When It Comes to Stepping Into the Spotlight, There Are Two Kinds of People

It’s your turn.

And it doesn’t matter if you’ve done it 100 times or this is your first rodeo—stepping into the spotlight is a courageous act.

It requires letting go, trusting that you’ve done the work and are ready to share your brand of wisdom with an audience. It can be downright terrifying.

Maybe it’s a live speech on a physical stage in front of a gut-wrenchingly large audience. Or a virtual event where you’re silently praying that enough people will show up so you don’t feel like an idiot talking into the ether.

Or releasing your creation—from a controversial blog post to a new website to your first book—and you’d rather put spikes in your eyes than hit the “go” button.

Stepping into the spotlight often requires a giant gulp.

Even Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the mega-selling “Eat, Pray, Love”, isn’t immune. She writes touchingly in “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear” of her angst in deciding how best to keep writing, knowing that outsized expectations were now attached to anything she produces.

Think of it this way.

When it comes to stepping into the spotlight, there are two kinds of people. Those that fly by the seat of their pants, focused mostly on the spotlight (the lazy). And those who do the work and sweat every aspect to ensure they’ve created something that is meaningful for their audience (the driven).

If you’re among the driven, chances are good that you are constitutionally unable to do less than your best (note: this isn’t about being perfect—that’s a no-win proposition). You’ve asked the right questions, done your homework, thought about your audience. Could your “baby” be improved? No doubt.

But it isn’t until you release it that you give it the air you both need.

To invite comments and new thinking.

To connect you with your tribe.

To put another brick in your path to becoming the exceptional speaker, writer, presenter, business creator, author or thinker that you have within you.

Because until you release your baby, you’ll never teach, inspire or touch your audience in the way only you can.

So what do you say—won’t you step into the spotlight?