award-winning educator, mental health advocate, social entrepreneur, inspirational speaker, author/writer, program executive, and radio host

Don't Let Fear Get in the Way

“Fear can compel you to action or cause you to be stifled from achieving personal greatness.” This quote is from my inspirational series – “It’s a Crazy World…Learn From It: Part I – Taking Care of Me.” This concept was true for me during the first moments of my appearance on “The Maggie Linton Show” on SiriusXM on 9/9/13.

During the first segment, I sat quietly in the studio listening to Ms. Linton interview the guest. Surprisingly, I was very calm and relaxed --- given this was my first national broadcast. After this segment, Ms. Linton and I engaged in small talk during the commercial break until it was time for the second segment to begin.

At the top of the second segment, Ms. Linton began to introduced me as follows, “… but we continue now with a man that decided he wanted more out of life and decided to go get it. Stacey Young didn’t start out with a dream of becoming a college professor but hard times and hard lessons propelled him to take a different route to success. Welcome Stacey.” Then, there was an awkward pause, a wrong word start, and finally, “Thank you, Maggie.”

This momentary pause lasted only about three (3) seconds, but to me the pause lasted much longer.

There wasn’t anything complex about the question asked by Ms. Linton, but I had a momentary out-of-body experience due to my ‘perceived’ importance of the situation. This perception prevented me from focusing on the moment and the question asked. This stumble – at the top of our discussion – could have led to a complete misstep, but instead I regained control of my emotions by taking a deep breath, focusing on the question asked, and staying in the moment. Also, I clinched my fists as tight as I could – under the table – a few times to release some tension.

My sudden nervousness could have led to a bad moment for me and the show. However, I knew I was prepared, I trusted my capabilities, remained calm, regained my composure, and stayed in the moment.

At times, individuals can be too focused on the way others receive the message or on the way the message is delivered by them. The issue with either of these approaches is that focus is on the wrong thing(s) and not the subject that is communicated at that moment.

Therefore, stay in the moment; don’t get ahead of yourself; enjoy the experience; create your destiny!