Surveys of people's greatest fears have consistently found Glossophobia (fear of public speaking) at the top of the list. In fact, our fear of standing up and talking in front of a group of people is so great that many people fear it more than death.
My first public speaking seminar event was born out of a desire to inspire people. As my session began, it couldn’t have been seen as anything other than a complete and utter train-wreck. The event organisers promised a packed audience for my first ever presentation. Out of 150 seats, I had 170 people cofirmed. Finally, I was going to start living my personal passion and start changing lives. However, I didn't count on Murphy's Law showing up.
I had one person show up.
Yes; just one.
To add insult to injury, I don’t believe the man who showed-up was there for me. He seemed more interested in the comfortable chair and the obviously delicious flavour of his strawberry yoghurt than anything I had to say. All in the space of just 30 seconds, I felt annoyed, frustrated, angry and doubtful. Then, I laughed. If I could convince just one man (Yoghurt Man) about living his dream, that was enough to start. Touching one heart at a time, whether it was in a room of 1 or 5000, has always been my dream. On leaving the stage an hour later, there were 117 people in the room.
Yoghurt Man taught me two incredible lessons:
1. There is no right time to begin your dream. You just have to start walking your path.
2. The beginning only resembles the end if you give up midway.
We must uncover our insatiable appetite to pursue our unique talents. This book is dedicated to finding yours. For me, my gift is the ability to build fulfilling relationships quickly. With this natural talent, I am able to initiate conversations with strangers, and I can inspire purposeful living in those who take me into their trust. I have a deep desire to break people out of mediocrity and help catapult them into their own version of extraordinary. Some need a nudge, while others need stronger persuasion to believe in themselves again.
Leaving Security + The Law of Attraction:
So, how do we pay the bills and go for our passion? How do we leave the concept of security? How do we pursue what we love? The main reason most of us don’t “go for it”, but instead, get trapped in the bill-paying, mortgage-repaying cycle until we retire, is that we believe we'll regret leaving security behind. Risks are for 'other people'. We discuss this very point at The 11 Master Secret Seminars, and it can become a sticking point for some who have been brought up to chase job security due to fear of loss. These personality types are not enjoying life; instead, they are have become adept at enduring it.
The other concept I would like us all to become familiar with is that job security is a myth. Anyone can lose their job at any time and for countless reasons. Have you ever heard of anyone being "let go" due to a team re - structure? Perhaps a company folding? Maybe you've heard of someone whose position was made redundant or who was given fewer hours than they can afford to survive on?
Would it be fair to say that each of us know at least one person who has experienced one of the above?
I have a friend who chases security at all costs. His reasoning against entrepreneurial risk is the high probability of business failure. The fear of potentially failing at something is much stronger than the desire to succeed. Therefore, he is already setting up a prospective business venture to fail in his mind before the seed of imagination can even begin to start to grow. So, he won't begin.We only do things for two reasons in life. One is for the love of someone or something that we believe to be worthwhile. The other is out of the fear of someone or something, such as being afraid of the consequences of inaction. This book is about shifting our paradigms towards the former reason.
The Law of Attraction teaches us that our thoughts act as a magnet; whatever we think, say or feel, always comes back to us amplified. If we're worried about a negative outcome, then we're giving energy to the negative outcome. Since we expand whatever we give energy to, the Universe is giving us more of what we're thinking and feeling. Negativity encourages us into a further cycle of continually complaining about our negative circumstances, and we'll soon bring in supporting factors and supporting friends to justify why we're feeling this way. This, in turn, carries on the momentum for negativity to flourish. Vicious; isn't it?
We're also accustomed to saying one thing and thinking another. It's important to note the Universe responds to how you feel more than what you say. For example, if I want a new car and say: "I would really love a new car, but I honestly feel I'll never get it", then the Universe will respond to how I feel about "not getting it", because that's the vibration I'm amplifying.
Remember, the Universe doesn't hear "No". Instead, it takes the essence of your thoughts about any particular subject and expands it back to you. Below is the same situation with two different mindsets. Try to feel the difference between the two drums being beaten and what is being amplified.
1. I know he works late hours but there are times when he comes home late and I wonder whether he's been with someone else. We are struggling to make ends meet and everything we earn seems to go out to paying bills. I would hate for this to go on until one of us gets sick; I don't know what I would do if one of us got sick like our best friend, Sarah.
2. I am grateful and happy to have a beautiful spouse whom I know will be faithful to me forever. We both work very hard and I look forward to the day we have the money to do whatever we want as we both love to travel and volunteer our time to help cancer victims. We have been married for 15 long years and I look forward to growing old with him by my side.
Nelson Mandela put it best when he said: "You cannot want something but secretly believe it will not happen". In practice, you're squaring - up any possible good that would love to come your way by simultaneously feeling the negative emotion and the fear of it not manifesting. Your negative feeling about the subject will almost always short - circuit your well - meaning positive affirmations. Resist the urge to complain or think negatively about your circumstances. Instead, remember what you already have in your life (gratitude) and anything more than this is a bonus (releasing expectation).
If we can grasp the above, we are in a position to understand the concept of 'intentional-creation' and how we already take huge risks everyday, (e.g. stepping out our front door). We realise we have the power to create a state of mind where we can design a life, rather than simply be the recipient of it. Once we begin to understand that life is an unfolding journey of peaks and valleys, and combine this understanding with the practice of Law of Attraction, we're in a stronger position to follow and pursue what we love. When we win, we win. When we lose, we learn. We always win.
Q: So how do we become a world class Musician, Pilot Or Business Owner ?
A: We do it Gradually.
Don't concern yourself with how long it's going to take to accomplish your vision. The time will pass anyway.
Work towards leaving the rat-race by making small strides away from it. We should have a strategy to make life work for us, rather than letting it happen to us. You can now count yourself among the few who are busy designing lives and who one day soon, won't necessarily need a 4 week holiday per year to escape from it.
This book focuses on the 11 most common challenges you'll face. Embrace these hurdles and nothing can stop you.
Let's begin…