Day 5–100 Days Being Visible
How I got present by wiggling my toes
Today I focused on getting through a full day. I had client meetings, coffee catch-ups and sales meetings booked through the day. One of these was a meeting with a colleague who is quite senior in a government organisation and who had already told me that he had no training budget. I was meeting him because I like him and not because I saw him as a future sales prospect. Before we met I was afraid I would have nothing to say if I did not talk about leadership development and productivity training. I interpret this self-doubt about my ability to converse easily as another form of my fear of being visible. This time the fear arose in the face of a one-to-one conversation rather than publishing on the internet. I was able to put this concern aside by spending two minutes getting present before I met my colleague.
Knowledge
I learned the following technique from my sales-webinar coach, Colin Boyd.
If you would like to practice this, read the process through before starting so you know all the steps, or record yourself reading the script so you can play it back anytime you need.
- Close your eyes if that is comfortable for you.
- Wiggle your toes and become aware of the sensation of your toes moving in your shoes or on the floor. Continue to wiggle for the time of two or three breaths.
- Shift your awareness to the sensation of air moving in and out of your nostrils as you breath; maintain awareness of the sensation of your breath moving through your nose for three or four slow comfortable breaths.
- Open your eyes, if they are closed; look around the room and name five colours that you can see.
- Notice what you are thinking about and how you are feeling.
At the end of this short process, I usually find that I am not thinking about anything. My mind is quiet and I am able to be present to whatever situation I am in. I recently took 25 teachers through this at the opening of a leadership training course and the room went still. The teachers had stopped thinking about their students and their long day and were present and ready to participate.
Today when I ‘wiggled my toes’ my self-doubt subsided and I felt comfortable to meet with my colleague. We spent an enjoyable hour discussing a wide range of topics, none of which were the value of my leadership training to senior public service executives.
Progress
I had a social meeting with someone I would have felt awkward with a few months ago. I managed my discomfort using my knowledge of a technique for getting present. I have completed another blog. That’s progress in my books.
5/5/100 (Number of days goals met/ number of days into project/ 100)
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