Friday, October 21, 2011

Think V. Do

I joined Toast Masters a year ago. I was forced to. My dad, who has Pisces tendencies himself, got angry at me one day and sternly told me I needed to wake up and start getting over my fear of talking to people. This was followed by a visit to a psychiatrists office that informed me I had Social Anxiety Disorder. My life was pretty sh*tty at that time.

My first speech went well, but I was nervous speaking in front of people and dreaded all of my future speeches.

There were times that I purposely missed meetings to avoid speaking. The smaller roles were fine, but there were just some days I couldn't muster up the courage to deliver a speech that morning. And it was a pretty last minute decision to do so.

Thursday Morning: It is announced I must give a speech the following Wednesday.

Friday: Procrastinate.

Saturday: Confirm my role as speaker.

Sunday: Procrastinate.

Monday: Write speech? At least think about what I'm going to write.

Tuesday: Write speech and attempt to memorize.

Wednesday Morning: Wake up at 5am. Decide it is too early to wake up/ get up/ end up going to ToastMasters. Decide I am not ready to give my speech. Go back to sleep. Wake up at 7:30 knowing the meeting is currently going on without me. Feel guilty.

This would happen occasionally throughout the year. In fact I could have finished my10th speech a couple months ago if I had given those skipped speeches.

I also experimented with How to give my speech. My first 3-4 speeches I wrote down word for word and tried to memorize every line. It was hard and the system didn't seem to be flowing like I wanted it to.

Then I started experimenting with just writing my speech, knowing it, and then speaking off the cuff about the topic without practicing. That was hit and miss 50/50.

Then I discovered Usana July-August and "woke up". Then I started actually looking forward to giving speeches.

I started experimenting with not writing out the speech line by line, but just knowing the topic and speaking from that -like with Table Topics which I had initially sucked at but had gotten progressively better at. Between the Zoloft and my newly found conscious confidence I started feeling more at ease talking in front of people.

By speech 9, I was really unprepared and unorganized giving my speech, and I did get criticized for it, but I just sat there completely contented with everything knowing I had said and done what needed to be done, even if it wasn't perfect. I just did what I could do. No words written. No words memorized. Just a list of thoughts and topic points I wanted to hit and did.

At this point it seems like my greatest struggle is with visual aids. Gave out incomplete handouts speech 9 because white board wasn't working. Tried to make white board work speech 10, but needed an easel. Stupid easel... never there when I need you...

I watched a video yesterday of a man give a speech about the "Just Do It" concept. He said that smart people will never succeed because they spend to much time thinking/ planning/ strategizing and not enough time Doing. They are great when it comes to mapping out actions, but then when it comes time  see them through, they overthink things and start getting worried/ anxious/ doubtful and then they don't see their actions through. Don't Think, Just Do. That's why idiots can get rich. If you are told by a wise person what to do and you actually Do It, your make wise actions and eventually through your experiences you find wisdom on your own.

People fear making mistakes. Fear comes from thought that triggers emotion/ anxiety. If you can eliminate your thoughts (specifically those of fear) you can Achieve. The best way to overcome thoughts/ emotions is to be Present. The best way to be Present is to Listen and Focus on your Current Surroundings and Actions. The best way to Achieve is to Just Do and Just Be.

2 comments:

  1. "He said that smart people will never succeed because they spend to much time thinking/ planning/ strategizing and not enough time Doing. They are great when it comes to mapping out actions, but then when it comes time see them through, they overthink things and start getting worried/ anxious/ doubtful and then they don't see their actions through. Don't Think, Just Do. That's why idiots can get rich."

    Outside of this preposterous advice from this man, great post --- you've come a long way. Grow, grow, grow.

    12

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  2. He didn't say the last part of "idiots can get rich" but it is implied that if smart people can't get rich, people who don;t focus as much on thinking can.

    I think idiots can only get rich if they are being trained and taught by wise individuals.

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