You’ve probably experienced someone’s envy while attending a big conference. The person, who is sitting next to you at a general session will exclaim, “I should be the one presenting from the main stage. I’m just as good at that guy!”
I’ve heard this before at lots of places, including the annual convention of the National Speakers Association.
You have a pretty impressive bunch of presenters on that stage. Most have paid their dues to earn such a coveted spot in front of more than 1,000 people. And I’m sure the audience is full of many others who are qualified to take the stage and showcase their expertise.
But there are also those who are operating from envy rather than experience. In these cases, I like to take them through a scenario to see if they’re really ready for the big stage.
Let’s say the next presenter woke up with a sore throat and couldn’t speak. A half hour before that talk you’re approached and told that you can fill that hour slot on the main stage. What would you do?
Invariably, the previously confident person starts to roll out excuses.
“I would need more time to prepare” he says. “I need to know the audience better.”
“So if you were given this gift of an opportunity, you would turn it down?” I ask.
It’s easy to say that you’re ready for a big opportunity but have you really prepared for it? Is your confidence from the perspective of an armchair quarterback? Whatever the case, you could not back up your bravado.
To Clear the Path, to success in these make or break moments, consider these action steps:
Keep Dreaming
If you can imagine yourself doing something big then you need to keep dreaming until you figure out how to make it a reality. Putting a saddle on the bucking bronco of your imagination can be very powerful.
But in order to manifest it, you need to figure out how you get from Point A to Point B.
Perfection vs. Preparation
You don’t have to be perfect but you have to be prepared. Perfection can be convenient excuse for not doing things. When you start to prepare, you move closer to perfection. Nothing good comes from just staring in envy.
Steady Progress
If your goal is that important, set some mini-goals that will allow you to chart your progress. Along the way you may decide your dream takes too much work to achieve.
That’s okay, if you let go of the dream. Otherwise, you need to commit to the journey.
Too many people spend their lives talking about big dreams but do nothing to achieve them. Do you want to be one of them?
