Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:25 — 6.0MB) | Embed
Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I can eat an entire box of Wheat Thins in one sitting, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’ll tell you about a lesson I learned from my 10th grade English teacher.
Friday Forum
I want you to be a part of the Friday Forum. Friday Forum is your opportunity to Share what YOU’VE learned, so that other listeners and I can learn from YOU. You can participate in Friday Forum by calling and leaving a message at 304-837-2278, emailing an audio file to feedback@goldenspiralmedia.com, or clicking on the Send Voicemail tab on my website, GoldenSpiralMedia.com.
What I Learned Yesterday:
There are many things that I wish I had. I wish I had a more energetic personality. I wish I could play guitar, piano, and sing like Daryl Hall, I wish I had a mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. they’re so perky, I love that…and I wish I had the gift of encouragement.
Now, I know that I can BE encouraging, and I hope that you find these podcasts, encouraging, but there are people out there that just have this gift of encouragement. Those people that seem to always know what to say in those tough situations or moments when life has you down. When the tables are turned and someone around me is struggling, I often find it difficult to figure out what to say. It seems like anything I say is just trite or hollow.
“Don’t worry, it’ll get better.” “You’ll look back on this and realize it made you stronger.” “Keep your chin up, you still have so much to be grateful for.” Those things may all be true, but they just don’t seem very helpful. I don’t take much comfort when those things are said to me, so why would I think they’d offer someone else much encouragement.
You know what I recently discovered, we need encouragement EVERY SINGLE DAY. Do I get by just fine on most days without a word of encouragement? Yes, I do. But I truly love those days when I get an email, blog comment, text, or face to face word of encouragement from someone. It’s not that it strokes my ego or puffs up my pride. It gives me energy. It pushes back that voice of insecurity in my head. It brightens my day!
As an example, I want to share some encouragement that I recently got from a fellow podcaster named Jared Easley. Jared and some other great podcasters are organizing a podcasting event in Dallas in August called Podcast Movement. A friend of mine named Jeff Brown encouraged me to send Jared a message about speaking at Podcast Movement. Here’s that exchange:
ME: Hey Jared, just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that I’m excited that someone is putting on a podcasting event in my neck of the woods. I’m about 3 hours from Dallas, up in OKC. I plan on attending the event. If you have any speaking spots still open I’d love to be considered. Is there a place to submit a speaking request?
JARED: We will open that up… Would LOVE to have you.
Now, Jared had NO idea how this short message helped me. Jared is a guy that I have a extraordinary amount of respect for. We met briefly at New Media Expo 2013. At New Media Expo 2014, our paths never crossed. I wasn’t even sure if he’d know who I was anymore. As I considered whether or not I should ask him about speaking, the voices of doubt began to speak to me. “He won’t remember you.” “You’ll put him in an awkward spot.” “Your audience isn’t big enough.”
It turned out that Jared DID remember me. He messaged me back within 3 minutes of my request. He didn’t even have to think about it! He put LOVE in ALL CAPS! That seemingly small gesture meant the world to me. It gave me so much confidence and a tremendous amount of encouragement. As we continued to chat he said, “We will need your expertise for the advanced track.”
I few days later I was talking to Jeff and he mentioned that he was excited to see that I had been announced as a speaker at Podcast Movement. I told him that not only had Jared asked me to speak, but he had been a great encourager to me. Jeff said, “Jared is special person. He is one of the greatest encouragers I know. He is always saying something to encourage someone.” Wow, what an incredible compliment.
What Jared did took less than 30 seconds. It wasn’t his comment about my expertise that impacted me the most. In fact, I didn’t even recall that he said that until I went back and pulled up the chat for this podcast. It was his use of the word love and the fact that he put it in all caps. It made me feel, well, loved!
So did Jared do anything hard? Did he do anything particularly special? Did he do anything that you can only learn after reading a book or taking a course? No, of course not.
So here’s what I learned. I know that we all battle insecurities. If you’ve ever put yourself out there into a vulnerable position then you especially know what I mean. What am I talking about? Of course, you’ve put yourself into a vulnerable position. Ever asked a girl out? Ever tried out for the school play? Ever written a blog, created a podcast, or recorded a YouTube video? Have you ever started your own business? Have you ever spoken up at a staff meeting? Have you ever stepped out onto an athletic field? Have you ever spoken up to defend a person or opinion that is being ridiculed?
The fact is, we ALL have insecurities. As much as we may try to put on our masks of fake smiles and confidence, behind the veil is a different picture. It’s not just in those crisis or melt down moments that we need encouragement, it’s EVERY SINGLE DAY. In fact, if you take a brief moment every day to give someone a simple word of encouragement, they’ll be better prepared and in a much stronger frame of mind when those bigger moments DO arise.
To Jim, Mike, Jeff, Emilee, Derek, Mark, Dee Ann, Aren, Adam, Linda, Steve, Mareen, Mike, Joe, Laurie, Angela, Jason, Bruce, Laurie, Jean, Anne Marie, and Randy, THANK YOU for your encouragement! Your words have made this week extremely rewarding. Honestly, this week has been one of the most demanding and tiring weeks I’ve had in a long time and your words carried me through.
Today is a new day. Someone in your life needs to be encouraged. Okay, EVERYONE in your life needs to be encouraged. Pick someone or someONES and encourage them today. You’ll both be glad you did.
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.