Hello from Sydney! I am over here in Oz this week, teaching people how to be comfortable getting up on stage (or otherwise) in front of an audience, and speaking without notes and from the heart about their ‘Thing’. No not THAT thing – easy Tiger. You know, their ‘Thing’ – whatever it is they are passionate about and want to be able to communicate to others about.
That could be being able to do better presentations to potential clients, it could be making a speech at a wedding, or it could be standing up and speaking about their own unique knowledge / their own business model that they want to share with others.
Whatever the reason for them wanting to learn this very important skill, they all have one thing in common. And it is the same thing those “£10 Pound Poms” had back in the day.
In case you don’t know the story of the £10 Pound Poms – let me fill you in. It’s really very interesting because, I was kind of aware of it, but didn’t have all the details.
In 1942 the Japanese bombed Darwin and the Australian government realised that with a population of just 7 million, it was very vulnerable to attack. So the plot was hatched to “populate or perish”, and the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme was created in 1945. Adult migrants from the UK (and other subsequently other countries) were charged only £10 for the fare to move to Australia and children were free (equivalent to about £400 today).
The Migrants were promised employment, housing and a generally better lifestyle. The British and Australian governments both funded the scheme (with the British contribution declining after 1950) and generated 1 million migrants from Britain between 1945 and 1972. In 1973 the cost went up to £75 (equivalent to about £800 today).
Assisted migrants had to stay in Oz for at least 2 years or else they had to pay back the passage and their passage back to the tune of about £4500 in today’s money. Surprisingly about 250,000 did return to the UK – generally because some of the accommodation and employment prospects had been over exaggerated. These became known as the Boomerang Poms. And of those over half decided the grey damp cold UK was no longer the green pastures they had seen through their rosy coloured specs, and went back to Oz again – becoming known as the Ping Pong Poms!
So – what did the £10 Pound Poms have in common with the budding public speakers I am training this week here in Sydney?
Well, they had the foresight or the courage or the confidence to take their opportunity when it came up. As we said above, less than 10% of the people who migrated to Australia on the £10 Pound Pom deal, ended up coming back to the UK for good. 90% success rate. And the ones who did come back, well – they had experienced an adventure, and they came home. Good for them. What we will never know – is how many people looked at that £10 deal and thought – “I would really love to do that BUT….”
My friend’s Father was one of those. All his brothers went to Australia and he didn’t. Now, he didn’t talk about it much, but he didn’t go because his wife, my friends Mum, did not want to go. And maybe he was perfectly happy with that. But I am guessing there were a lot of people who wished they had gone, and allowed the “BUT” to get in the way.
I would love to go BUT I would miss my family too much
I would love to go BUT what about the spiders…
I would love to go BUT it’s not the right time…
I would love to go BUT (add your own in here)…
You see, as another good friend of mine, Carole Fossey, says “Everything before BUT is Bullshit”. And she is right. Excuses are the things your mind throws up to justify you staying in your comfort zone, or not dealing with things. I must have heard (and said) them all. Here are a few that have come up recently
“I would love to lose weight but I have a slow metabolism”
“I would love to start a new business but I am too old”
“I would love to learn a language but my brain doesn’t wire that way”
“I would love to do some Facebook advertising but I’m not technical enough”
“I would love to stop smoking but I just can’t”.
There is some truth in all the above statements. You might well have a slow metabolism that makes it hard to lose weight – does that mean you can’t? No. It might be harder. It is still possible. You might be addicted to Nicotine and therefore giving up smoking would be hard. But on the basis that hundreds of thousands of people have done it, it IS possible. You just don’t want to. Or you are scared to. Or you don’t know how. “BUT” gives you a way out. It gives you an excuse.
And that’s one reason why I recently trained in Rapid Transformational Therapy. It is an amazing thing which gets you right past that BUT in just one session (normally). More about that another time. But for now – as writer William Arthur Ward said
“Opportunities are like sunrises, if you wait too long you’ll miss them”.
And on that basis – don’t miss your opportunity to help us celebrate our 1 Year Anniversary, at the Find Your Why! Foundation Dinner Party for Fun Frolics with Frikkin’ Awesomeness. The people you will find there are a fabulous group of women and men, who support each other to be the best version of them that they can be and to GRAB their opportunities.
So, we would absolutely love it if you can make it along on July 22nd to Tankersley Manor, Sheffield. http://www.findyourwhyfoundation.com/1st-anniversary/ where we can all support each other and celebrate all our successes. And one lucky person will win a free place on our next UK retreat in January 2018, which will be your opportunity to make 2018 your Best Year Yet!!