Episode #161 - It Has To Be Said, Yet Again...

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Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and

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determination all converge into

an amazing, heartfelt experience.

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This is Speaking From The Heart.

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Joshua: Welcome back to episode number

161 of Speaking from the Heart, and I know

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that I'm going to sound like the annoying

father, grandfather, uncle, whoever you

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might associate with me when it comes to

repeating the same advice over and over

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again, but today's episode is going to

focus into a little bit of maybe some

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things that you've heard of me say before

around this time last year when we were

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introducing some of these concepts, but

in direct correlation to episode 159, I

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want to expand a little bit about what

we had as our conversation last week

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of ways in which you can communicate

more effectively, but now dealing with

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your goals, because let's face it.

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Now it's yet another week, one step

oser to getting to New Year's: 2025

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Have you set your resolutions yet?

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Is it still too early for you

to still be thinking about it?

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Are you going to wait yet one more

week when I talk about next week,

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which I promise you, I won't.

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I have a different topic for next week,

but I want to dive into a little bit of

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why, oh why, is it so important for us

to think about all the different types

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of tools that are at our disposal to

now communicate that message that you've

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been hiding, or even not sure of how you

should be saying it, this time around.

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Now, if you were missing last week's

episode, let me give you a quick recap.

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We talked about how it's so important for

us, especially when we have these great

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thoughts slipping our minds, being able to

communicate them effectively, we need to

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make sure that we're doing that, not only

for the people that we have in our lives

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that need to hear that message, but also

we need to be able to empower ourselves.

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We need to have the confidence

to charge forward, knowing that

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that's what we want to share.

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Now, there's a lot more that I offered

which I again encourage you to go back

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and listen before you listen to this

full episode, but before I even dig

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into this, let me ask you a question.

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Did you ever listen to any of my episodes

last year, even if you're newer to the

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podcast, when I talked about using vision

boards, setting goals, maybe even getting

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some accountability behind the table, of

all the things that you wanted to achieve?

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Well, I'm going to even refer you to

some of those episodes from last year,

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which if you start looking around

the October: 2023

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start to see some of them pop up,

but I'm not going to spill the beans

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on what those were all about either.

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I would love for you to check those out,

and start setting up tools just like

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that to help you propel yourself forward.

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The goal here is not to give you

everything on a silver platter, but

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to give you some suggestions, some

tidbits, of ways in which you can

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navigate through some of the challenges

that you have with goal setting,

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accountability, and so much more.

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Now this time, I want to challenge the

status quo for those that have hung

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in there, thanks for bearing with me

as I got through some of those pesky

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little nuances, because the things that

are really the pesky nuances that we

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need to focus on is the way in which

we're able to empower ourselves to

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challenge that status quo, so that we're

no longer losing additional minutes,

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hours, days, months, or years on the

things that we keep on putting aside.

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We can't wait yet another year.

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We still got time this year to start

some of the things that we can achieve,

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and potentially even wrap up before

the end of this year, to become the

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best version that we set out to do.

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One of the things that I learned

in this year that was really

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empowering for me is to work on the

concept of narrative vision boards.

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It's the same sort of tack that you might

think from a traditional vision board, but

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now we're going to sway it with the things

that you want to achieve, putting it into

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a short little narrative that would help

you with writing the story of what it

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would look like to live in those thoughts,

feelings, emotions of accomplishment,

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envisioning what that empowered future

would look like, but at the very end,

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taking you on that visionary journey,

getting you to where you need to be.

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Narratives have so much context.

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They have so many different

directions that we can go in.

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I love using it, and I even used it for

the Federally Employed Women earlier

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this year with my workshop in which I

empowered them, each of those federally

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employed women, to work on their visionary

story of what they want to achieve

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in the workplace, and what they want

to achieve outside of the workplace.

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There is a balance between the personal

and professional aspects of our lives.

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We need to figure out what are the

best ways to have those kinds of

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conversations, have the types of

people that we want to have those

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conversations with, but more importantly,

feel like we're part of that table.

