What’s up world! We are gathered here yet another week to celebrate our freedom today. Recently I had an invite to lead a development session at an entrepreneur’s conference and I didn’t want to do it. The event was scheduled over a weekend where I was traveling home late the night before, and I would be subjecting myself to less than 5 hours at home to unwind, rest, prepare, and travel to present again. I am all for the opportunity to expand my platform and transform lives through my message, however based on prior obligations, the events location, and the early morning start time I felt that it would be best if I did not present or attend the event at all.

During my process of vetting the pros and cons of presenting at the event I was continuing to talk myself out of attending. I stated, “it wasn’t worth my time”, “I am not sure how many people are going to be there anyway”, and various other phrases that lead me to believe that I didn’t want to participate at all. I was literally typing my message to decline the event when I remembered the statement “It’s about saying yes when you could say no.” This phrase deeply convicted to remember why I started, why I speak, and what my life’s purpose is.  Well, as you can imagine all of these thoughts lead me to decide to do the event not because I had to, but purely because I needed to say yes to showing up.

So I went to the event…but what happened when I got there was nothing short of amazing. Though I was tired, I had a great time engaging with the audience and providing fundamental tools to becoming your best. Outside of the energy I received from the crowd and the photo opportunities that followed, what amazed me most were the connections that I was able to make in the room. I was able to cultivate new relationships with people I hadn’t met, make casual connections with some individuals whom I have seen in the past, and best of all I learned that the organizer of the event was a lifelong family friend whom I didn’t even know would be there. As a result of these connections, I was able to leverage future conversations that created opportunities to work with these individuals and the organizations that they participate within.

The moral of the story is that you just have to show up because you never know what’s going to happen while networking, branding, and working to grow your business. Sometimes you just have to get out there and do more in order to get more in return. The phrase “there is no such thing as bad publicity” is very true, and your ability to simply show up publically will allow you to grow the brand and product that is you. Just show up and see what happens, as you never fully know until you go.

the world is run by those who show up…TGIF
“Thank God I’m Free”