5/1/05 - $3.52 (don’t spend it all at one place)
Dinner for two at our favorite restaurant: $13.50
Rent for one bedroom appt in San Diego: $850.00
My salary Jan 2004: $3.52
Sticking to my dream: Priceless
Unfortunately that is not a master card commercial but my real earnings last January. Yup, $3.52. My mother bought a journal off of my website. Mom’s know how to come through for their kids.
All joking aside, I was very stressed out. It didn’t help that my wife was 6 months pregnant (not working) and that I didn’t have any gigs booked until the end of March.
My wife asked me to consider getting my credential for the state of CA. Then, I could be a substitute teacher, hence do something other than speaking in order to pay the bills. It hurt to see her worry so much. I was a speaker with a great message but no one to hear my words. What hurt most is that I was failing to provide for my family.
Late one evening, while I was crunching the numbers and seeing how we would
make our money last for 2 maybe even 3 more months, I had a moment. I remember saying to myself: “Justin, maybe I am not meant to be a speaker.” Even though I believed with all my heart that it is what I am destined to do. It was the first and last time I contemplated quitting. I went to bed that night feeling defeated.
The next day I received 3 important phone calls. (It is important for me to explain to you that as a speaker, especially at the beginning of my career, I was rarely on the receiving end of a phone call.)
The first call was a client that wanted to book a 2 day leadership retreat for a weekend in Mid-March. The second call was a local school that had received my promotional flyer in the mail and was 95% sure that they wanted me to speak at their school in April. I got the gig. The third phone call was confirming a project that would allow me to speak to 20 schools in my home province of New Brunswick in May. (Yes, I did say province, I am from Canada.) The last call alone was a guaranteed $10,000. (that’s more than a third of my whole first year’s earnings as a speaker.)
I’ll be honest, I am still intrigued as to what is the moral or main message of this
story. Potentially there are many. You could say that it was luck. One could say that if you stick it out long enough good things happen. From a spiritual stand point, you could speculate that I am destined to be a speaker and that I am being supported by a higher power. (If you can hear me up there, thanks a bunch.) Please feel free to select which works best for you.
I will never forget the words that my mentor, Patrick Combs once said: “Your
mind set and attitude will determine your success as a speaker. There is no space or time for you to doubt or feel sorry for yourself. Others can believe in you all they want, in the end you will make it happen.”
I know that it is very common for students to be surrounded by people who constantly put down and knock down your dreams and goals. (Yes, even your best friends.) They will only be successful if you allow them to. Don’t give them that power. Stay strong and persevere.
Looking back at those first three months of 2004, I can say that chasing my dreams was scary, but in the end it is all worth it. What’s your dream? Get to it!
Peace,
Justin
