Stories...

I sit in a room with hundreds of people and watch a peer and a friend speak softly into her microphone.  A few minutes ago, I was stirring a coffee and mingling with others in the lobby. But now I am fully present in the room and her voice wavers only slightly as her lips move and her heart speaks to us all. She tells us of a coach and mentor who came to her aid as her child battled for his life. She speaks of recovery for the child and realizations of her own. She speaks of physical, financial and mental weight and how this friend and leader introduced her to our program and helped her shed them all. She reminds us of the importance of our job and the impacts we can make before inviting us all to share what we know to help others with those burdens. She bites her bottom lip as many in the crowd blink away tears or hide them with genuine applause and appreciation.

This was just one of many stories we heard over the weekend. I saw people I didn’t know and heard about families who were strangers to me, but somewhere along the way lines began pulling at my heart reminding me how we’re all connected and as the speaker said, “we’re more similar than we are different.” This wasn’t the first time tears welled in my eyes during the convention in response to a story of seemingly insurmountable odds met with overwhelming transformation (in health, in thinking and perspectives, and in time and financial freedom). Somewhere during the weekend, I redefined my “job” as a “mission” and my business plans became the blueprint of an empire.

I saw with perfect clarity that I am not a salesperson, but a guide. A coach to help others lay down weights they have no need to carry. I realized I needn’t worry about whether I should make a pitch, but to simply lead with my heart while listening with my ears to see how this program could help change a life. There is only one way to get to know a life and there are no shortcuts: it takes time and it takes questions, it takes a keen ear and an open heart. Once you know a life, you don’t have a pitch to make at all because now you simply recognize an opportunity. The only challenge is in knowing how to deliver it in the best possible way for the recipient to actually hear and consider it. To help them hear in a way that allows them to uncover their own motivation (or “why”) and leads them to dream. Dreaming is a talent so many of us lose early in life, so to be able to awaken that within someone and then to hand them a map on how to achieve those dreams is truly an amazing gift. My coach shared a gift with me, there’s not a bone in my body that feels like I was “sold.”

At this weekend’s event we did some good for others and plenty for ourselves. As I sit here watching the faces of strangers in the room, those faces become those of friends and family. The stories show what we have in common and they are the thread that hold us all together like so many braided blankets on a cold night. We’re lashed together by the common purpose of seeking to become the best coaches and friends we can be. I see determination in the eyes of my peers. I see wonder, love and a giving spirit in every smile. This is how we change the world, with strength and support for each other, with empathy and encouragement for everyone we meet.

The trip is over now and I’m thankful to be home with my family. Excitement and inspiration will undoubtedly fade over the coming weeks, but I notice many posts from fellow attendees showing happy reunions with families greeting them. It’s another set of stories, though I don’t cry this time, I just smile to myself. I love these stories. They play out every day in the conversations we have. How will the next chapter in your story begin? You won’t know until you start writing it.