Energize Your Outlook ®

As I think about turning that big number this year, 50, I feel like I’m back in kindergarten. First day of school was really scary as a 5-year old. And yet, some 45 years later, here I am back at the start of a new journey……blogging. I begin to think about how new and bewildering all of this is to me. Scared – yes, nervous – yes, confused – VERY. I attended a really good seminar last week encouraging all of us to blog, blog, blog, and so here I am! Thanks to my speaking coach, my daughter and some other supportive friends, I’m getting in the game.

These past couple of weeks I have found myself doing a lot of self-talking to convince myself that yes, I can do this. Then of course, after I persuaded myself that indeed I am capable of blogging, I began to ask the inevitable question regarding what I could blog about. Humm, do I need to have a blog theme of some sort? Do I need to name my blog a certain title? Do I show how vulnerable this speaker and communications coach is when she is treading unknown waters? The answer is totally YES!

Whenever I give a networking talk or conduct some networking or interpersonal communications skills training, I let my audience members know that “THEY are NOT ALONE”. Whether they are walking into a crowded room full of strangers where they know no one or whether they have a question but are afraid to ask for fear of embarrassment or rejection, they are not alone. So when I was going through my personal conversation about my fears of tackling a blog, I realized this preacher needed to take a seat in the choir and just do it – blog. I realized my apprehension about making a mistake was holding me back from sharing to the world some of my thoughts, fears and concerns. Then I remembered my own mantra…..YOU are NOT ALONE. YOU are NOT ALONE! YOU are NOT ALONE! YOU are NOT ALONE! Saying this to myself over and over and discovering that by sharing my anxiety about all of this blogging stuff, it may help other people who have contemplated starting a blog but who have found they just get stuck worrying about how it’ll turn out, sound, be interpreted, etc.

Isn’t it amazing how as we get older, some of our senses and emotions are heightened, i.e. fear of not really knowing what to do – how to blog? Who would’ve thought that a soon-to-be 50-year old who helps people gain confidence, polish their professional presence and learn how to come out of their shells would be so afraid of this big, bad wolf known as blogging? So I’m accepting the challenge, and I’m embracing it! I’m looking forward to this big adventure because I get excited about breaking new ground for myself and definitely stretching both personally and professionally. After all, isn’t it about trying to set an example for others to follow so that they too will know that THEY ARE NOT ALONE?