Speaking on the TEDx stage was a bucket list item for me. My journey to get there could be considered embarrassing or a triumph. It’s all in the way you look at it.

The embarrassing part: it took applying to 147 events to get accepted. Yikes! That’s a lot of pass-overs or flat-out rejections. I know other speakers that applied to 4 or 5, or even just one. Over the almost two years I spent applying, I doubted my idea, changed it, changed it back, fretted, and dipped into discouragement.

The triumph part: I kept applying. I had a schedule and committed to a certain number of applications each month. And I delivered, except in the months when I stalled because I totally lost hope.

Life is often like that. We can look at an event or experience or interaction as a total failure or a way to grow. 

And sometimes the failures end up having a silver lining. As I applied to TEDx events, I kept refining my talk, getting feedback, adding, subtracting, and honing my central idea. In the end, the talk I gave on February 21st was better for the long span of time I had to work on it.

What’s an area of your life that could benefit from some reframing? How might a more positive spin help you move forward or feel more empowered?

If you’d like some guidance in figuring this out, the next step is a conversation. Message me to schedule some time.