Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan - #405: The Art Of Challenging Yourself: My Tips For Leaning Into Fear With Heather!

Episode Date: February 28, 2024

In This Episode You Will Learn About:  How I multiplied one opportunity into many by saying YES The best tips for finding common ground in new situations Stepping into fear and embracing risk Why you need to follow me as I go to Saudi Arabia for the first time! Resources: Visit heathermonahan.com Follow me on instagram: @heathermonahan Overcome Your Villains is Available NOW! Order here: https://overcomeyourvillains.com  If you haven't yet, get my first book Confidence Creator Use promo code CONFIDENCE for 15% off sitewide at https://justthrivehealth.com/discount/Confidence  Show Notes:  Are you ready for my latest adventure? I am currently gearing up for a monumental event in Saudi Arabia and I am beyond excited. This is totally new for me. But I've been immersing myself in the unknown, facing fears, and seizing every opportunity that comes my way. Join me as I take you through the exhilarating journey of stepping out of my comfort zone and embracing growth. How are you challenging yourself this week? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash monohand all lowercase. Go to Shopify.com slash monohand now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash monohand. Come on this journey with me. Each week when you join me, we are going to chase down our goals,

overcome adversity, and set you up for a better tomorrow. That's a no-seeker. I'm ready for my close-up. Hi, and welcome back. I'm so glad you're back here with me this week. Okay, there is a lot going on in this world. Oh my gosh, there's a lot going on in your world, I'm sure, and there's a lot going on in mine.

So let me break it down for you. When I have a few back-to-back weeks that are getting crazy busy, there's always excitement, right? It's super exciting. There's a fine line between fear and excitement. Lean into being excited. I repeat that to myself over and over again all of the time. But last week, I had two different keynotes, one in Miami for a media company and one in Orlando for a landscaping company, completely different and back to back. And I had to prep for both of them and it was funny. I had no idea what I was gonna speak

to the landscaping conference about because it was primarily men, right 98% men. I've never landscaped anything in my entire life. I don't really know much about what they do. And one of the keys that I know to be successful from any stage in any meeting or speaking at anything is to create connection. You've got to find the similarities between you

and the other people so that you can feel their pain, understand what they're going through, empathize with them, and help support them to whatever outcome you're working towards. It was easy for me to do with a media company. I led a media company for 20 years. That keynote I was not nervous about went in, did really well there, but then I was heading out to Orlando and I'm thinking, how do I have the same level of success in Orlando that I had in Miami with such a completely different audience?

That can be a daunting task, right? I've been speaking for 20 years, so that's not the hard part, but the hard part is how do you take your message and allow it to add value, make sense, and align with such a different audience? That's always challenging, right? So no matter where it is you're giving a presentation or when you need to speak up, taking a moment to be intentional and thoughtful

about that audience and how you can relate to them is really key. And I'll tell you next week, heading to Saudi Arabia, I'm literally leaving in a few days for Saudi Arabia. I've never spoken in the Middle East before. I'm gonna break down for you what's going on over there. It's crazy. But it was good because this was like a microcosm example

of going from a really comfort zone type of a talk one day to the next day completely out of my comfort zone. And I'm so grateful that I had that opportunity because it's setting me up better to succeed in Saudi because this is the really big one, right? I've never been to the Middle East and I've got to find connection points to bring me together so that I can empathize, understand, and put myself in the shoes of the audience I'm speaking towards. So listen, life

is a series of baby steps first, right, leading up to these big moments. And I'm just grateful that I had this great juxtapose of going from one media event, which I felt super confident in to a landscaping event where it was questioning, how could I find that common ground? When I started podcasting, an online store was the furthest thing from my mind. Now I'm selling my group coaching on the regular and it is just so easy, all because I use Shopify. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business, from the launch your online shop stage to the first real life store stage all the way to,

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Here's what I want you to know. Everyone struggles with confidence. Everyone doubts themselves. Everyone wants to bring their business to the next level and doubts that they can do it. Struggles with the idea of sales. Struggles with the idea of sales, struggles with the idea of ABC or D. Everybody struggles at some point. And the more we realize that accepts it and embrace it, the more we can see all of ourselves as equals and so much more similar than different. And so that's the attitude that I am bringing to Saudi Arabia next week, that I'm bringing that we are all so much more alike

than we are different. And the more we can focus on that, the common ground, love, being a bright light in a dark world, the more we can unify and come together and find strength and grace and empathy and unity amongst all of us, no matter where we are, the Middle East or at a landscape or conference in Orlando.

