Matariki is a time of celebration, thinking about the year ahead and of course reflecting on what's past and celebrating the success. It's important to have these check points and set our intentions to move forward. This was traditionally a time the crops were harvested so another cause for celebration. I often think of my work as planting seeds and watching them grow so reflecting on this feels like a harvest sometimes. What seeds have you planted and how are they growing?
This is my vision board, it sits on my desk. It’s something I see daily and tend to redo every year or so. It’s a combination of my personal goals and dreams and business aspirations. One of the things I’ve recently achieved has been in the making for many years now and featured on 3 vision boards including this one!
I’m excited to be working through the TEDx coaching programme in preparation for speaking at TEDx Ruakura in September in Hamilton. TEDx has become a speakers holy grail. For me it’s a chance to hone my skills, rehearse my keynote and benefit from some coaching and learning that prepares me to take the stages.
I often get asked about my speaking business and TEDx is one of most speakers goals but so often when I have this conversation people will say ‘I’d love to do a TED talk’ and it's a question i've asked of others - how did you do it? It sounds silly but one of the obvious things is applying - it's like wanting to win lotto but never having bought a ticket. We have to be in the game to win it and then we have to be consistent and keep trying, even when we fail.
I started applying for TEDx about 3 years ago, it was a small step towards achieving this goal. I got knocked a few times or just simply didn't hear anything. I’d seek feedback, readjust my pitch, try again. Each year until the answer was yes. I often talk about this concept of getting outside our comfort zone, failing and learning what we need to know to try again. If I’d have stopped after the first unsuccessful application and though ‘well I tried, they said no, clearly it’s not meant to be’ I’d never be preparing to take the stage now. Those red letters would adorn my vision board yet I’d be no closer to realising the dream.
So what’s on your vision board? Where is it? - can you see it and is it what you aspire to in your daily actions? Are you taking small steps towards those dreams, are you giving yourself every chance to succeed? It’s no good having these goals and dreams if we’re not making a plan towards achieving them and taking the small steps and action required to bring it off the page and into reality. It’s like hoping to win lotto without buying a ticket.