I’m on my way to the airport after five awesome days in Casablanca.
Last week in Rabat, Morocco, I spoke at the Académie Royale du Maroc for a room full of academics in honor of my dad.
I felt the anxiety and the heat on the back of my neck long before I made it to the podium.
But once up there, I had the room within seconds.
It was one of the harder things I’ve been asked to do in a while.
I chose to do it anyway.
STRANGER DANGER
As much as I love people, my default has mostly been solitude.
So walking into a room full of strangers, navigating conversations in French and then delivering a speech in English required sustained energy over two back to back 12 hour days.
I had a lot of eyes on me and shook a ton of hands.
But I chose to be in that room - present as possible.
A lot of dyslexics spend that same level of energy, mental prep and effort communicating, but
For jobs that don’t fit
In rooms you didn’t choose
On social situations that drain you
In spaces you can’t expressing yourself
That’s exhausting.
ANXIOUS & UNCERTAIN
Anxiety and uncertainty don’t disappear because you’re older, more successful or further along.
You can’t just Poof them out of existence….
So then…
Are they coming up in parts of your life that matter to you with people you chose?
Or are they draining you for reasons that don’t even matter to you?
FIRE-STARTERS
Standing at that podium was the perfect kind of hard.
Pre-speech anxiety and doubt showed up as expected.
But what they didn't anticipate was me being in a place where my passion, energy and skills intersected.
Recognizing what the room was missing and bringing it
Bridging foreign concepts together to unite an audience emotionally
These are elements I’ve been working on for years.
And when these elements come together, it’s absolute fire.
The experience builds you up.
And prepares you for what you decide comes next.
HARD EVIDENCE
With dyslexia, you run hot and burn through energy fast.
So why waste your juice on things that don’t really matter to you?
Choosing your hard means deciding which battles are worth fighting, before life picks them for you.
You do that by figuring out what moves you.
What you’re willing to put time into, knowing it won't always be sexy or easy.
Succeeding at the hard you choose is a serious green light.
It’s how you make big decisions backed by hard evidence…
Using your positive results as receipts.
Redouane from Casablanca: Taxi Driver/ Tour Guide
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