photo credit: Shandi-lee
Someone I previously worked with decided to go on his own and start a service business. As we shook hands, I gently reminded him to work on his presentation skills, for we both knew he had a fear of looking foolish and not communicating too clearly and convincingly to his audience.
I could tell Simon’s face was asking for help. We decided he would practise on me: I would pretend to be his typical audience. After scheduling the first presentation a couple of weeks down the road, we went our separate ways.
He spent those couple of weeks facing his fear, rehearsing his presentation and building on his self-confidence. On the sixteenth day, he stood in front of me feeling a little embarrassed. Once he got over this discomfort he did the entire presentation as if he was giving it to ten attendees. He actually looked at me and the empty nine seats as if we were his audience.
He was slow at the beginning, nervously referring to his index cards for support. A few minutes into the presentation, he put the cards aside and carried on as if the cards weren’t even there.
As he progressed into it, I could see his confidence rising. I finally smiled when he got into the swing of things, feeling very happy for him. His posture was tall and composed, his voice radiated courage, the spoken words showed his complete knowledge of the product.
At the end, he was so impressed with himself that he laughed loudly and clapped hard and long. “Yes. Yes. Yes. I did it!”
We went for a celebratory drink. As I ordered our third round, I asked him how he really felt, from deep within. He victoriously explained, “I was nervous at the beginning, I admit. But the key thing was that I did not fight that nervousness. I acknowledged it and at one point I decided to release it.
“You may have noticed I paused for a while at a certain point,” he said. I replied I did notice that and wondered why he had. “That was when I released the fear and nervousness. After that it was smooth sailing, don’t you think?” I agreed it flowed very nicely from that moment on.
That was Simon’s first step to conquering his fear of lacking confidence. A few weeks later, he held a small presentation to seventeen people, then twenty.
This is a lesson we can all learn from. By gradually increasing our self-confidence, one small step at a time, we can reduce and finally overcome our fear of greater success.
So, if you have a fear that is holding you back from greater achievements in life, what would that fear be? And are you willing to face it in the same way that Simon did?
By the way, claim your FREE Live Your Dreams mini-course and discover 5 amazingly simple things you can do to start living the life of your dreams. Visit: Live Your Dreams
Filed under Change Your Life, Dealing with fear by on Aug 30th, 2011. Comment. 
photo credit: {Salt of the Earth}
Are you driven by purpose? Did you know that you can enjoy life to the fullest, that every moment can be filled with joy, happiness and fulfilment? If you didn’t, you’re not the only one.
This moment came about right after a dream I had. In the dream, I saw a handwritten poster on the wall of a bright room. It said:
“You can enjoy life to the fullest and achieve anything that you want, anything, when you are living life on purpose.”
And the best bit of all, was that the poster, was signed by me!
When my eyes opened, I immediately sat up and started writing frantically. Since my writing was far slower than the thoughts surfacing from my inner mind, I quickly resolved to talk into my voice recorder: “I was born with a specific gift and talent.” “I have exceptional strength in something in my life.” “How can I be driven by purpose?” “What is my purpose?”
The voice recorder to my mouth, I recorded what I thought my strengths were, what I enjoyed doing, what I wanted to give to others, and who those others are. Eventually realising that I wanted to offer something creative to the world, I set about discovering exactly what I wanted that to be.
I began by jotting down what I enjoy doing, what things have a deep meaning to me, what I like reading and watching, what CDs I listen to, what my hobbies are. I then narrowed the list down to the things I enjoy doing on a consistent basis, after that I narrowed it even further to see if there was a pattern, a similarity in the top five items on my list.
This insight alone had made an incredible difference in my life. I used to haphazardly work on one project then move on to the next with no real sense of direction. But now I focus on getting things done, easily and with great pleasure. I feel a deep sense of fulfilment when I’m done.
The big difference now is that I have an intense sense of passion in what I’m doing. Am I now driven by purpose?
In the years and months since I began the journey of living my passions, there have been many times when I felt fear, when I stood face to face with obstacles that seemed too big to overcome, when I felt it was time to take the next step but did not have the courage or knowledge how.
I needed to find the courage to continue. And the great thing was I didn’t need to look too far. The courage had always been there. It was at these moments of fear that I found I grew as a person, for these moments inspired me to review my passions and look within me. Passion was the driving force that had fuelled me to triumph over any fear, any obstacle or challenge that stood in my way.
So, what about you? What are you talented at? What do you think your special gift is? Are you driven by purpose? Some people might be talented to write, others might be gifted to lead, perhaps be great communicators, motivators, chairpersons, head teachers.
Many people find it difficult to remember what they enjoy and what they’re good at simply because it has become far easier for them to bring to mind the things they’re not good at. Why? Because no one has told them they’re good at something enough times for it to make a difference. They hear more of what they’re bad at than what they’re good at. And in doing so, they do not recognise what they’re good at, what they enjoy doing and what talent they have.
Having said that, we all have talents. You have a talent, and when you find it, you, too, can find your true purpose, your ‘aha’ moment much like I did. It’s not always easy to believe in yourself and have the courage to learn and follow through with your talent, but the incredible news is that your talents can act like a powerful driving force that can invigorate you towards making your life’s purpose a reality.
And when you are driven by purpose, you’re sure to enjoy a much more fulfilling life; one that is full of happiness, joy and success.
By the way, claim your FREE Live Your Dreams mini-course and discover 5 amazingly simple things you can do to start living the life of your dreams. Visit: Live Your Dreams
Filed under Change Your Life, Mindset of Success by on Aug 23rd, 2011. Comment.
