Mozart's Fifth: Dah, dah, dah, dah!!!!

Tension is mounting.

I rehearse my script one more time while delivering the message over our loft wall down below to the pretend audience.

It's the third time this morning I've gone over this presentation. Last night I made last minute changes in the structure of the message, even though I already sent in the handouts to the program director last week after taking several hours creating the draft, the revision and final piece. Last night I kept getting lost when making my transition from point one to point two, and now with the added revisions it seems to work. If I remember those changes.

I double check the time - this run it seemed about 38 minutes. Should work. I was given 30-45 to work with, and I am not rambling off topic anymore. I have the pitches I want to make in the conclusion for "call to action", the stack of business cards that I may need if listeners actually want my business, and I'm ready to re-makeup, grab coat, keys and directions and leave.

I think it will be good. As I pull out onto my route I grin, knowing that unless I feel some tension, I expect a flat delivery. That tension, which others call butterflies, will soon be transformed into excitement. Can't wait. The audience deserves to be riveted.

I pull into the parking lot, find my way into the building, feel the program director grab my arm as he introduces himself and apologizes for not expecting such a huge turnout.

"We take time to go around the room introducing ourselves. Is that okay? Will it give you the time you need?"

"How much time does this usually take, Jim?" I ask.

"Oh, about 35 minutes or more. It will take longer today."

The program is designed for 1.5 hours, so I feel it will definitely still work. I'll get at least 30 minutes or more.

"Of course, Jim. That's part of the program. Let's keep it in."

Mingling a bit with the crowd, I had only identify myself as the speaker a few times, which I prefered. Speaker anonymity makes general chit chat better. The emcee opened the event, turned to individuals who had announcements to share, then opened the floor from one side of the room to the other instructing attendees to hold a stuffed turtle while introducing themselves, then passing it on to the next person for them to take their turn.

These people had a lot to say, yet they gave me a chance to size up who was here, how they presented themselves and the experience was quite enjoyable. Suddenly it was my turn, and not knowing how much time I had, I simply focused on my excitement, the message and the group around me. We were on a roll, all eyes attentive.

At one point I turned to the facilitator and asked, "How much time is left?" I was moving into my third of three key points and he responded, "5 minutes".

Okay then! Evidently I started speaking with 25 minutes left, so I made a quick appraisal of how to make the final point a note of interest instead of a major area of focus, summed up, gave my call to action and ended on a high note.

Done. Made my way to my seat among applause and grins, sat down and immediately the person next to me said, "That was fabulous. Just what I needed today."

And judging from the additional 20 minutes it took me to leave others who took their turns shaking my hand afterwards, I could tell it not only was worth my preparation, it confirmed the need to take on my next step. National Speakers Association.

That night I opened an email sent by one of the audience members:

"Merri, I was in your audience today. I want to thank you for being the best speaker I have heard in a long time."

Yep. It's worth it to rework your message until it makes sense to you, understand it so well that you can extend it, simplify it, all based on the needs around you. I felt confident yet in tune with the audience, and it showed.

The Underside of Freedom Keeps Us There

As a youngster, my mind spiraled out of control when considering the notion of freedom. What would it be like without an authority figure around me, watching each step I took? Would I open the refrigerator and cupboards all day long, eating sweets and crispy snacks? Would I buy anything I SHOULD or only what I WANTED? My head told me I may not have the discipline to be on my own, for I may fall short in domestic tasks, perhaps lacking fiscal responsibility as well. Nonetheless, I craved the time when I was on my own, out in the world, with nobody to account to but myself.

Entrepreneurs and other mavericks seeking autonomy have short-lived bliss. We love the boundless structure of our days. Get up when we want, get to work when we want, leave when we want. What a shift from our adolescent and young adult years! We have no boss (except the client), and soon learn this false sense of freedom is a facade. Without the necessary boundaries at work in our time structures, we have no sense of managing ourselves. And when we don't manage ourselves, business and life go to hell.

We quickly forget accountability while focusing on living through the next interruption. Without structured systems of self-management in place, we lose track of time and priorities, letting others dictate where our focus goes. With each tweet, email, phone call, Facebook posting or text message, our mind shifts to the urgent instead of the important. And quickly we've noticed we just lost an entire morning, or afternoon, day or week. That's when the bills start coming in, the vendors call to collect and we stare into an empty pipeline.

