Trying New Things

This weekend, I did something I have never done before. I officiated a wedding for my niece. ?? Those that know me best, know I love to step out and see if I can do things I’ve never tried before. Eating new foods, attempting new endeavors, trying new skills – there’s just something about trying my hand at new things that I enjoy. So, it was without question when my brother-in-law (the father of the bride) asked me to officiate the wedding it was a quick “yes” from me.

As a sales leader, I’ve given my share of speeches, presentations, and do plenty of public speaking in the community.?But to stand in front of an audience of people sprinkled with family and speak about the sanctity of marriage as a focal point on my niece’s most important day – this was next level! But I learned quite a few things about stepping into the “new” or “unknown” that felt very familiar. As professionals, we are trying new things each day. Sometimes it goes well while other times we stumble. However, if we can keep a few things in mind, we’ll always go forward:

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To be something new, we need to know who we already are.

Sometimes when we try something new, we abandon the strong foundation we’ve spent years establishing and fortifying. New skills and experiences are to be added on top of the much longer list of previously learned skills and experiences over time. Knowing who we are when we enter something new or different is a notable advantage to navigating the learning curve.

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We must trust ourselves.

Many of us tend to doubt our abilities when we’re thinking about trying something new. This is natural, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of our control. Just before I stepped out in front of the audience for the wedding, I felt myself questioning my abilities. Butterflies set flight in my stomach. But I took a deep breath and remembered that I had spoken in front of people hundreds of times. This was me reminding myself to trust what I can do and go forward. If we can consciously trust ourselves more, we will feel more confident trying new, hard things.

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With the support of friends and family, anything is possible.

Leading up to the ceremony, I had a humbling amount of support from friends, family, and colleagues. People sharing their experiences, giving their advice, reading my content, and sharing feedback, and just simply encouraging me and sharing their confidence in me. We each must find “our people” who support us like this, whenever we’re about to try something new. It breeds confidence, creates space for the growing, learning, and preparing. And it lets us be our best selves when we step out into the unknown.

Doing new things is hard. It offsets our normal stride and can even shake our confidence. But that shouldn’t stop us from chasing new things, building new experiences, and trying new things. Coming out the other side, we may look back and have learned something new about ourselves and grown because of it.

I am honored to have been asked to participate in such a meaningful day for my niece, and I now know a little bit more about what it takes to speak in front of people ??