Am I the only one who is doing new stuff ALL THE TIME?
I truly like change and new stuff - just b e c a u s e it's new--but REALLY!
I find myself saying to customers' requests, (with more confidence in my voice than in my gut) "Of course I can speak to your staff for 3 hours, --or keynote your convention, or create training, --about THAT."
I hang up the phone and say, "Oh, %!@!%! How do I do THAT? What have I done NOW?"
And then I spend time on the 'Net, I dig through books, and I rack my brain. Ultimately, I find the information; add wisdom to knowledge, perspective to facts, sprinkle in some humor and stories, put it into a familiar framework and voila! A new program, keynote or training is now in my repertoire.
That sort of thing used to happen, maybe, once a year. Now it happens most MONTHS. The world is turning faster.
And that would be meaningless if it were only me, but it's not. Due to downsized companies, tightly run entrepreneurial ventures and a proliferation of SOHOs, (Small Office Home Office) we are all -- from entry level to executive -- being asked to dig deep, to find skills, talents and knowledge that we don't always know that we possess. And it's scary.
The familiar is easier and far more comfortable because it's . . .well...familiar. This venturing off into UNfamiliar territory makes you wonder if you have the "right stuff." It makes you stretch. It makes you grow.
And then, when you actually DO it, it makes you crow, as you discover just how much you do know and how much you are capable of. Often you actually do possess the skill-set. what you lack is confidence!
Get used to it! From now on the prizes go to those who can turn on a dime; who can bend when confronted by change& Those who know how to learn and those who can apply timeless precepts to modern concepts.
Take a deep breath. Pull on your Nikes. You can DO IT!
