☀️ i'm never doing this again, she lied

"...and I don't know if you've ever tried to seduce someone without being able to use your hands, but you need your hands. They're part of your tools."

I actually said to a room full of men. 😆 😬

When I started this whole habit coaching dream, I quickly realized that coaching, writing, and speaking all go hand in hand. So let’s cut to the…

"DREAM! JOB! PROGRESS! LOG!!!!!":

Coach: I had gone through a rigorous 10-month program full of practicums to become five-times-certified coach.

Writer: I had begun a consistent writing habit (including sending this newsletter out every Monday!) I secured a dream literary agent! (Ahh!!!) I'm working away on my book proposal for my lil dream book currently titled (clears throat) "Untitled Book about Habits".

Speaker?: Hmm..well I figured I'd just have to start getting some reps in. And honestly, this one sounded like it was MOST in my current wheelhouse. I mean, I’ve been doing live comedy for twenty years! right? I was a “theatre kid”, right? I was a “choir kid”, right? This is just a version of that, RIGHT?!??!?!?

It would be probably ONLY FUN, she said, deranged.

I now realize that there are five stages of grief in becoming a keynote speaker.

A few weeks before (Denial) – “I do improv comedy. Surely this won’t be that hard. I get up in front of hundreds of people with NO PLAN and we put on a two-hour show. I create MUSICALS on the spot for crying out loud with no prep.”

Right, right, right, sure, sure. Except there’s ONE MAIN DIFFERENCE: The only rule of improv? Show up with no plan. The only rule of keynotes? Have a plan. Like a very detailed, well-rehearsed. Right.

I wrote the thing out word for word, recorded it on a voice memo and listened to it on repeat while doing laundry, pick-up car lines, cooking dinner. I practiced it FULL OUT in front of my house plant. (He seemed very inspired.)
One Day Before (Anger) – “Who let me sign up for this!!!?” (Spoiler: It was me. And Past Me is an overachieving, delusional menace.)
One Minute Before (Bargaining) – “Oh, Elsie and Emma are here. Oh thank god. REAL QUICK—what if you guys just... do it instead? I bet you have brilliant things to say!”

They politely declined.
One Minute After (Depression) – “I have carefully logged all twenty-seven mistakes. And I’m not sure why all of you are telling me I did a good job when I have THIS LIST OF TWENTY-SEVEN MISTAKES. YOU’RE ALMOST ACTING LIKE YOU CANNOT SEE MY INVISIBLE LIST? ALSO, I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN!”
24 hrs After (Acceptance) – “Wait…Maybe it was fine. It might have even been good. BUT! I know exactly what I’d do differently next time. Oh lort, did I just say next time? I’m totally doing this again, aren’t I? Ughh that sick delusional b**** is back. FINE! Sign me up!”

Meanwhile, my house plant is smug as hell because he knew I could do it all along. He’s been extra upright ever since. Probably thinks he’s my official public speaking coach now. (And I sweartogod I thought I saw three new leaves.)

In all seriousness, while I spent a bit too long "thinking about the thing", after a few minutes, I sank into the thing. I realized that I DEEPLY LOVE THIS TOPIC. I find it a pleasure to be able to talk about this topic. I'd discuss it all day, every day with anyone willing to engage. I get to be up here. I get to make little jokes between content that is intensely dear to me.

The moral of this story is not unlike my moral of the keynote itself: confidence is habit. Just like anything else.

It's not something that you are born with, BUT if you are willing to put in the reps, you can become it.

And then!? You start at the top and you do it again. (...and again.... and again....)

Cheers to doing scary things, friends! (And getting a lil less scared each time.)
xoxo, Katie Day

Up Next:

Tuesday, Mar 4: We start our March Challenge inside the Habit Lab: MARGIN: A Distracted Girls' Guide to Time Management

Tuesday, Mar 11: Group Coaching with Katie! Inside the Habit Lab! Join the lab then join us on zoom!

Friday, Mar 28: Live Improv Comedy Show at Mother's Brewery Barrel Room. (I promise to show up completely prepared for the improv show which is to say: completely unprepared.)

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