So that's how I'm approaching things this week. I will tell you, it's wild. There's plenty of things. I'm a big fan of I put a pin in things until I get really close to them because it can be really daunting if I've been knowing about this conference for eight months now. I didn't really think about it until recently because sitting around and getting nervous about going to Saudi Arabia my flights and you know my visa and you know customs and and what protocol is. Can mess with your head if you let it right so I try to focus on what's in front of me doing the next best job I can for the week ahead, of course, I did a number of calls with people from the Middle East to prepare myself. And of course, I've done multiple calls

with the LEAP organization ahead of time. But I try not to get too into the weeds, because that's where your mind can play tricks on you. So this, now that I'm days out, I'm literally days away. I'm leaving March 1st. I'm there March 1st through the 7th. I'm days away. Now I'm really in the weeds.

But what's interesting is, and I remember this, a few months ago, the woman who's the head of the event had reached out to me and we had negotiated back and forth on my situation for compensation and what was gonna happen with the event. And as we grew to a close and found common ground and agreed on our partnership, she had a travel team reach out to me at the same time

and said, we need to book your flight now. We wanna get your visa done now. We wanna get all this paperwork done ahead of time. And again, I've never traveled to the Middle East before. So I said, okay, that makes sense. Let's do it. And they sent me this ticket leaving March 1st and coming back on the 7th.

And I just, wow, I remember looking at it and saying, I'm going to put a pit in that, I need to think about it. Do I really want to go for a week to the Middle East? Like, why can't I go for two days, right? You know, why can't I make this a little bit faster? And it was funny a few days later, I got this basic 911 email saying, hey, we need a response by end of day today if this ticket's going to work. Otherwise, there's going to be fees and this and that. And I had to make a game time decision.

I remember thinking, I know nothing about the Middle East, but maybe it's better with the time changes in the travel that I just stay for the full event instead of just going for, you know, two days like I normally would. And I just closed my eyes and pressed yes. And so that was months ago. And I really haven't thought much about it. Well, wouldn't you know, two days like I normally would. And I just closed my eyes and pressed yes. And so that was months ago. And I really haven't thought much about it. Well, wouldn't you know, trust your gut, listen to your instinct. It's so funny.

I told the head of the event, hey, if I'm gonna be there for a week, use me for a week. I don't care, you know, we negotiated what we did, but if I'm there and you need speakers for different things, I'm on site, I'm there to speak. I want to be a bright light in this world. You know, use me wherever you want.

I'm in. And so over the last couple of months, I really haven't spoken much to them, but over the past month, I've spoken to them a lot. It's amazing the opportunities that have shown up in the last month for me with this event in Saudi Arabia. It's incredible, frankly. And it started with saying yes, right? It started with saying yes, stepping into fear,

knowing that I'm going into a situation I know nothing about, knowing I'm going into a situation with the CEO of TikTok, the CEO of IBM, the CEO of Zoom. I mean, the biggest companies in the world, the most high profile people and celebrities are going to be there. And of course I doubt myself.

All right, of course I question, oh gosh, how am I going to fit in there? But one thing I've learned is the more you step into fear, the more you step into unknown, the more prepared you are to do it again and next time at a larger level. And so I feel like, listen, I don't have this thing on lock, but I know I've stepped into fear countless times in my life and it always works out great. So this is going to be the same. I'm going in and moving in with an intention that everything's

going to work out amazing. I'm sure there'll be challenges and struggles and twists and turns along the way. But in the end, I'm going to look back on this and be proud that I went out to the Middle East and showed women in the Middle East what they can be. I'm so excited for that opportunity. I feel so blessed to have the chance to do this. Yes, I'm stepping into the unknown, but that's become my new norm. And the more normal you make stepping into unknown, the more equipped you are to make

that big next leap, no pun intended, leap conference in Saudi Arabia. Okay, so over the last month, initially I was giving a keynote, then Stephen Bartlett, who's incredible, I'm a huge fan of his podcast, his team reached out to me and asked if I would do a fireside chat where I would interview him live on the stage,

