Prepared to Do the Best I am Able to Do
A little later on today, I will be taking an overnight business trip to a town in southwest New Jersey to deliver a career transition workshop, tomorrow. While I have done presentations on job search before, this has some different nuances to it.
For one, the sessions I have done before have been one to one and a half hours long. This one will be six hours long. Secondly, I am doing it as a sub-contractor for a company to which I provide my coaching services. My other sessions have all been as a volunteer sharing my knowledge. Third, I am the first person at the company to actually lead this workshop. Fortunately I was provided an excellent set of material from which to work, (which I bonded with instantly as it is extremely compatible with all which I have learned about the job search process in the 8 ½ years I have been doing this work). In addition, the company took care of all supply logistics, etc. My role was to become familiar with the material, get to the location and deliver the workshop.
I have known about the workshop for about the last 6 to 7 weeks. In that time, I have taken the time to review the material several times. I have highlighted items from the workbook that I would look to emphasize to the attendees. In addition, I used some of the material in a shorter session I did about one week ago (a session that lasted about an hour), and overall it was received very well.
And, yet I must admit as I prepare myself for my overnight stay and presentation tomorrow, and as I have just finished packing, I am a little nervous about the whole thing. Certainly, part of it is I want to be received well by the attendees. Another reality is I know these attendees are seeing their company close in a few weeks and move out of state. While some people at the company will go to the new location, many will not. Certainly the individuals to whom I will be speaking are not. And, while I have been assured that the attendees have known about the company move for a long time, and that it is a business decision on the part of the company, there are likely to be “feelings” about this new uncertainness to come into their life. Additionally, the company for whom I work has told me if the workshop is well received, another one may be requested for additional employees of the company who did not sign up for the first go round.
In approximately 30 hours I will know how it all goes. I must to my credit admit I have been very focused on this session since I learned I was nominated to present it. Yes, there have been other things going on in my life, (client sessions, family needs, my regular weekly meetings, etc.), but particularly as the session has gotten closer my focus on it has tightened. I have envisioned myself actually giving the presentation. I have realized where I can make the presentation flexible, in that if there are certain areas that are more important to my audience than others, I can adapt to spend more time on those topics. The key being, I have looked to put aside the distractions that may often make my mind wander, and use that time to continue to familiarize myself with what I will be doing.
What is a big item coming up in your life that you want to go well? Is it an upcoming job interview? Is it planning a family party? Is it a particular exam you will be taking from a class you have been taking? Be honest with yourself. Have you done the best job of preparing you can? If that answer is yes, then go after it and do the best you can do in the venture you are about to face. It may not go perfectly. There may be things afterward you might say you would have done differently. But, the key point is you took the time to do the best that you could do with the information, preparation time and effort you put forth.
