"What if no one shows up?"

That's the question I asked myself very quietly after I had the idea to simply open up a Zoom room and issue an open invitation to anyone interested in discussing/sharing/brainstorming ways to cultivate their assertiveness.

That question morphed quickly into, "What if only one person shows up?"

OMG - that would be even worse!

Cloaked in both questions was the hard-hitting, "What will it mean if no one shows up?"

As my resistance grew, these questions gave way to me rationalizing my way out out venturing into the unknown. I told myself, "Nice idea, but I'm too busy....I really don't have the time for this." In Steven Pressfield's The War of Art, we learn that "the resistance" is often met with our rationalizations as we try to avoid facing our fears.

I stopped rationalizing long enough to take stock of my fear and this is what I saw. My fear was in the questions I immediately asked myself and the stories that followed. I could feel my fear in the pit of my stomach. And thankfully, I realized that this fear was also a signal that the idea was worth pursuing, precisely because it induced fear.

So I brought the idea to life and had the first open Zoom Chat on April 8th. One minute before start time there was no one in the waiting room. My bated breath gave way to a chuckle as the answer to the real question became clear.

What will it mean if no one shows up?

It will simply mean that no one showed up. Nothing more.

I was still chuckling as I admitted the women who came from France, Belgium, South Africa, the UK and the USA to join me in my first ever Open Zoom chat. Here are the final two minutes of that Zoom call, watch it to see the final insight that was relevant to us all.

What stories are you telling yourself? Can you identify any that have outlived their usefulness? What would change for you if you rewrote a few crucial ones?

The next Open Chat is on May 6th, and it’s for you if your word choices are being impacted by your desire to be liked.

Check the schedule and register here: https://www.vate.ca/experience-cultivate