Can the entrepreneur ever get freedom back? Yes. It's called discipline. It's called focus. It's called doing what it takes to develop the underside of that beautiful, sought-after experience we dub "freedom". And it requires answering some pointed questions from the authority within us, or even outside of us:
What are our short and long term goals and how will we see them through? What does it take in a month to gain the next customer/client? To satisfy and motivate staff? To feel as though our work has been worthwhile?

My services are based on first appearing credible while also gaining trust, so cold-calling is out. Networking, face to face appointments, presentations and writing about experiences keep my pipeline building. These tasks demand I schedule my days to support each item. I can't whittle away my time. I must keep it full of these tasks as well as client time. So it's essential to translate my discipline into daily application.

I don't have staff, yet I must make profit from my efforts. What are the numbers I'm after, how am I doing with the process I've implemented and who do I account to as a sole proprietor? On the big picture side, I have to know why I'm needing the discipline. Although I can simply report to myself, I haven't made good habits of that through my life, so I know that when I report to nobody, chances are good I'm making little progress. It's more meaningful when I report to others, hate it or not.

This is why Master Mind groups, Business Owners Accountability Groups and boards of directors designed to regularly support and influence business and entrepreneur management are not just important. They are mandatory.

Want to continue to be free to own your own business? Develop the underside - the part that is accountable to another authority.

For information on the accountability groups named above, contact Merri.

Dig a Little Deeper

Dig A Little Deeper In The Well

Dig dig a little deeper in the well boys
Dig a little deeper in the well
If you want a good cool drink of water
You gotta dig a little deeper in the well.

My daddy used to tell me don't be fooled by what you see
If you want to get to the heart of things you gotta look way down deep...

...Life is what you make it sometimes a livin' hell
If you want to find that promised land dig a little deeper in the well.

Not only do Flatt and Scruggs tote the benefits of digging deeper in the well,
most of us know the value of working hard. Whether for creating something of value for our future or for the present, pay off happens when we do what it takes for the sake of discovery.

We are the richer, the more refreshed, the more aware and atune to what life has to offer. Yet digging deeper presents its challenges, especially in solidifying relationships.

With everyday conversation, the most enjoyable reward stems not from sharing, not from listening, not from observing and not from avoiding. But from the sole action full of the intention of digging deeper. The most enjoyable conversation experiences come as a result of asking good questions.

Many among us are good at this. They are articulate enough to word questions with specific focus as well as poignant address. They consider wide scope of perspective. They ask in order to uncover open-ended response.

Not everyone, however, is good at this, nor are they willing to put themselves in a vulnerable position to ask things that may generate differences of thinking.
Yet, those who do, discover great meaning in daily life and these conversational moments.

How do we begin if we aren't comfortable digging deeper? Well in 1985 Gregory Stock, Ph.D, generated a collection of philosophical questions that move and enlighten those who use them. Stock wrote The Book of Questions whether his readers want a tool for self-discovery or as a provocative way to stimulate conversation.

My English, speech and drama students sometimes ended class or often began them with 10-15 minutes of this conversational tool while the entire room of students sat in rapt attention at the answers shared.

We asked questions which, well apart from the trivial, led to examining and interpreting our past, to projecting ourselves into hypothetical situations, to facing difficult dilemmas and to making painful choices. Yet when we explored our own responses in the presence of others, it led to great stimulation.

Digging deeper in the well confirms the notion that the steeper, richer and more meaningful we want our relationships to be, the deeper our roots must grow. Like when building high-rises that will endure, foundations of many fathoms must be secured. So the case with our attention to creating trusting, committed relationships. The deeper we are willing to go, the higher the relationship elevates and richer we become as a result.

How "community" is community involvement?

Consider your boss suggesting you add community involvement as one of your goals this year. What comes to mind? United Way, American Cancer Society, YM/WCA, Boys & Girls' Club, school board membership, church fundraisers, etc?

The usual involvement in community is volunteering for a local non-profit group that needs help, especially those where rubbing elbows with the elite members can pay off big time in more business. Otherwise, why would the boss suggest it?

But what if you had the chance to give back just for the good of it? People do things like this. And in doing so, you gain on a personal level. Better yet, so do others. And what if you Create a community in the process?

