3 years ago, I almost quit...

Yesterday, I "finished" the new book by Jon Acuff. See what I did there? I'm hilarious.

Just this morning, I had quite the pleasant surprise. Facebook reminded me it was 3 years ago "on this day" that I delivered my first TEDx Tulsa talk.

The idea to pursue the crazy, audacious goal started to brew after seeing my first TED Talk, "If I Should Have a Daughter" by Sarah Kaye while on a business trip in Kansas City. I knew the first time I heard it, that I wanted to chase down the TED stage.

I was part of an amazing group, spawned from a group of people that had read one of Jon's earlier released books, "Start:Punch Fear In the Face." We all met for breakfast on Friday mornings at 5:00 a.m. If you wonder what kind of crazy people meet for breakfast at 5:00 a.m., it's the kind of people that truly "Do Work That Matters," another subtitle to the book.

There were two other phenomenal humans in the group that also wanted to tackle the TED stage, but my friend Amy had no desire to stand on that stage. However, she did know someone that had the documentation to host a TEDxTulsa event. She began working tirelessly to put it all together, and for that, I will always be grateful.

The craziest part was that I had previously written a challenge article to visualize my goals. I wrote a Time Magazine article from the future, telling the story of my TED Talk journey, as if it were in the past. It was written from 2030, and I wrote "It was just 10 years later in '2023' that Burlin gave his first TED Talk." Ironically, I delivered the TEDx Talk on September 23rd, 2013, less than 14 months after writing the fake article. I joined the lineup with, Ryan Eller and Kinda Wilson, the other "5 Clubbers" I mentioned before.

That night gave me confidence, but the secret is, it almost didn't happen. The night before at the rehearsal, I was ready to quit. In fact, I was so frustrated in the practice run that while I was leaving, I had made up my mind that I wasn't coming back.

My friend Eric was working from the sound and video booth, and he was also a member of our Tulsa 5 Club. He gave me sound advice. He said "I know what you want to do. But remember, you are an entertainer. Practicing in front of an empty room isn't you. When you walk around the corner tomorrow and see all those people, it will just make sense."

He was right. But I realize now after reading "Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done" that he was only partly right. The other side of me being frustrated in an empty room is that I am a perfectionist. "Perfectionism" was speaking up, right there at the end of one of the biggest goals I had set for myself. Perfectionism said "You know this is your first public talk right? You know that there is really good chance that it won't be awesome, right?"

The worst part is, that Perfectionism also said "This is huge, this could change the world! Are you sure that you are ready for this? What are you going to do the day after you reach your goal? If you quit now, you can still tell people you are chasing the TED stage. That would give you more time to make sure that it's awesome. It would also give you more time to make sure you have a solid plan for when you're done. Don't you want to be ready?"

I went home that night after rehearsal and rewrote parts of the speech. I spent most of the next day walking around downtown Tulsa, listening to some podcasts, and re-listening to some other TED Talks. I made some fundamental changes to the talk, and 3 years ago today, I finished a goal. It wasn't perfect. In fact, I fumbled my words in the opening sentences. But I finished.

That finish line has helped me start conversations with some of the most incredible people on the planet. It has helped Veterans in their transition from service to civilian life have hope. One of those conversations even connected two Mayors from across the country to learn how to better serve Veterans. Another conversation even got a non-profit organization a round table discussion at the White House. That finish gave me a badge of honor that hangs up like a medal at my desk, reminding me of the time I almost quit. (By the way, Jon Acuff did autograph it for me)

PERFECTIONISM IS A LIAR. PERFECTIONISM ISN'T REAL. Dare I say "F*$K PERFECTIONISM?" Sure. What ever it takes to shut Perfectionism up. Just finish something. If you find that you can't, or that Perfectionism is too loud, grab "Finish" by Jon Acuff. Give yourself the gift of "done."