One year ago, a colleague asked me to fill in for her on a live segment of GOOD DAY COLUMBUS. Fortunately, I was out of town so I had a perfect excuse not to do it.
The truth is, at the time, the thought of speaking on television scared the living crap out of me. I didn’t think I could do it. The thought of it brought out every negative piece of inner dialogue we tell ourselves to protect us from what’s scary. I told myself that day in 2016 that there was no way in hell I would ever agree to do that. Never. Ever. No way.
Fast forward to today, March 2, 2017 and I did a LIVE segment on that very same GOOD DAY COLUMBUS program to promote my new book, Big Girl Pants.
What changed? Simple. My mindset.
When my PR representative told me he booked me to speak on live television, I froze. I have done numerous speaking events, webinars, interviews … you name it. But this was LIVE TELEVISION! It’s a whole other beast, right? Or at least that’s the story I told myself.
I may be a life coach, but I’m no different than anyone else when it comes to excuses and fears. I just had to take a moment, cycle through my toolkit, look myself in the mirror and pull on those Big Girl Pants.
I made up my mind that I was going to march my little (well, not so little) butt in front of the TV camera and JUST GO FOR IT.
I wish that was the end of the story, but life isn’t ever so tidy, is it? I strolled into that studio ready for my close-up and the first thing I saw was a tease with the cover of my book and an anchor telling thousands of people that I was going to be talking about being a MEAN GIRL. Wait. I thought I was just going to promote my book. You mean I don’t just have to wear pants, but I have to air my dirty laundry too?!?!?
My heart stopped. I started to panic. I wanted to leave. I was hoping my over-six-foot PR guy could fit in my clothes and take my place.
Deep breath, Lisa. And then I changed the narrative I was telling myself. This is why I wrote my book. To tell these stories. To use my own experiences to help others create what THEY crave.
Within seconds, I was instead telling myself that I COULD do this. I was going to be great. Besides, I didn’t actually TELL anyone I was going to be on. So there’s that.
And, with that, I sat down in front of the camera, answered questions I wasn’t prepared for, and did my first live television segment.
The moral of this long-winded story? EACH OF US HAS FEARS. Even those who coach.
And facing them is SUPER DUPER SCARY.
But, guess what?
Once we decide to face them and walk straight into them with our head held high, the outcome is so amazingly wonderful.
After my brief segment, I reflected on the fact that it was actually a very comfortable interview (in a surprisingly comfortable chair) and I was in my element because I knew every answer was hopefully helping people.
Our fears hold us back from doing things in life. I’m here to tell you that we make the subconscious decision to let them. Once we decide we CAN do something, WE CAN.
