Around the time I gave this talk, some thirty years ago (!), I had a realization at work one day that I wanted to be a presentation coach. I was helping another coach prepare for a speaker training when it hit me that I wanted to help people show up in front of a crowd as their full selves and connect with their audience.
I carried my little epiphany around with me until one day, I shared it with an older, trusted colleague and... he crushed it. That's right. He said, "It's a very competitive field. Too many people are doing it. I would find something else."
So, I ended up becoming a film/video producer because everyone knows that's way less competitive, right? (It's not but that escaped me.)
I wish I could time travel into that conference room where I huddled with the colleague thinking he would help me plan my next career move and say to my younger self, "Most things worth doing is competitive. Don't listen to him. He doesn't know what he's talking about."
Although my route was more circuitous than it might have been, I ended up becoming a presentation coach anyway! So, he didn't keep me from my dream, just hindered it for a few years, and I learned about film and video in the interim.
What desire has someone crushed in you that you could still pursue? Do you need to time travel and say to your younger self what you couldn't say then? Or, pay it forward and encourage someone else? Sometimes all it takes are a few words of appreciation when someone reaches out for advice about how to take the next step in the direction of a dream career or project.
If you time travel this week, I'd love to hear what you say to your younger self. Please comment below.