which I was more than happy to do. Then a billionaire panel of unicorn startups reached out to the Leap team and asked if I would moderate their panel, which I was more than happy to do. Then last week, a women empowerment panel for women in the Middle East, all princesses, they reached out to me

and asked if I would moderate their panel, which I'm more than happy to do. And then today, I just heard that the CEO of TikTok, it looks like I'm going to be sitting down and interviewing him live on the main stage on day two in Saudi Arabia. So things are changing quickly. Things are changing rapidly. I'm so excited. And my attitude for all of this is just say yes, and I'm going to figure it out along

the way. And I'm going to trust in myself. And I'm super grateful that I've had this podcast so I know how to interview people. It's interesting that in our lives, you can't connect the dots looking ahead, but you certainly can connect them looking back and moving into this event. Yes, I'm very well prepared to speak and deliver keynotes, but the reason I'm prepared to interview people is because of this podcast over the last four and a half years. So I'm grateful for you. I'm grateful you've set me up for success for this event and for so many other things. And I didn't know on the front end any of this would be happening,

but I'm so grateful today that it all did happen exactly the way that it did. And believe me, and you know this with the struggles I've had, gosh, I never knew any of this was going to happen. It's just, it's incredible. And when you step into fear, when you step outside of your comfort zone, that's where growth happens. That's where your challenge, that's where you become stronger. And the more you repeatedly do that, the more equipped you are to make that next big leap into something even scarier, bigger, larger. And what that does is unlock doors and opportunities and introductions to people you would have never met before.

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for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash confidence to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quints.com slash confidence. Start saving some money for products you love. So I'm going to step onto the stage with the CEO of TikTok, who's princesses from all these incredible countries around the world, Stephen Bartlett delivering my own keynote, doing all of these amazing things. And I was just invited to a gala at the palace.

So there's some incredible things happening. No, I don't have it on lock. The biggest thing I'm struggling with is the culture, of course, because I'm not Muslim, I'm not familiar with the culture. I don't know, I've never been there before. So I've taken advice from the people that actually live there and are running the event.

They're telling me the best thing for me to do is to wear pantsuits to just be safe. So I'm not a big pantsuit person. I'd be shopping a lot this week. Let us pray that I pick the right outfits. I don't know. I told my son, I said, I'm most afraid of just making sure from a cultural standpoint that I am dressed appropriately.

I trust my brain and my personality implicitly. I will be fine interviewing people and giving keynotes. I know I can do that. I just hope that I honor their culture and am dressed appropriately, behave appropriately, and step into this opportunity to maximize it, to bring more good to the world, inspire more people, encourage more people, and teach myself to grow and make that next leap, and hopefully bring you along the way with me. So what are you challenging yourself to do this week?

You know I'm going to ask you, you got to go for more, you got to step into fear, step into the unknown, step into Saudi Arabia with me. And maybe you can't make it on this trip, but you can do something different at home this week. And that's what I need you to do. Now, I will be filming live. I mean, I am going to cover everything and anything I can. It's 180,000 people in the audience there at the Leap

conference and Saudi Arabia. It's the largest technology conference in the world. These are the biggest stages I'm ever going to have taken in my life up until now. And of course, I want you to be with me. So there is one place I can go live. There's one place I can film a ton from and that's Instagram Stories.

If you don't follow me on Instagram, follow me at Heather Monaghan. At least come for this week with me. First week of March, I'm going to be there and I am going to capture as much footage as possible in real time so you know exactly how it's going down in Saudi Arabia. Come with me to Riyadh.

I am so excited. Check out my Instagram, follow me at Heather Monahan on Instagram and check my stories every single day, first week of March, and you are gonna see what's happening in real time. It's gonna be exciting. It's gotta be exciting. It's gonna be great.

I can't wait for it. I'm super excited and I'm super excited for you to join me. Can't wait to hear from you. If you like this show, let me know. Share it on social media. Share it with somebody that you love and leave a review. Nobody succeeds in this world alone. And that includes your girl.

Until next time, keep creating your confidence. You know I will be. I'm gonna make a move over here. I decided to change that dynamic. And I'm gonna make a move. I couldn't be more excited for what you're gonna hear start learning and growing. I'm on this journey with me.