Hi
I fell into the perfectionist trap. This happens when I don’t set myself a deadline to publish a post.
This is bad because I know that quality goes up with quantity. The secret is to write more, not to hold onto a draft awaiting an imaginary timeline.
Great things come from consistency. Do something for long enough and people will notice.
So today I’ve set myself a timer to hit publish.
Public Speaking 101
Over the last month, I entered my ‘public speaking phase’. I have always found public speaking more difficult than writing, but I know that I’ll get better the more I do it.
I see public speaking as one of several foundational skills that have compounding benefits across all areas of life. If you can learn how to tell your story, explain things simply and communicate your ideas to a wide audience, you have a superpower.
Batching these together helped to accelerate my progress in a short space of time.
Here’s what I’ve noticed:
I still get nervous. That’s okay. The nerves go down over time, but it’s not linear. For some sessions, I’ll be more nervous than others. That’s okay too.
I’m very hard on myself when I get nervous. Through therapy, I’ve realised that I often hold onto this idea of the ‘person I’m supposed to be’ and I get frustrated when I don’t feel I am that person. This gap is a recipe for unhappiness, so I am working on correcting these automatic thoughts.
Nerves is almost always a good sign that I’m leaning in the right direction.
I’ve also found a method to make public speaking easier. No-one actually sees what goes on behind the scenes, but my process generally involves:
Practise the presentation in front of a timer
Practise the presentation to a member of the team
Warm up on the day by speaking to as many people as possible
What I’m doing here with the practise presentations is trying to simulate the real thing as much as possible to spike my anxiety when I’m practising. If it’s a virtual presentation, I’ll practise it virtually and if it’s in person, I’ll practise it in person.
On the day, I focus on building up ‘social momentum’. I find this really helps to get me into a state of flow. My best talks are when I’m present and not living in my head.
Thinking bigger
I tell students applying for jobs at law firms that they need to learn to ‘sell’ their experiences.
The logic is straightforward for an interview. An interviewer wants to hire the best person for a particular role. A person who can ‘sell’ the most noteworthy aspects of their experiences will appear more capable than a person who downplays their experiences. In real life, you don’t get points for hiding how good you are.
Until recently, I didn’t realise how far my own lack of self belief was holding me back. In turn, this was constraining my vision for what I believed I could achieve.
Here’s what I’ve concluded so far:
When you open yourself up to thinking bigger, you’re more likely to see normal occurrences as opportunities. You’ll do things you otherwise wouldn’t have done because it’s part of a bigger vision.
You can make a lot of things happen when you believe that you can.
If you find that other people have more faith in yourself than you do, it’s probably a sign that you aren’t seeing how capable you really are. Take note every time this happens until you start believing it for yourself.
No-one knows if things will work out, so you might as well believe in yourself anyway. (This can be a helpful mentality if you’re at the early stages of cultivating self belief. Soon, you’ll realise that believing in yourself is correlated with things working out.)
Surrounding yourself with people who are excited about your future is magic.
Go for it even if you don’t win. When an opportunity arises that is open to many people, it’s very easy to look at the competition and assume someone else will win the prize. This is comforting: it’s often easier to take yourself out the process than actually give it a go. But what if you actually tried?
What I’m excited about
Every once in a while I come across an opportunity that I get really excited by. Most recently, I was accepted onto buildspace, a programme for people who want to get things done ⬇️
I think the founder Farza is awesome - I love how he injects his personality into the business and builds in public.
I’ll keep you updated on how the programme goes 🚀