If you want something. Write it down.

Recently, I’ve been speaking at a few events. This was born out of fear to do it. To grow, you face fears. This is mine.

On February 3, I spoke at a leadership luncheon close to my home town. The experience was fantastic and meeting all the new people that have such an impact on my local community was amazing. 

Since I had spent nearly 30 hours creating the material and another 20-30 practicing for just a 30 min talk, I decided to take a little time off and catch up on some other things before I tried to lock in something else.

A few days ago my phone vibrated and when I opened the email it was an announcement for a  TEDx event at my college in Utah. My brain said, “Hey, you were going to take some time off.” But there was a problem. Up on the mirror in my office I could still see the goal I had written in red dry-erase marker back in December. 

“TED Talk 2015”

I tried to put it out of my mind but it kept just staring back at me. Despite the fear of failure and amount of time I know I will pour into the preparation, I had no choice but to try. So, I sat down and tried to express my big idea worth sharing in the TED application and then… I hit the big SUBMIT button. 

I really believe that if I had not written down the goal, I’d be watching a movie on Amazon right now instead of dreaming of standing on the red dot and being around some of the most brilliant people in the world. 

Write down your goals amigos! Write them down right now. Type them into your Evernote! Scribble them on your mirror with a dry erase marker. Somewhere you will be forced to see them and own them. 

And, keep your fingers crossed that maybe, just maybe, I will find myself palms sweating, heart racing, and standing there ready to beat back fear with a big stick at TEDx in a couple months.

What’s your goal for February? Draw a line in the sand and leave it in the comments below!

Can’t think of any goals? Here’s a post on finding your passion to help you out!