How do you re-pay someone who helped you see beyond your present performance?

I owe a debt of gratitude to Mrs. Wimer.?

She was my 8th grade Home Economics teacher in Goodman, Missouri and she taught me one of the most valuable lessons that I have ever learned in my entire life.

But it had nothing to do with Home Ec.?

At the end of our 8th grade year, we were going to have a fashion show where we’d all model one of the outfits that we’d made.?Goodman is a small town, so this was a big deal.?A lot people came to this event because, well, there wasn’t much else going on.

Mrs. Wimer surprised everyone – including me – when she asked me to be the emcee for the event.?You see, I still had bad speech problems.?

I’ll never forget the day she asked me.?I thought I must have heard her wrong because I couldn’t imagine why anyone would put the fate of the fashion show in my hands.?

I still remember her words: “I know that this will challenge you.?I know that it will push you.?This will be the hardest thing that you’ve ever done, but I know that you can do it. You’ll just need to work hard.”?

And I did.?Every night, for the six weeks leading up to the fashion show, I practiced reading the note cards describing the outfits of the other girls.?

It was painstaking work.?Word by word I got through the cards.

The night before the show, I could say all the words on all the cards except one: the last card that I was supposed to read.?Brenna’s card.?I simply couldn’t get the last sentence on the card right: “This red velour dress accents Brenna’s slim figure.” ?It just tripped me up and I couldn’t say it.

I didn’t want to let Mrs. Wimer down.?She had taken such a risk on me.?People were upset with her because they worried that I would “ruin the show.”

At 2:00 the fashion show began.?I was positioned on the stage, behind the microphone and then they pulled back the stage curtains and I looked out at a packed gymnasium, and I thought: “What was I thinking??”?

But I began and I started making my way through the cards – and I wasn’t making mistakes.?People could understand me!?

And then I got to Brenna’s card.?

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and I began.?I got to the last sentence and I calmly – and clearly – read: “This red velour dress accents Brenna’s slim figure.”?I was stunned that I had managed to do it.

As I looked out at the crowd, I saw both my mom and Mrs. Wimer wipe away tears.?They were the only two people in that packed gymnasium who knew the effort that went into that one sentence.?

I’ve never forgotten that day or the lesson that it taught me:

There is an enormous difference between your present performance and your true potential.

Your present performance is simply where you are today.?It in no way determines where or what you can do.?

It is simply your starting place.?

I see people confuse these two things all the time.?In countless coaching sessions over the years, clients have beat themselves up for where they are or how they aren’t performing the way that they wanted to be.?And then they doubt themselves.?

My greatest joy in coaching has always come about when I am able to help someone see beyond their present performance and instead see all that they can be.?

There is a world of possibility beyond your present performance.

Don’t sell yourself – and your potential – short.?

P.S. I want to give a quick but heartfelt shout out to all of you who listen to my podcast. I got exciting news this week: we are now ranked in the top 5% of podcasts! Thanks to all of you for the support and for helping to make that happen!!

?

?

?