This week we celebrated the LAER Winter Sales Rally, an annual tradition at LAER where we bring in speakers and trainers for a full day of motivation and inspiration for the team. As part of the rally, I typically do a speech where I recap where we have been while also painting a picture of where we are going. As well, I keep half the talk reserved for teaching agents a better way to build a business. This time I focused on the power of using persuasion and pre-suasion in their communications.
The speech is something that I typically dread. I am not the most eloquent speaker. I trip over my words. I always have too many slides because I'm afraid I will miss an important point. I worry relentlessly that I'm going to trip on stage, misquote a fact, or not be able to hold the audience's attention. I not only dread public speaking. I fear it.
Like everyone, I wrestle with all kinds of fears. Lucky for me, I learned at a young age that if I let those fears control my actions and my decisions I would never achieve my Big Hairy Audacious Goals in life. Instead, I learned to use my fear as a catalyst for greatness. Instead of letting my fear of public speaking stop me, I use it to as a reason to practice and prepare for weeks up until the event. Fear motives me. It pushes me to be better. It aggravates me to the point of winning.
The fears we face make us stronger, sharper, and more determined to go after big dreams. The fears we face define our entire life in a good way. The fears we face make us realize that we humans are capable of anything; we are unstoppable, once we push past the limits, doubts, and voices that exist only in our minds. The only thing fear will not do is stop me. For this, I am grateful.
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