Dear First name / friend,
Twelve years ago (I know… Better believe I poured the coffee strong as I write this), I was sitting in a classroom in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee. I had been accepted to a graduate program for Sport and Performance Psychology.
"What the heck is that?" You might be asking yourself… Well. In a nutshell, let's call it positive/applicable psychology to performance. Honestly, after twelve years, I'm still not exactly sure how to describe it. I just know it changed my world in every best way possible, and has kept me going in business. More on that later…
One day we had an assistant coach for Pat Summitt come speak to us. The man GLOWED with passion as he spoke about coaching. I mean… to the degree you've never seen anyone speak about loving what they do. If sparks could have shot out of this man, they basically were. So much glow, that someone actually raised their hand and asked a really great question…
“How do you get to that point in life?” Loving what you do." the person asked.
The words he said changed me in that moment. Like, I can close my eyes and remember where I was sitting in the classroom. I can even remember the paint chips on the wall as he said:
“Find your gift. Develop your gift. And spend the rest of your life sharing your gift with other people.”
BAM!
Cue Oprah AH-HA MOMENT!
Photography.
My answer to his answer was simply photography.
I felt it in my core.
Now, I didn't jump on the desk Tom Cruise style and start celebrating. In fact, it would take me several months to even get the courage to pick up my camera again and start to figure it out. Let alone about another year to even talk myself into making it a business.
My point to my “Oprah AH-HA” moment is that sometimes we know the answer. The thing that we really want most. However there can be hangups in the hesitation to start… at least there was for me. I hope I'm not alone there…
However, over a decade later, I feel as though that quote that changed me has come full circle. The gift. The finding, the developing… OMG the developing…
I'm ready to share. And I hope you're ready to learn. Because I want to see you have your own “Oprah AH-HA moment!”