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That table, whether it's with somebody

else that is our boss, whether it's the

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owner of the company, or it could be even

what your employees are dealing with,

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being that you're in charge of them,

that would help them to see what they're

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capable of doing, and that, my friends, is

the exact reason why I want to empower you

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today to challenge what your mindset is of

what you can potentially become, and what

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you can encourage yourself in doing, to

become the best version of yourself with

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that idea or that thought accomplished.

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New Year's resolutions

don't have to be scary.

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They don't have to be something

that is really out of reach.

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They can be within your grasp.

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It's just using the SMART goal methodology

which we have continuously talked about

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on this show, and maybe even something

that you've already utilized in your

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own daily life, that would help you

to make more specific, measurable,

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attainable, realistic, time bound goals.

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Those processes are even laid

out in yet another episode, so

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you might be throwing your hands

up in the air and saying, "Josh!

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You keep on pointing yourself all over

the place to all these different episodes.

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What's the point of

even listening to this?"

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Well, here is the point that I'm trying

to make, and if you give me a few more

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moments, you will start to see how the

power of narratives can change everything.

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As somebody that has really studied

public speaking for a living, and has

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been able to do that now for almost 13

years through my Toastmasters experience,

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one thing has rung true, and even in

episode 159, I started to discuss with

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you about how table topics, the impromptu

portion of those meetings, have made such

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a significant difference in my overall

viewpoints, the ways in which we can share

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our thoughts, opinions, feelings, whatever

is on our mind, to an audience, but the

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one thing that I didn't describe in last

week's episode was about the power of what

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prepared speeches can do, and what the

power of stories can ultimately share.

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One of the most rewarding things

about being able to work on

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yourself is to be able to then

share the results with others.

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It's essentially a testimony, a

legend, an ability for us to create

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that level of context for others to

follow our footsteps, which I've always

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said, it's about creating your own

path, but the power of stories and

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being able to share them in so many

different ways has allowed me to see

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what I'm truly capable of becoming.

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It has allowed me to see that I do

have gifts that I otherwise would have

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never seen in this ever changing world.

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A matter of fact, many of the people

that had growing up with me, never

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thought in a million years that I

would be able to share the stories that

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I've been able to share, because they

didn't believe in what I had to offer.

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We talked about, in so many different

ways, about how we can create those best

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personal lives, professional lives, even

business development lives, in our whole

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entire existence, and there's so many

more tools, there's so much more to share.

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This could go on for quite a while, but

yet, the stories that I've been able

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to learn to tell through Toastmasters

and through all the experiences with

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the clients that I have, have certainly

shown that nothing is impossible.

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It allows us to challenge the status

quo every time that we think about

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ways in which we can empower our

audience to become better, not only

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with the things that we're teaching

them, but in the ways in which we can

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inspire them to take action today.

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If it isn't for that call to action,

my public speaking would never

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be at the level that it is today.

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It has the power to change it all

if you're willing to interweave

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and interconnect all the different

thoughts, all the different pieces

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of string, and combine them all into

one wonderful tapestry or picture

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that you're trying to create.

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Those are masterful speakers that are

able to share so many types of messages

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with different types of context.

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Even for some of the people

that have never even heard

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of this before, hear me out.

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If you are able to just work on a couple

of speeches in which give you the basic

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premise of what you're trying to share

with your audience, trust me on this.

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You already then have over 50 types

of speeches that you could give to

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a variety of different audiences.

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"50!

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Is that what you really said, Josh?

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50 types of stories?"

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Yes.

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That is just the baseline of the

amount that you could even give

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to audiences across the globe, but

you're not that type of person,

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I'm sure you're asking yourself.

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"I'm just a guy, or a gal, that's just

working in a low key job that doesn't

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really have to have that kind of power.

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I'm comfortable with where I'm at.",

but the thing is is that you also

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have a message just as important

as a keynote speaker, somebody

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that has been accomplished making

millions, even billions of dollars,

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doing what they're doing now.

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It's really important to understand that

you need to know your worth, so hear me

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out when I say to you that that message

that we were talking about last week,

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is even more important now, because of

everything that you're going to set as

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goals, the things that will hold you

accountable, the narratives that you are

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trying to create for yourself, easily

rub off on somebody else, and that is

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why, we need to be reminded today, that

in order for us to move forward into

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this new year that we're soon going

to be in, we have to be reminded of

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what we're truly capable of becoming.

