What I am reflecting?
One sentence changed the way I speak forever.
This week, I conducted a training session. It was much more of a personal sharing about my journey with neuro-linguistic programming, NLP. I was invited to share with the leadership team so they could have some idea about what NLP is, and how they might apply it or even explore it as part of leadership development in the organization.
As a person who is really, really excited about NLP, I reached out to the person in charge earlier and said:
“Hey, you don’t need to get directly join a class. I could do a one-hour or even a 30-minute sharing session with the leadership team. Let me share what I use first, then you can evaluate whether NLP training is something worth exploring for the leadership program.”
A few weeks later, she came back and said:
“Hey Billy, I have a slot for you to share about NLP.”
Obviously, I had previous experience teaching NLP, especially around representation systems and communication styles. Initially, I thought about reusing some of my previous slides.
But something inside me kept saying:
“These are the leaders of the organization. These are really high-ranking people.”
And because of that, I wanted to do my absolute best.
At the same time, a lot of doubts started showing up inside me.
Am I good enough to do this sharing?
Do I really know what I want to say?
Can I articulate the message clearly?
Will the things I share sound silly to them?
Because NLP, to some people, can feel very experimental.
I looked through my slides again and realized the message felt too cramped and too complicated.
Thankfully, I received advice from my teacher/mentor in NLP. He guided me to simplify everything into concepts.
That changed everything.
Instead of trying to say everything, I organized the sharing into four simple themes:
- Leadership principles
- State management
- Strategic planning
- Communication methods
Suddenly, everything became clearer.
I knew the four outcomes I wanted the audience to walk away with, and each section had its own NLP tools and applications inside it.
The moment I simplified it, I started feeling much better.
Then I rehearsed.
I practiced.
I refined.
But even then, I still felt self-doubt.
I kept asking myself:
“Can I really nail this?”
Then during a walk, I remembered something my teacher shared with me earlier:
“What is the larger positive intention?”
What is something bigger than yourself?
What value can you bring?
What can others receive from you?
That question shifted something inside me.
A few thoughts started coming into my mind.
One of them was from the Silva Method affirmation:
“My increased mental faculties is to serve humanity better.”
And suddenly I realized something.
All this while, I was so focused on:
“Can I deliver?”
“Can I do this?”
“Can I do that?”
But the bigger picture was never about me.
The bigger picture was service.
And at that moment, one sentence came into my mind:
“I am the world’s most inspiring public speaker.”
Not because I want fame.
Not because I want validation.
But because I believe I’m here to serve the world and help people live a better life.
That single sentence completely changed the feeling I had toward presenting.
And honestly, I had a great time sharing this week.
Of course, I still found a few things here and there that I want to improve next time.
But nonetheless, this experience gave me a powerful realization:
The moment we stop focusing on ourselves…
and start focusing on serving others…
our identity changes.
And sometimes, confidence is not built by thinking more about ourselves.
It is built by thinking more about how we can contribute to humanity.
Quote I’m pondering
Condition your mind and remain cool under all conditions.
Affirmation I used
I do my best. I’ll let go of the rest.