"I'm not immune to fear, but for me the rewards of being bold have always surpassed the risks." Zoe Donaldson

Note from Janet

As we begin the New Year, I am going to start to apply a resolution that I both need and want to make. And that is, to simplify things in my life where possible. I tend to do things to their fullest and expend more time and energy than is often necessary. This year, I will look for ways to keep it simple, which includes this newsletter.

One of the things that has been a catalyst for this resolution is my 93 year old aunt coming to live with me, my husband and my dog. My husband and I have had to reshuffle a lot of our priorities and routines in taking on this responsibility. This experience is providing many important lessons for me, including flexibility, patience and getting clear on what really matters.

In the spirit of simplicity, I want to share something that I had created several years ago that many people had found helpful. I call it my GPS System for Getting to a Calm and Confident Destination when Speaking or Performing.

If you saw this GPS guide years ago, I encourage you to review it again and, more importantly, be sure you are practicing it when a speaking or performing opportunity arises. And, if you have not yet seen it, I hope you find it useful as you navigate your way through your speaking or performing events.

And, if you feel creative and would like to customize this guide to better suit you, I invite you to make any changes you would like and add some things of your own.

You can access the GPS guide here: https://www.performanceanxiety.com/pdf/gps.pdf

I also want to share with you two other things I think you might find interesting and useful:

Here is a video clip of Prince Harry publicly admitting to having a fear of public speaking. Hopefully, we can all be inspired by this royal family member also having a stage fright challenge and being willing to share it openly rather than keep it his deep dark secret.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/12/01/sot-prince-harry-wearing-a-suit.cnn.html

And, since so many of us have the tendency to be hard on ourselves, here is something beautiful to listen to and watch when you need a reminder to be gentle and kind towards yourself (related to your challenges with public speaking or performing or anything else).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihWYx-QJ95I

I have decided to share any Pure Inspiration stories when I receive them (with the person's permission, of course) rather than share them in a regular column. If you have a success (big or small) that you would like to share with our newsletter community, please forward a paragraph or two to me with your first name (disguised if you feel the need for more anonymity) and job title and/or the field you work in and I will include it in a future newsletter.

We can all be inspired by stories of success and victory, and it is a way for all of us to celebrate the courage, commitment, and effort we are putting forth to get beyond the limitations of this fear.

The Next Workshop:

The next Getting Over Stage Fright workshop will be held on January 17-18, 2015. What a great way to start off the New Year! At the time I am writing this, we have only one more spot open. Once we fill the workshop we will be creating a waiting list, so act now if you know you want to attend (and hopefully you will get our last spot if it not taken by then).

The workshop is a truly valuable experience and I hope you will consider attending (or coming again, if you have already attended, as some others have done in taking the workshop two or more times for reinforcement). Here are some comments from a couple of group members from a recent workshop. I hope that hearing about the positive experience of others will help you feel inspired to attend.

"This workshop totally changed the way I have perceived and handled my public speaking anxiety. I had several epiphanies over the two days that I know will finally stop my avoidance behavior and get to work on building upon the foundation gained here. It was a huge breakthrough for me and feel it will be the catalyst for change and improvement in many aspects of my life, not just public speaking. I would highly recommend this program!"

K.B., VP of Sales

"I could not be happier that I decided to attend this workshop. It has been so incredibly helpful! The tools we learned are by far the most useful parts of the workshop. It was really helpful that we had so many opportunities to practice them." M.S, Attorney

You can find more information about the workshop at

http://www.performanceanxiety.com/upcoming_workshop.htm.

See http://www.performanceanxiety.com/testimonials.htm