Excellence takes Experience & Resilience Requires Repetition

A few months ago, at the Missouri Employment Conference (MEC), I delivered a keynote where I shared my burnout story publicly on stage for the very first time. Sharing such a personal struggle in front of a large room of people is never easy but doing it for the first time was extra hard.

I could have delivered this same message in quite a few different ways. However, I wanted people to have an experience and I wanted them to learn something new and impactful from my talk. Since this was my first time delivering this very personal story and message, I couldn’t know for certain how people would react. What jokes would work well, what exercises would resonate, how the audience would react or respond to the messages, etc.

From a NeuroPerformance perspective, this message I was preparing to deliver was a new neural pathway and although I practiced dozens of times to prepare, nothing is the same as being in front of an audience. The audience’s level interest and engagement can change everything in a moment.

When you anticipate a response and don’t get one…it can easily throw your message and rhythm off. When your neural pathways are deep, it’s easy for you to rebound quickly and keep going. When they are new it can be a lot more difficult to recover or pivot during a live onstage presentation.

The message I delivered at the MEC wasn’t bad, but I know it wasn’t great either. I knew I could do better because I have done better. Although plenty of people shared with me that they appreciated my story and message, I knew it needed to be even better. I also know this topic isn’t a “ra-ra” rally cry where everyone walks away feeling amazing.

Instead, I speak to share messages that are meaningful more than motivational. Motivation wears off quickly but meaningful messages that are experienced by the mind and body are far more likely to leave a lasting impression even if they are less exciting or motivational in the moment.

I knew my message at the MEC was a risk, that some people just wouldn’t like it, and I also knew I had to deliver it anyway. I had to deliver it to an audience so I could keep working on the message. Keep improving it until it could have a bigger impact and creates the impact on the audience, I want it to have. An impact that hopefully improves their lives in some way.

I came home from that event and immediately reworked the message. Then as I prepared for the talk at the SHRM of Greater St. Louis last week, I reworked it even further.

This time I put even more of myself out there, sharing even more of my struggles and the truth of my experience. 

This time I showed up and truly decided I didn’t care if people liked me. I wanted them to like the message I conveyed. I wanted them to feel how much I want to make a difference and help people in this world live a better life with more exceptional experiences.

I may not have reached everyone in the room, but this time the audience interaction was palpable. This time, I felt even more comfortable with my message (my neural pathways have strengthened). This time, when I finished it was clear people got the message and got insights from it.

Over the course of the next few days, I got messages from dozens of people about the impact it had. Some of them even shared how my passion and desire to make a difference could be felt.

What’s most interesting about this feedback is the effort I made the night before and the morning of the message to put out that intention. To show up on the stage in my most creative, compassionate, and courageous state (my highest expression of wisdom) to deliver a message that people could feel and experience rather than just “listen to.”

I knew from neuroscience, if I could keep my nervous system in a focused and balanced state, I could deliver a better message. I wore my Apollo Neuro (a device that regulates your nervous system into different states) throughout the presentation and it made a huge difference. 

I recognize now the more coherent and heart centered I show up on stage, the more everyone in the room will feel and experience my state of "being". And this is how I chose to show up that day, clearly it made a difference!

Our state of being significantly impacts our doing both what we do and how we do it, thereby expanding our capacity!

I’m so grateful that I’ve not given up on this message. That I’ve been given opportunities to continue to share a message that might help people in this world.

Each time I keep saying yes to delivering this message those neural pathways will continue to strengthen.

Each time I get more experiences, I will move even closer to excellence.

And most of all each time I share my message I have the chance to change the life of someone in the audience.

The more lives I can impact, the more I am able to impact our families, workplaces, communities, and maybe even the world!

We are always evolving in response to our experiences & environment, we must choose to be intentionally evolving ourselves in ways that create more exceptional experiences on our life journey.

As a result, I’ve decided to no longer charge for local speaking engagements (and only for costs if I have to travel). I want the message of NeuroPerformance (a neuroscience-based approach to performance) to reach as many people as possible. I trust that our purpose, mission, and business will be blessed with sufficient resources from those who can afford to support these efforts.

My goal is not to be a highly paid keynote speaker. It’s also not to create high ticket exclusive programs (although I recognize how much more effective this business strategy would be from a purely financial perspective). Instead, I want to create offerings and deliver messages that reach more people.

If you are a CEO, HR Leader, or someone who has a passion for people and performance and is in need of a passionate knowledgeable speaker, I’d love for you to reach out to me.

Interested in learning more about the talk? (Expanding Human Capacity: Achieving Peak Performance with Neuroscience-based Strategies) Check out the description and more about having me speak at your next event here: Evolving to Exceptional Speaking Engagements

Interested in the Apollo Neuro? A powerful device that regulates your nervous system and improves your stress and the quality of your sleep! Here is a link to purchase one: Apoll Neuro or Use the code JESSICAT221 for a discount! (PS I can't recommend this device enough. It has seriously changed my life in so many ways and it works so well. I absolutely love it, which is why I always what to share about it!)