I have a dream!
I want to speak at TED. Many of the people who have inspired me have done this, and in my own way, I want to inspire a lot of people. The only problem is: I hate public speaking. I really feel the fear and it seems so unnatural! I am great at talking one on one, or in small groups, but as soon as large groups are involved, I lose the human connection and struggle to be myself.
Yet much of what I do is helping people deal with or remove the fears that hold them back from living the life they want! I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t work on my own fears and live my dreams. So, every day I challenge those fears and put myself in the public view where it feels uncomfortable, in order to become more comfortable with it.Call it aversion therapy, if you like! By doing this, not only am I getting closer to my dream, but I am also discovering a wealth of funny stories and a richness of life as a result.
My son turned two recently, and he shared a party with a few of his friends, the theme of which was a Teddy Bear’s picnic. I decided to order a Teddy Bear outfit for a friend who loves to make a fool of himself in public. But a few days before the party, I decided to face my fears, get uncomfortable and do it myself. So there I was. merrily waving away, being the best Teddy Bear I could be, walking into a room with seven 2 year olds.
It was a disaster! 3 of the kids burst out crying straight away and were inconsolable. The other 4 just looked puzzled. I got a really bad review! Kids don’t lie at that age! The adults in the room, as you can imagine, were all rolling around laughing at my expense. Even I was laughing at my own expense, despite all pride being lost. The Teddy Bear had to slope off after about 3 minutes, to rescue the party from this deluge of tears.
That plan had gone so much better in my head. However, the good thing was that the sun still rose the next morning and I had another great experience to talk about. The funny thing is, the more I tell people about the disastrous Teddy Bear story, the more people want to see me dressed up as a bear! Two of my favourite clients dared me to go and walk my dog on the beach whilst I was wearing the outfit. I had been talking to them about taking their business to the next level by just throwing away the rulebook and being themselves. If I was advocating this and willing to walk my talk, how could I refuse the challenge?! And if they want to see that sight, then I am assuming others will, too. So here goes!
The secret to achieving anything you want in life is first, to believe that it is possible. The second is to start facing the barriers that hold you back from that dream. Whilst it might be uncomfortable, it can actually be a lot of fun along the way. The least it can be is an experience. The most it can do is to change your life for the better and help you to achieve your dreams.
It’s only when you get out of your comfort zone that things really start to happen.
What fear prevents you from doing what you dream of?
What can you do to challenge yourself and feel uncomfortable every day?
How can you use it to get the life you have always wanted?
Stay crazy!
PS I would love to hear your stories about how getting uncomfortable has improved your life. Comment below or send them to getintouch@marcwinn.com
If the above topic, or indeed any of my blogs are of interest to you, then contact me and let’s talk! Drop me an email at getintouch@marcwinn.com.
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Have to say, I went looking for something by googling “doing something that makes you uncomfortable” My long story..short….25 plus years ago, I played softball recreationaly, then had eye surgeries…….now 27 years later I have taken up recreational softball once again. I have only hit 2 balls in the last 4 weeks. Every week I threaten myself with “just dont go..drop out of it…” and push my self through games.
Intimidated by the thought of practice in front of folks, having to explain my eye problems. I brought an eye patch, took off and put on my glasses etc.. Today, I focused, and took some hints from another guy at the batting cages. took 20 balls tapped 2, listened to the other guy and asked him to tell me where he saw me placing the bat, took another 20 balls, hit 70$ of them.
I left crying. Yes I will push myself through the next week of softball, but I figure this, I am retired, this is supposed to be fun, and hell, w t f, if I cant do this by the end of this short season I can say I at least tried…
Today I paid a bill and for once I paid it on time. That made me feel uncomfortable. I will not do that again.