Be your best self to the limit!
At this point in my life, public speaking does not frighten me, in fact, I do it often. I do recognize that I am a work in progress; however, this does not create hesitance or fear. The thing is, my path to becoming a public speaker started with a defining moment of failure and embarrassment.
We’re still at the beginning of 2022, which also means we're still in the ‘New Year, New Me' (rolls eyes) part of the year. This also means the prevalence of resolutions which get a bad rap largely because we’re generally quite horrible at actually keeping them....
Many persons I know, myself included, have, at some point, had goals and aspirations, but were shy to go after them - and afraid to be seen going after them. The ‘why’ is obvious. Failure when it’s happening doesn’t feel good and people generally aren’t kind in those situations. Even in succeeding, people can still be unkind. But in focusing on these people, you run the risk of not getting what you truly want.
The show, ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’, has always been a favourite of mine. There have been many debates on which episode is the best, if asked, my pick is the episode named ‘Tapestry’ (episode 15 of Season 6). While this series was always engaging, this particular episode offered several lessons about how we are to get the most out of life and how we are to boldly...be bold!
I worked with a gentleman many years ago (Let's call him John). Every time I think of him, I am reminded of the lesson that I learned from him - that no matter how bad things may be, I must always be my best self, no matter what. In what become a highly teachable moment, he became the man that lost two jobs.
With the world progressing at such a rapid pace, there is great focus on what skills are needed for the future. While articles and experts focus largely on technology-based skills, there is a non-technological skill always finds it way on the list - skill of adaptability.
...while my broken earphones may have been a relatively small loss, they presented me with a great life lesson and a powerful teachable moment...
As it turns out, many successful people, regardless of their evidential giftedness and hard work, felt that they were largely lucky and undeserving of their achievements. As many of them stated, they were waiting to be exposed by the world as frauds who were just lucky. What these persons were suffering from was the Imposter Syndrome. Just like them, you’ve likely felt like an imposter at some point.
When things don’t go your way, it is so easy to blame any and everybody for their supposed role in your misfortune; everybody but you that is! Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com
It has been well documented that Jay-Z is hip hop’s first billionaire. Understanding how he made it to this point provides a great education about investing and financial literacy.
WILFRED BAIN 