Minute With Mallon: Do It Scared!

Sep 15

Welcome to Minute with Mallon!

Something I Taught:

While on the way back from a trip to Savannah, Sandy and I were listening to a Joe Rogan podcast featuring Rick Springfield.

He said that when he was with his first group, he was so afraid of being in front of people that he played guitar with his back to the audience for the first three months.

He really did! 🤣

And it reminded me of something that happened to me that you can maybe learn from.

Back in January 2003, I became a professional speaker. Since then, I have done over 1,800 full-day leadership seminars in 49 of the 50 United States.

Pretty good at it.

But at first, I was scared to death. 😬

The very first seminar I ever did was in Burlington, Vermont. It was in a beautiful hotel, and there were about 75 people in the audience.

The seminar ran from 9:00 to 4:00. There was a lot of information I needed to get across to these people.

But back then, I had a very particular nervous tic.

When I got nervous, my nose ran.

(I know, that's gross, but that's what happened.)

I later learned that anxiety can trigger your sympathetic nervous system, which can affect blood flow and mucus production in your nose. In other words, nervousness can actually cause nasal congestion or a runny nose even when you don't have a cold or allergies.

Early that first morning, I asked the hotel staff to bring me a trash can and a box of Kleenex.

Then, when everyone attending the seminar was seated and I was introducing myself, I apologized and told them that I had a really bad cold.

They felt so sorry for me. Haha!!

I was scared to death.

I've heard it said that public speaking is one of the greatest fears people have. Well, I had a mission to make sense and teach these people for seven full hours.

Talk about jumping into the deep end …

And at the end of the day, I had six or seven people walk up to me and say it was the best training they had ever received!

I was so pumped.

The next day, I spoke in Keene, New Hampshire.

Same thing:

Trash can and Kleenex box, please!

Over the months, it got better and better, and the nervousness went down.

I can honestly say now that I really do enjoy speaking, and I know that what I teach has an impact on people's lives.

But I still get a little nervous every time.

So why am I telling you this?

Because I think a lot of people are waiting to feel ready before they do the thing they know they need to do.

Have the conversation.

Start the business.

Apply for the job.

Speak up in the meeting.

Make the call.

Step into the leadership role.

Do something that scares you a little.

But confidence usually doesn't come before you act.

It comes because you acted.

I didn't become comfortable speaking in front of people and then go do 1,800 seminars.

I did the seminars while I was nervous.

And somewhere along the way, the thing that scared me became something I loved doing.

One of my favorite sayings is:

"Do the thing, and you will have the power."

Sometimes courage looks impressive.

And sometimes it looks like standing in front of 75 people in Burlington, Vermont, with a trash can and a box of Kleenex beside you. 🤣

So here's my challenge to you:

What are you waiting to feel ready for?

Maybe you don't need more confidence.

Maybe you just need to do the thing.

Something to Ponder:

Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.

Something I Learned:

Train horn: 2 long, 1 short, 2 long

That's the standard railroad crossing signal — two long, one short, one long is the horn pattern engineers sound as they approach a public grade crossing (where a road crosses the tracks). It's required by federal rail regulations in the U.S., and the pattern usually starts about 15-20 seconds before the train reaches the crossing, sometimes repeated if the train is moving slowly or the crossing takes longer to clear.

Beyond the crossing signal, the two you'd most commonly hear are:

A succession of short blasts — this is the emergency signal, used to warn people or livestock that are on or near the tracks. If an engineer sees something near the rails, this is the alarm.
Two long blasts — signals that the train is about to start moving forward, typically sounded after a stop, like leaving a station or a siding.

So now you know! 🚂