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, community is defined in a number of ways: pertaining to location, similar interests as well as participation.
Our community may be who we live around, who also likes research, knitting, book studies or who else, other than us, has a particular professional focus and participation.

This final definition, regarding professional participation, is what led me to develop a new service I'm offering in my business. On the outside it sounds like it's for business development, yet I lose money by offering it. I am positioning it for those who can't usually afford yet really want help. What I gain is tremendous insight, trust, time around people who, like me, struggle in business. We will come together with the intent to get assistance, yet the majority of the focus is in helping others.

I could go more into it here, yet that defeats my point. The point is to be held accountable to paying it forward. For the good of it. To help and be helped, emotionally, professionally and to build community as a result. To build community as a result, as opposed to going to a community to build business.

Does anyone feel the need to pay it forward?

When it Pours

I'm seeing red. And it's a beautiful sight.

It's not the means to the end. The means is hard work, focused activity. Centered on staying out of my comfort zone with cold, hard, long hours of desperation. The activities that drain my energies.

Entrepreneurship is a glorious enterprise. Freedom to create, freedom to decide, freedom to structure, to plan, to witness the rewards firsthand. But it's not all that. It takes having a focus when you're on a mission, inspired. It takes trial and error and error and error and error and error and more trial and error. The error rains hard, rains often and comes down on you like relentless thunder. And just when you're looking for the rainbow, for signs of potential, hidden next to the weeds and the beaten-down path a bud peeks through.

It takes only one bud to turn my hurt from muddy relentless downpours to an upswing of a smile. Simple possibility. And I'm on my way, back to the means. Awaiting the day that my focused activity, activity that is meaningful, productive and desired pours forth and in response the prairie turns green. The day when I will really know what it means to work hard.

Divine Inspiration

I cry when truly inspired. I see something, hear something or experience a moment that is so engaging, so bone-chilling or uplifting that all I can do is accept the fact that my tear ducts are full and my heart is pounding. It's all I can do, aside from breathing with air fresher than moments before.

This happened when I for the very first time watched the movie Oliver and held my breath when the cute young hero of the film approached his master of the orphanage with open hands and empty bowl simply to say,

Please sir, I want some more.

I knew what the result would be, and probably, so did our fine young friend. Yet, despite the ridicule, despite even the illogical request, he chose to act from desperation in ways others around him had no courage to do.

Again this outpouring of the spirit within gushes forth from me when I see folks manage themselves admirably in the face of danger, perhaps simply by not losing control. Or when they demonstrate physical agility in uncommon ways. Such as in the case of a performer I saw this morning. Chris Bliss, a masterful juggler, tickles my nerves as he performs not only this talented skill, but

drums

phenomenally to the Beatles' incredible song, Carry That Weight.

Chris's focus, his technique and his interpretation of the music builds and builds in just over 4 masterful minutes. Astounding! And better even than that is the audience's immediate reactions. There is nothing like moments of uplifted spirit.

Unless it moves us into action. To begin, check out Chris Bliss's You-Tube video by clicking on my title up above. See what it does to you.

Breakthrough!

Undeniably - the most classic benefit of getting out of our comfort zones (leaving the house, having an appointment, stepping in front of a group or seeking input) is getting affirmation, recognition and/or appreciation of our efforts. Yes!

As individuals we generate opinions about our own ideas and strengths, yet until we see their impact on others, we question our own potential. And the longer we stay in our comfort zones, the longer we cherish our own thinking. But that moment is short-lived. Seeds of doubt enter our mind, ready to devastate us. Soon we scratch our head around how to handle objjections. This leads to questioning our decision to get out with our ideas, and then avoiding the public promotion at all.

Unless we are ready to completely give up on our own ideas and thinking, there is only one option that gets us out of this dilemma. Get out.

Get in front of others, and although the diarhea attacks take root, push on through. Find out what it's like to stand on your own two feet and deliver your message. Especially when you're prepared. And you're excited. There is nothing like seeing a sea of faces in front of you, connecting with one at a time and sharing what you have.

Maybe it's about helping those with you. Or about gathering information, discovering value fulfilling a duty. Without a doubt, it will lead you to the next step. Without it, there is nothing but a wall. But when we step up, step out and step forward the view looks different.

Before you were seeing things through your logic. Now you're seeing through your spirit. What a lift.