Can you reach the unreachable star?

On Saturday 28 May 2022, I participated in the finals of the Division L contest for Toastmasters, representing my club, the BEST club in the world - Carpe Diem Breakfast Club.

• (Division L comprises of 12 countries, ranging from Angola through to Zimbabwe.)

And guess what!?

I WON the Table Topics contest! Whoop whoop!

• (For those of you who are unfamiliar with Table Topics, it is impromptu speaking. You are introduced, given a topic and then you have to immediately speak for two minutes on that topic.)

How did I do it?

The same way you achieve any big goal.

Step 1:

Have a dream. What do you really really really REALLY want to achieve?

What is it that your heart yearns for? To be financially free? A prosperous property investor?

Remember when you were young and dreams were everywhere, like stars in the night sky? They are still there in your adult mind, you just need to bring them back to life by believing everything is possible.

Step 2:

Take steps towards that goal. Lying on your couch dreaming is not going to result in someone knocking on your door to hand over a trophy.

If you are wondering HOW to take that first step…

Find a club, I found Toastmasters to help me learn to communicate more effectively. I met incredible people who have achieved massive success in their life that I learn so much from every time we have a club meeting. People interested in personal growth - theirs AND mine. It is invaluable to receive support from people who have been where you are going and who understand exactly what it takes to get there. Support and encouragement is crucial to get you through the tough days when you want to give it all up and go back to playing it small, playing it safe.

What do YOU want to achieve? There are literally clubs for anything and everything these days. Find your tribe and lean in. Surround yourself with people who are experts in the field so you can learn from them.

Step 3:

Get a coach!

Someone who has a vested interest in seeing you succeed. Find someone you know, like and trust and ask them to coach you. Feedback is crucial to your growth and the course correction a coach provides can show you the areas you need to work on in a supportive, encouraging way. I am lucky enough to be coached by the legendary Gary Tintinger from my Toastmasters club. Over many months and through the various levels of the contest, Gary paid close attention to my speeches, called me to give me feedback, explaining what worked and why it worked, offering suggestions for improvement, and all importantly, making me believe it was possible to get through to the next round.

Step 4:

Practice, practice, practice!

Now that you have a solid foundation in place, it’s up to you to put it in the work. I know it’s so much easier to say “I don’t have time / I am juggling so many things / I need to catch up on a series / I will take over the world tomorrow…” but picture how that dream of yours will feel when you are lying on your deathbed. That dream will be looking at you, feeling crushed that it never had an opportunity to shine, heartbroken that it is about to die along with you.

I recruited our daughters to help me. They made me practice every single day for the two weeks leading up to the finals, throwing random table topics at me and listening as I spoke for two minutes on each topic. If you have teenagers, you'll know how brutal THAT feedback was! Even so, it was a lot of fun and the best part was that they became totally invested in the outcome too - when I won, the success was OUR success.

Step 5:

Be persistent!

Did I win the first time I competed? Hell no. I have competed many times and was knocked out in the 1st round. Then the 2nd round. Then the 4th round. Did I give up? No chance, I took on the challenge to keep trying, keep improving.

If you have a big dream that has gathered cobwebs over the years to the point where you now console yourself by saying that dream was too big for you, that dream belongs to someone else - why not dust it off and get back in the game?

The whole point of life is growth and the most effective way to grow is to create wildly impossible goals that make you tingle just a little bit, make your heart race just a little bit faster. Then pluck those dreams out of the field of possibility and make them your reality.

I think you are going to like the person you become chasing those goals.