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That is why the power of storytelling can

have severe ramifications, whether it's

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for the positive, or for the negative.

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The stories that we have, especially

the stories that I've told myself

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especially, can be gruesome.

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You might be uncomfortable with what you

have to share, and even the narrative

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that you're telling yourself you might

not exactly believe, but when you manifest

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goals, and you put them together with

the story that you really want to tell of

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yourself, the future version of X, Y, and

Z, that can be such a visionary journey

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to create the ultimate potential that you

have on what some coaches might even call

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the Wheel of Life, but it's not by random

choice, or even if it is that you believe

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that because of your religion or creed,

just know that because of all the things

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that have already been predetermined,

you have something that is worth sharing.

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My friend who happened to be the very

first guest on this podcast in episode

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two, Chris Hulse, even has said that

to a number of different Toastmasters

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now that he's moved into his role

as District Director of District 38.

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His motto, You Have A Voice!, is based on

numerous types of things that relate to

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even our subject today, which is trying

to find that ever changing message, that

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story that you have inside yourself, but

he has shared something that is from

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Robert Brown that I think might be even

more important to our context of this

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conversation today, which is as follows.

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"If you can speak, you can influence.

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If you can influence,

you can change lives."

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Isn't that why we're here, listening

to Speaking from the Heart?

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Isn't it about influencing others to

be able to change their lives, whether

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we think it's such a small deal, medium

deal, or big deal, when it comes to

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the things that we have gone through?

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This podcast has always been an example

for others of what we can ultimately

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unlock within ourselves, but even with

knowing that you have a voice, it means

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that you have to understand, inherently,

what you can create, not just from the

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manifestations that you have inside

yourself, but how you can create so

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many other opportunities for people, in

all the different areas of your life,

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that really desperately need change.

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Your example, your story that you have to

share can magnify all kinds of different

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opportunities across the globe, regardless

of what you might feel, whatever you

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might be holding back towards, know

that being able to share that story and

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manifesting it into existence if it's

not here today, can have things that

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you never ever dreamed of coming alive.

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For a period of my life, I had believed

that I would never amount to anything.

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I would never be able to find a voice

to be able to share my visionary board

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that I have narratively, because I

thought I wasn't creative enough.

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I thought that I lacked the persistence

or the pursuit of what I thought would

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be my ultimate manifest destiny, but the

thing is, is that we have this composure

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within ourselves to be able to step up,

to be heard even if we're just given a

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few minutes to share what we have as an

ultimate tale of redemption, of success,

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no matter how great or small it might be.

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I think that you need to stop saying

to yourself that your story and what

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you have to achieve mean nothing, and

change the status quo of what it means

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to really, truly step out of your

comfort zone, just like I am doing

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on this microphone every single week.

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I know that if a bunch of women that are

federally employed can do it, and if I

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know that a gym, right up the road from

me, can also do the same, I know that you,

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my listeners, can achieve that as well.

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Sure, it might be a little bit

uncomfortable to begin with, and

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you might have a little bit of the

heebie jeebies trying to figure out

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whether it makes really much sense

or not, but that's why I'm here.

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That's why coaches exist.

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We're willing to be sounding boards

without any judgment whatsoever,

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and if you are seeing someone that's

judging you, they are not a coach.

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They are not helping you.

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They only have their best interests in

mind, and you need to understand that

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you need that extra layer of support;

that extra encouragement to become not

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just the best version of yourself, but

to see a visionary future that you can

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live in, and you can accept on your own

terms, because I think that you have

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every equal opportunity, just like my

clients, to become what you always wanted

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to be, even if it was when you were a

little kid, dreaming those big dreams

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that you always had, and let's be real.

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It had to be said yet again.

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You are worthy of everything

that you always wanted to

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achieve, and so much more.

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Thanks for listening to episode

number 161 of Speaking From the

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Heart, and I look forward to

hearing from your heart, very soon.

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Outro: Thanks for listening.

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For more information about our podcast

and future shows, search for Speaking From

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The Heart to subscribe and be notified

wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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Visit us at www.yourspeakingvoice.biz

for more information about potential

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services that can help you create

the best version of yourself.

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See you next time.