Greenblasters! Whatup whatup!!

This week, I wanna address one of the more common things I hear in sales calls:

“I used to be a decent speaker, pre-pandemic.”

A potential client said this to me yesterday on our sales call, and it reminded me of something I heard so much after the world came back together post-COVID:

People forgot how to talk to each other.

As my buddy Ross Kimball said to me on LinkedIn:

“Everybody came out of the pandemic absolutely feral.”

(LOL).

But, if you relate to this, if you feel like you HAD confidence in your speaking skills pre-pandemic, then keep reading.

I‘m gonna tell you a story about how I overcame involuntary social isolation back in 2015, and how that helped me during COVID.

AND give you 3 tips on how to get your confidence back, if you feel like you’ve lost some over the past 4 years.

Let’s go:

The injury that changed my life

In 2015, I was living in Hangzhou, China, running a startup (my first).

But I suffered a back injury, and hobbled home to Canada in July.

I spent the rest of 2015 bedridden (off and on), taking 7 percocets a day, unable to work.

And I stayed in bed all day, watching Netflix, feeling horribly depressed and anxious.

Then one day, with the use of a cane, I decided to hobble down to Shoppers Drug Mart to pick up my medication.

I’ll never forget that walk:

Everyone I met seemed like a threat to me. I didn’t know where to look, or how to smile. I felt sick and panicked as I got my meds from the cute pharmacist and fumbled with my debit card to pay.

As someone who’d prided themselves on communication and social skills, I felt ashamed and like I had NOTHING.

But, I worked through it. I went to therapy, meditated, and read lots of self-help books (seriously).

And I started my work as a speaking coach 2 years later.

So when COVID hit, I actually felt ok!

I mean, I was confused and terrified like everyone else, but I knew how to handle the feeling of social isolation and communicate.

And I was in a position to help other people do the same.

So I’m forever grateful for that shitty injury in 2015, because it taught me that even the most confident of us can suffer from devastating blows to our social skills, and bounce back.

Now:

3 tips on how to get your confidence back.

1. Practice mindfulness meditation

I will never shut up about this, because I honestly believe it saved my life.

Start here.

2. Talk to EVERYONE

Take out your headphones, keep your phone in your pocket, and start CHATTING to people!

Baristas, Uber drivers, parents at daycare, fellow dog-walkers, delivery people, whoever, at least ask them:

“How’s your day going?”

3. Be honest and vulnerable in conversation

This might seem counterintuitive:

“How do I build confidence by being vulnerable?”

But when you share the fact that you have self-doubts, and fears, and some level of social anxiety, people relate, because guess what:

EVERYBODY DOES!

When you open up first, people feel comfortable to open up themselves, and then conversation becomes so much easier without everybody pretending to be confident.

Admitting you’re not always confident, ironically, is a total flex.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!

Thanks for reading! Please reply “DOPE” if you liked this, or “SHUT UP WILL, YOU IDIOT” if you didn’t!

Love you all. Greenblast… out 🚀