It’s the end of the first month of 2021 already. Doesn't time fly when we aren't looking? And aren’t we glad we finally made it!
So what are your plans for this year? Whether you have a formal list of goals or just a couple of wishes, when we make them, we’re sure we'll keep them, aren’t we? And sometimes we actually do, at least some of them. But most of them, truth to tell, are probably left by the wayside or forgotten by the time February rolls around.
I believe that people never take action to improve anything until we're so miserable with the status quo that we simply can't stand it anymore. Humans will put up with incredible amounts of disappointment, frustration, fear, disillusionment, etc., rather than do anything to change it.
When it comes to dealing with our world as it is now, as opposed to, say, January 2020, before the pandemic completely took over our lives, have we gotten used to doing things totally differently than we used to? When it comes to public speaking, we used to think about becoming more skilled and getting over our fears, but usually didn’t actually do anything about it until we absolutely had to. Now that public speaking is
primarily video speaking, it seems like there’s a whole new set of rules, but some things remain the same.
The businessman who couldn’t give a 60-second intro at a networking meeting without getting red-faced and tripping over his tongue is still stumbling and stammering at an online video meeting. The entrepreneur who can't make a 20-minute speech on the value of her services without shaking in her designer boots completely avoids appearing on podcasts. They’re missing out on the personal and professional success that would come their way if they could just present
themselves confidently to the world. The change required, they believe, is just too hard.
If you had to choose, which would you prefer?
To settle for what you've got without challenging yourself to be better and achieving more?
Or to realize that accepting the challenge to change will be totally worth it when you discover you're capable of succeeding in ways you'd thought impossible up to now?
The tricky thing about change is that it breeds like rabbits. One change leads to another, and pretty soon you'll become someone to admire for all kinds of qualities you didn't know you had. When you become a cool, confident speaker, comfortable on video in front of any group, that skill and comfort will spill over into other parts of your life and business. People will respond to your new-found confidence, and new-found
success will march right along with it.
Making real change is so much more gratifying than a simple resolution to do better. Make the commitment to yourself to overcome your reluctance and do the thing you're afraid to do. Resolve to become a unique & sexy video speaker and who knows? It might be the successful resolution that makes all the other ones possible.
