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It’s so easy when facing a hurdle to give up and settle for what we\u2019ve got, right? We tell ourselves, \u201cIt\u2019s too difficult. I can\u2019t do it. I\u2019m not good enough.\u201d Or we justify our inaction with excuses. And there\u2019s no one to tell us we\u2019re talking rubbish. But how about when we communicate with others instead of just listening to the voice in our head? Things can be amazingly different.<\/p>\n
The 7-Day Challenge<\/b> Last month, I joined the “7 Day Challenge,” which was part of Natalie Sisson\u2019s Freedom Plan \u2013 a 10-week online course for entrepreneurs to design a business to support their ideal lifestyle (I signed up because I love my work in helping people create communication habits for business success and happiness, and I want to be able to add more and more value without burning out). The challenge was to promote and host a live paid webinar training based on our experience and knowledge that would help our ideal clients, and allow us to have our own product or service to continue offering.<\/p>\n
What I did<\/b> I ran a webinar called \u201cHow to Wow your Audience in English \u2013 Top Tips for Japanese Presenters.\u201d You may have read about it or even registered and participated \u2013 thank you! To provide practical and tested tips, I based the content on a presentation I\u2019d given at Waseda University the week before. With the basics in place, I reworked the slides and content to deliver in a webinar format \u2013 keeping in mind that I couldn\u2019t rely on the visual side of my presentation delivery (eye contact, facial expression, gestures, posture, and body movement). I announced the webinar through the Sasuga! Tips for You list<\/a><\/span>, on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and through the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan\u2019s weekly newsletter.<\/p>\n The voice in my head and hurdles<\/b> All this took time and effort, and the nagging voice in my head questioned whether I could really deliver a valuable presentation training through a webinar. Would people sign up? Would they find it useful? What if there were technical problems? The biggest hurdle was setting up the payment system. I wanted to offer a bank transfer option for those hesitant to pay online. But I didn\u2019t want to publicize my bank details. Hmm, what to do? I came up with the idea of entering the information in the confirmation email that people would receive after registering. Great. Solved. Shut up, little voice. But I had less than 7 days from promotion to hosting, and some people might not be able to get to the bank in that time. I needed an online payment option. According to its website, the online payment service that I planned to use could be set up in minutes. Sadly, not true. I had to submit business-related documents for approval, and the process would take at least two weeks. I didn\u2019t have two weeks. I needed to complete the 7 Day Challenge between May 29 and June 4. The little voice was going bananas. I sought advice from Natalie and others in The Freedom Plan. They offered heaps of suggestions, but nothing seemed to work in Japan (I\u2019m currently the only person in Japan in The Freedom Plan). I was ready to give up. It just wasn\u2019t going to work. I didn\u2019t have time. It was too complicated. The little voice in my head must be right. Then, one afternoon while on a Skype chat with my fabulous assistant, Yumi, I told her about my hurdle. Soon after, she typed back that she\u2019d found a Japan-based service called SPIKE. I checked it out, and my business account was up and running in minutes. Yumi tested the user end, and that was easy too. Wahoo! Solution!<\/p>\n