“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – e.e. cummings
So I had this crazy “ah-ha moment’ a while ago as I was driving around Chicago running errands.
It was about a week before I was to give my first ever Keynote speech to a group of sales people with a large corporation. I was excited, nervous and full of anticipation. This was a moment I had been dreaming about for a long time.
I started thinking about how I got here. To this place of wanting to speak for a living and actually being hired to do so. And then out of the blue I remembered “speech meets”.
Let me explain …
From grades 5-8 I was a member of our grade school “speech club”. The club had very few members and we were trained to memorize and perform speeches for live audiences. As you can imagine, this was not necessarily the “cool kids” club. But I didn’t’ care. It felt right and with every ounce of my young bones, I knew it made me feel alive!
I can vividly remember, memorizing and performing these speeches. I would win gold ribbons. My teachers would write in my yearbook that I would do this some day and that they can’t wait to see what comes of it. My parents were kind of in shock by it, wondering how in the world I developed this as a hobby.
Then I grew up. I went to high school. To college. Life changed. It got real. There were distractions. I got a little lost along the way.
Now, here I sit, as a grown adult and I plan to speak for a living one day.
In my car that day I had this sort of full circle “AH-HA moment”. It hit me. Why hadn’t I made the connection before? That from such a young age our bodies and our souls are telling us what our passions are. The difference is … some people listen and some people don’t.
It got me thinking … does our past really show us what our future holds?
I was mesmerized at the thought.
For me it clearly did. So much in my youth directly held a mirror up to my future.
I wanted to share this story with you in the hopes that it may inspire you to take a look at your life and ask yourself the following questions:
Then I grew up. I went to high school. To college. Life changed. It got real. There were distractions. I got a little lost along the way.
Now, here I sit, as a grown adult and I plan to speak for a living one day.
In my car that day I had this sort of full circle “AH-HA moment”. It hit me. Why hadn’t I made the connection before? That from such a young age our bodies and our souls are telling us what our passions are. The difference is … some people listen and some people don’t.
It got me thinking … does our past really show us what our future holds?
I was mesmerized at the thought.
For me it clearly did. So much in my youth directly held a mirror up to my future.
I wanted to share this story with you in the hopes that it may inspire you to take a look at your life and ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you living your dream or are you making excuses for why you can’t?
- Are you living your best life?
- Do you know what your passion is?
- Pay attention to themes in your life – Take a look at your books, your CD’s, your credit card statements. What you spend your time and money on could be a direct correlation to what makes you most excited!
- Make a list of people who are where you want to be – You don’t have to re-invent the wheel. Study people who are where you want to be and let them inspire you!
- Don’t over think it – “Passion cannot be found it your head because it lives in your heart.” – Marie Forleo. Read more about this by clicking here. (Marie is one of my favorite and inspirational entrepreneurs!)
- Dream Big – Set goals and leave plenty of room for surprises. But remember, the sky is the limit. So go for it. And then let go. If you can do this, and really let go, you’ll end up discovering things that you would have never even imagined.
- Start – Once you have found your passion, then go do it! Don’t wait for a business plan. You don’t need one. Even if it’s just baby steps. Start! Be aware of “The Resistance” … it will hold you back and tell you a million reasons why you should not do something. Ignore it … and start.
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