Winning Wednesday: A Turkey Baster Builds Confidence

I like to assign an empowering adjective to each day of the week.  Read on to find out how this handy dandy kitchen gadget helped me to conquer one of my greatest fears.

We are not born with confidence.  We have to build it.

Do you believe that you can do something well or succeed at something?  Great!  Everyone is proficient in at least one thing as we have all been given gifts and talents. Those are easier to recognize and identify as opposed to our aspirations which can present far more of a challenge.

Since writing and public speaking often go together, I desired to break the barrier that I had constructed around myself in order to address others in a public setting.

A barrier prevents movement or access.  It is also a circumstance or obstacle that keeps people or things apart or prevents communication.  Well, since I was focused upon communication, this barrier surely had to go.  I envisioned myself being wrapped inside tightly constructed netting.  So, how could I break free to accomplish my goal?

Believe it or not, I rounded up a couple of kitchen helpers (not the human variety) to assist me.  Allow me to introduce them to you:

                                                           

Suddenly, I realized that I would need an audience of sorts.  I walked into our living room, stacked four white banker’s boxes on top of each other which served as my pretend podium, (at this point you’ve probably been able to discern that I am not overly tall), turned the timer to the right according to the required minutes, picked up my “turkey baster microphone,” and began to speak.  Child’s play you may say!  Granted, this could be considered so by some critics, but it definitely worked as baby steps for me.

Each time I implemented this humble procedure, it was as if I was using my kitchen shears to help the netting disappear.  The inanimate objects, i.e., my couch, old writing desk, rocking chair, were beyond helpful as they did not have the ability to boo, hiss, form disapproving facial expressions, yawn, fall asleep, and who knows what else in order to discourage me.

Next I graduated to my lovely 32 x 21 inch mirror, mirror on the wall in our entryway so that I could view myself when I spoke, especially if there were passages in my messages in which I wanted to insert more emotion.

Thankfully, my initial human audiences were smaller to help me gain self-confidence as time went on prior to me being invited to speak to larger gatherings of people.

Today I can proudly say that I was able to conquer one of my greatest self-imposed fears, all with the help of a little bit of this and that at my fingertips.

Suffice it to say, there have been a plethora of books written by a myriad of authors on countless ways in which to help ourselves build confidence.  Sure, we can partake of those which can be of great benefit, but there comes a point at which we must implement what we have read and/or studied.

I did not spend a whole lot of time studying the art of public speaking and the steps I implemented would probably not have been previously published in a book somewhere, but now they will be via my blog!  I am so excited to share this information with you.

I would love to hear back from you if there are areas of your life in which you initially lacked confidence, but were able to achieve the breakthrough, and add another rung to your success ladder.

A quitter never wins and a winner never quits.

Happy Reading, Writing & Speaking!

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