A ton of hard work and a dream come true

Seven years ago today I found out I got my first TEDx talk.

It was a ton of hard work and a dream come true.

And yet it is wild what I remember most about it – the stuff that was hard or messed up.

My first TED talk was for a small chapter and their tech messed up my slides, yet I still said sorry in the middle of the talk for that mess up.

I remember that all so vividly.

Because that is what our brain does. Focuses on the lack, the problem, the negative, and where it all went wrong.

Except it was my first big speaking engagement, I worked really hard at a great message and being able to deliver it well. And it is a really good talk. Actually I worked extra hard considering I booked my second TED talk less than a month later. That one is also a really good talk.

There is still a part of me that cringes when someone says they watched my TED talk and I feel like I have to ask which one to brace myself before I even let them tell me how much they loved it and learned from it.

And so today, on this seven year anniversary of finding out that one of my biggest dreams came true I share that talk with you without any cringe. Sure, I have come so far in my skills and dang this is a good freaking talk.