Do the thing and the thing will give you power
I sat on a stage and was interviewed in front of 200 people!
Here's what I learned...
Hello my friend,
I hope you've had a wonderful week.
If we're connected on social media, you might have seen a post about me being interviewed as one of three female founders at an event last Friday to celebrate International Women's Day.
It's not something I do often and I learned a lot from it, so thought I'd share a bit about the experience with you - you are my people after all! ð
About the event
The event was hosted by NatWest at their offices near Liverpool Street in London and was organised by the fantastic team at Digital Boost.
Digital Boost is a wonderful non-profit organisation (and a small business), which was set up to support founders, entrepreneurs and small business owners with mentoring, webinars and in-person events - for free!
They are amazing and they have helped me so much. If you have even an inkling that you would like to start a business (or a side hustle) of your own, register with them immediately!
I have had numerous 1:1 mentoring sessions, attended webinars, completed courses and attended in-person events with Digital Boost and I have learned something every single time.
Mentoring especially is like a cheat code or a short cut - much like coaching actually! - and it is SO invaluable when you are the CEO (that is, Chief Everything Officer! ðĪŠ).
How did it come about?
A few weeks ago. I got an email from Alice at Digital Boost to ask if I'd be willing to be interviewed as part of a panel of founders about me and my business.
Actually, I think it started long before Alice sent that email.
At the start of the year I wrote down my '25 in 25' - 25 things I'd like to do in business in 2025.
One of those things was 'speak on a panel.' I wrote it down because it sounded cool and scary (and I had 25 spaces to fill)!
What's even more interesting is that I never told anyone about that.
Even though that piece of paper lives on my desk where I see it every day, I didn't actually take any action towards it, and yet, here was the email from Alice inviting me to speak on a panel!
(I'm sure there's a lesson in there about being careful what you wish for!)
I read the email, laughed out loud and before I could overthink it, I sent this reply:
'Hi Alice, how are you?
This sounds both exciting and terrifying, and so I would be delighted to join ðĪĢ'
Do the thing
One of my mentors in personal development, Bob Proctor, used to say 'do the thing, the thing will give you power.' (Bob never knew he was my mentor, by the way. He mentored me through his videos and programmes and books and speeches, not 1:1, but, to me he was a mentor).
Since starting a business, I have been constantly looking for ways to 'do the thing' and I have definitely found this statement to be true!
'Doing the thing' keeps me outside my comfort zone (approximately 3,000 miles outside in this case ð
), it keeps me growing and learning - and sometimes failing, there is learning in failure too - but whatever happens, it empowers me.
What do I mean by that?
Well, either we can let things, people, thoughts and circumstances have power over us, or we can take that power back.
When you 'do the thing', you're effectively feeling the fear and doing it anyway. You're not allowing that thing to have control of you, you're taking your power back.
You could always not 'do the thing,' of course, that is always an option, but that option means that you have let fear win out, that you have said 'no' to growth and new opportunities instead of 'yes.'
My 13 year old self's nightmare
If you know me, you probably know that public speaking has never really been my jam. Yes I host sound baths for groups now but 97% of that is me playing bowls while people lie down in the dark with their eyes closed!
Getting on stage in front of just under 200 people to speak into a microphone and hear my voice echo around the room is literally my 13 year olds self's nightmare, so, I knew it was something I had to do - and I am so glad I did it!
Here's why...
1. I learned that I enjoy speaking on panels!
Yes, I was nervous, yes, my voice shook to begin with, yes there were nearly 200 pairs of eyes focussed on me and 200 pairs of ears hearing my initially shaky voice, BUT I kept looking out at the audience (made up of other female founders) and thinking what an honour it was to be invited to speak when every single one of those women had a story worth listening to. Many with a lot more experience, followers, email subscribers, clients and advice to give than I have!
Despite all that, I really enjoyed being able to share something that might help or empower others in their journey.
2. I learned that people wanted to hear my story, and was reminded that stories help us feel connected
I was baffled that they chose me to be on the panel to be honest, but given that I had been afforded that honour, I had to make it worth their while - and mine - and so, inspired by an earlier speaker who encouraged us to tell our story and be honest, vulnerable and open when we do, I did exactly that.
I shared about my mum passing away when I was 24, I shared about life and redundancy and lessons I have learned from those experiences and why I started doing this work and what has helped me in my journey so far as an entrepreneur - all in the hope that it might help someone in the audience - or perhaps remind them of something they already knew but had forgotten about until now.
My lovely fellow panelists were just as honest and open and we got so many questions after the interview that we stayed on stage for another 20 minutes answering them.
Towards the end, what was interesting was that when I looked out across the room, I no longer saw a blurry, scary sea of faces but 200 individuals all looking to improve and learn and grow.
It was a really beautiful sight (and I told them so) ð
During the break after our session, lots of people came up and thanked me and the other interviewees for being open and vulnerable and sharing our stories, and what was most lovely about that was that they then felt safe to share their incredible stories with me.
I got to meet some wonderful people and hear all about them and their journeys and it was lovely.
3. I learned that whenever something feels scary, I should do it.
Now, this is not your cue to go jumping off bridges tied to a bungee cord (unless that's your thing and you do it safely!), but facing your fears can teach you so much about who you are and what you are capable of.
I think this is a lesson we all learn over and over again. Let's face it, pretty much everything can feel scary the first time you do it.
Once you 'do the thing' it takes some of the fear out of it, and the more you do the thing, the less scary it becomes. To me it feels like the balance of power shifts.
To begin with the power sits with the thing you are about to do...it doesn't actually sit with it - you always have the power (Dorothy!ðâĻð ) but for some reason we assign power to it.
With the decision to 'do the thing,' you take back some of that power and then when you actually do it, you take back even more of it - maybe all of it!
The more often we do that thing, the easier and less scary it gets and the more empowered we feel - and then, low and behold, you'll feel like you've mastered it...and then there'll be another 'thing' to do!
It's never ending because we each have infinite potential and these 'things' that present themselves to us are just different ways to help us learn and grow so we can reach that potential. I guess they call it the school of life for a reason!
A little challenge for you
Here's a little challenge for you this week, if you're up for it:
Look out for and say 'yes' to the opportunities that present themselves to you, especially if they can lead to growth (and no matter how scary they seem). Then send me an email and let me know ðĪ
Do the thing and the thing will give you power!ðŠ
Until next week, my friend!
Amy ððĪ
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