I had a lot of people help me when I started speaking about six years ago. People that were generous with their time when I had questions and was trying to figure out what the heck I was doing.
I swore I would always pay that forward and rarely does a week go by that I don’t have a conversation with someone looking to start out as a speaker.
Yesterday, I chatted with Dale for about 15 minutes via Zoom.
He’s nearing retirement from his “real job” but wants to speak about what he’s learned to help people move forward for his “next job.”
And he should! He’s a good dude with a wealth of experience and insight.
He had plenty of questions for me:
How do I market? How do I find events? Who helps with bookings? What do I charge? Who does my website? My videos? My social media? My handouts? What do I use for virtual presentations? Camera? Microphone? Lighting? Software?
I answered every question because I’m sure I was exactly the same way six years ago (except for the virtual stuff). But I did leave him with the lasting message:
You don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great. Just GET IN THE GAME.
We can all be guilty of this – whether it’s starting something or scaling something. We ask an overwhelming number of questions that can all be important and valid. But they can also prevent us from action.
If we’re not careful, we look up from the sidelines and realize that, after all the strategizing, we’ve never actually gotten in the game.
That’s not a good place to be. No growth, impact and fulfillment happens from there.
Usually, this manifests itself in language like, “I just need to do a little more research,” or “let me think about that a little more.”
The research comes from doing. So does the thinking.
The entire scientific method is based on experimentation and testing hypotheses.
Will this work? Will this not work?
Testing. Trying and failing. Learning. Tweaking. Gathering insight. Making it better.
But always in the game.
I readily told Dale that the part of making mistakes doesn’t stop after you’ve been speaking for six years. I still make plenty and I always will. So will you in your chosen pursuit.
We’re all on the same journey. But the journey only begins……..when you get in the game.
Keep Outperforming,
