation by Ted Chiang – the
other day I found a long-lost note in my phone about a book that was recommended by two really bright and fun people I met at Burning Man in August of 2022. When smart, interesting people recommend a book, I run out and get it, and this book of fascinating short stories did NOT disappoint! He hits topics that are very relevant today, and make you think.
