Public Speaking Tip, Goal Setting Truths, Hero Journey, & More
Article Round-Up: 2.19.23
Enjoy this week’s round-up of articles, podcasts, and more from the web.
Featured Thoughts - Public Speaking
“The Weirdest Public Speaking Tip”
Takeaway: To avoid becoming overwhelmingly nervous before speaking in front of others, create a character that you can embrace during these presentations.
As the author shares, most people get nervous out of fear of being judged. But if, he says, you can step into a character that’s still you, but not the “real” you, then you can distance yourself from this fear. (Because the audience will be judging a character version of you instead.)
This was the secret to my success early on as a fitness coach. My career kickstarted as a group fitness instructor, first as a bootcamp instructor where I needed to lead a class of 30-40 people and control the room. Then, I needed to command a group of 5-15 people, including presenting information to them multiple times a week in a public speaking-style format.
I should mention that I’m naturally pretty introverted, and speaking in front of others was something I’d always dreaded.
It was sink or swim.
I was able to thrive because I created a character for myself. This character was a fitness coach that was encouraging, empathetic, theatrical, easy-going but high-energy, positive, loud and confident.
Many characteristics of my true personality, just dialed up all the way to ten.
Whenever I stepped into class, I embodied that character. This allowed me to get comfortable being in front of groups of people, to the point where I even enjoy public speaking opportunities.
It’s been so many years of this that it’s hard to draw the line anymore between character and reality. I’ve come to learn how to turn the dial up on my personality more naturally in these situations.
I wouldn’t be where I am today if I weren’t able to build those public speaking and communication skills. And I owe that all to doing intuitively what this article explains.
“The Hero’s Journey And How It Applies To Your Life”
Takeaway: There’s a tale as old as time, told by every civilization throughout every time period in human history. It’s a story told similarly across groups of people that have never come into contact and whom share no influence over one another.
This tale holds the secrets that mean everything for your health and your happiness. If read correctly, it’s a treasure map to a more invigorating life.
“Why Saying ‘I Love You’ Is Not Enough”
Takeaway: We all understand the importance of expressing your love for the relationships that are meaningful to you. In fact, research shows having strong bonds is one of the biggest predictors of life satisfaction, health outcomes, and overall wellbeing.
But here the author explains that simply saying the words isn’t enough. Instead, we should all take the extra step every now and again to explain exactly why we love someone.
Takeaway: Can goals actually cause us more harm than good? This interesting article takes a look inside goal setting and how it might set us up for disappointment. Through a combination of expectation and hedonic adaptation, we kill ourselves to achieve a task only to be left unfulfilled by the outcomes.
The antidote seems to be in finding a process to fall in love with. External achievements are short-lived, but processes continue ad infinitum.
For me, the process I’ve selected is self-improvement. Each goal I set along the journey of my life is a small step toward bettering who I am as a person. So while each goal is meaningful, it’s ok that they fade away with time. The lessons I learn along the way stay with me and the process continues.