Soul Inspiration – Successfully Failed

Have you ever felt nervous or scared to about getting up and talking in front of a group of people.
What I’ve found is to over come a fear you must do the very thing that you’re fearful of.
Research tells us that over 75% of people have a fear of public speaking.
This year I wanted to overcome my fear of public speaking. So I made a decision that has changed the trajectory of my life.

First let me explain how I came to making this decision.

This year I’m in a personal year of 3, which is all about Communication, Self-Expression & Creativity. If you didn’t know I am a numerologist. Numerology is the ancient science of numbers, with each number contributing a unique vibration to the story of your life.

One of the benefits of numerology is that it uncovers your destiny and life purpose and the lessons you’ll face along the way, which is very valuable information if you want to make the most of your life journey.

For me, understanding my personal year number has allowed me to consciously create my future and live my best life. This year I decided to embrace the vibration of 3 and learn how to communicate and express myself effectively and confidently.

The energy of 3 is about communication, self-expression and creativity. Now communicating and self expression doesn’t only have to be about the spoken word, it can also be about expressing yourself through written words, like this blog for example, which I decided to write this year.

Now in the past, one of my biggest fears has been public speaking, like many people, speaking in front of people is scary, my heart races, my hands shake and get sweaty and it’s like my brain gets zapped and I forget my words. Who’s had those feelings before?

Yeah, it can be a little daunting right. Like I said in the beginning, to overcome fear you have to do the very thing you’re fearful of. So, in my personal year of 3 I decided I would face my fear head on and conquer the fear of public speaking.

I did some research and found the Speakers Institute. I signed up for a free online event and from there my journey continued. I attended the Speakers Institute’s Online Premiere Boot Camp and from that experience I knew, if I really, really wanted to conquer this fear of public speaking I had to surround myself with people who do this every day, people who are the best at what they do, people who guide you in the right direction, people who motivate, inspire and empower you to do and be better.

So I put myself in the proximity of greatness. I became a part of the team with the Speakers Institute as a Growth Coach and at the same time continue developing my skills as a speaker by being a student in the protege program.

Every day I get the opportunity to connect with amazing people. Jim Rohn said “You are the average of the 5 closet people you surround yourself with” I am grateful to be in the proximity of the likes of Sam & Kate Cawthorn, Craig Johns, Melissa Groom and so many more people.

I’ve been with the Speakers Institute now for over 6 months and I’m yet to get up on a stage and do a full presentation, however, what I’ve learnt since being with the speakers institute is, Trust The Process. Even though I have not delivered directly on stage I am exactly where I need to be right now. Success doesn’t happen overnight, it takes years and years and lots of failures.

I’m not afraid to fail. When you fail there’s always something to learn and improve on. Some of the most successful people in the world have failed more times than you can count, that’s why they are so successful because every failure is a lesson to learn and grow.

Recently I was given the opportunity to present my 60 second elevator pitch. Now I know what you might be thinking, it’s only 60 seconds, it’s not that long and it’s not that hard. Well, I can tell you it’s harder than you think, most people can’t deliver their elevator pitch in 60 seconds. If you don’t know what an elevator pitch is, it’s a short statement explaining who you are, what you do and why someone should buy your product or service. To deliver your pitch you need 100 words or less, that’s on average how many words we speak in one minute. You’re probably asking how do you explain all of this in a hundred words ore less. Good Question!

At the Speakers Institute we call this your WHY Pitch, Why this, Why Me, Why Now. It’s a simple framework that allows you to deliver your pitch in 60 seconds or less and for the listener to connect with you. If you follow the framework it can be done in the time frame required.

I got an email from the  Business Networking Event organiser asking if I would like to do my elevator pitch at the networking event I was attending. When I received the email my natural reaction was, hell no, followed quickly by, why not! This is exactly what I’ve been working towards, this was my opportunity to walk the talk.

So before I could back out and overthink it, I replied back to the email with YES please thank you for the opportunity. Then I quietly started panicking because my why pitch was not ready. But you know what they say, diamonds are created under pressure and it was time this Little Rock came out to shine.

I’ve been working on my Why pitch for sometime now. It’s been a work in progress. I’ve changed it so many times and each time I thought I had it, I would read it out loud but I was just not conveying the right message, it just didn’t connect with me and if it wasn’t connecting with me, it sure as hell wasn’t going to connect with my audience, until a few days ago I finally got it right.

My Why pitch said exactly what I wanted to say, I felt the connection and my message was clear. I was ready. So, I practiced it out loud over and over again until I memorised it, I practiced in the car, in the shower, in bed, so many times I lost count. I practiced to my clients, to my partner and also recorded myself doing it. It came in at 1 minute and 3 seconds. I felt confident and ready to deliver my pitch to them world.

So to cut a long story short as this blog has become a little longer than I had planned for it to be, it happens sometimes when I am inspired by life events and want to share it.

The time had come to deliver my why pitch and YEP I successfully failed. Yep, you read it correctly. I failed.

I missed words, I totally messed up the most important bit, the call to action, it went for 1 minute 30 seconds and I looked like I was standing on a boat, swaying from side to side, I probably made people sea sick watching me.

But you know what, we are harder on ourselves than on other people. I came off stage beating myself up, sat down and said “I fucked that up”.Later that evening I spoke with my partner about it and he knew I messed up because it didn’t sound the same as what he heard when I practiced it to him. But he didn’t judge or criticise me. I accepted I successfully failed and I will probably fail 100 more times and that’s ok. Like I said, there’s always a lesson to learn and an opportunity to grow. As Sam Cawthorn say’s “The best is yet to come”

For years I was not being true to myself. I hid who I was, I didn’t speak up and I avoided conflict. I felt like I couldn’t be myself because I was so worried about what other people would think or say about me. See own worst judger. I denied myself of my own happiness.And then one day I grew up! Well, actually, I read a book called “The Four Agreements”, it changed my life.

I do my best to live by these agreements as best as I can. They are:

1. Be Impeccable with your word
2. Don’t take anything personally
3. Don’t make assumptions
4. Always do you best

Every day is a new day to do better. You only need to do 1% better every day and over time you will notice massive changes in your life. Just like compounded interest, it builds and builds and you end up with a greater amount and reward.

This month’s blog went a little longer than planned, if you’re reading this now thank you for staying right to the end. It’s always my intention to inspire, motivate and empower you to take action and live your best life.

I would love to hear from you what you’re biggest take-away was from reading my blog or perhaps there is one action step you would like to take from reading this. Send me an email.

Remember, 
Live with passion xxx