Overcoming Challenges - Part 2

This blog post is a continuation of a series - you can find Part 1 here if you missed it! 

Through my adult life, I had difficulty projecting my voice properly. In fact, I wasn't even really aware of this until last year, when various people in a short period of time asked me 'What's wrong with your voice?' or 'Is something wrong with your voice?'. 

Now, if you believe that your voice is something that can't be worked on and improved (as I used to, on a subconscious level) - this could be quite a blow. I would wonder to myself, can I ever be a great video presenter? Can I achieve my dream of commanding large stages and influencing droves of people, the way others have? 

For a long time, the discomfort of not having a natural, booming voice wasn't enough for me to take action. However, a couple of weeks ago, I felt very intense anger and frustration about my current life situation and that of my family. The more I reflected, the more I realized why I needed financial freedom - to avoid the pain of scarcity. 

How would you feel if a close family member needed $500,000 for a life-saving operation, they didn't have it, and you couldn't give it to them? What if your child needed $500,000 in therapy to live a functional, independent life, and you couldn't give it to them?

Now, I could have kept focusing on what I didn't have, not got in touch with my anger and made myself miserable. But I've already done that before, and I know how that turns out. So, on my fiancee's suggestion, I channelled my anger to making my voice powerful, speaking from the diaphragm. 

It was surprising how easy it was! Now that my 'why' was strong, I quickly started to speak strongly and with natural vigour. The quality of my face-to-face conversations improved and I became substantially more confident, as I had found the true voice that was within me.

I'd always wanted to have a powerful voice like Tony Robbins, Winston Churchill or Les Brown. But the truth is, it was always within me. Likewise, you already have a lot of the things you desire - even if you don't realise it yet. That's a subject I'll probably delve into another time. 

Next week, I will publish Part 3 of this series, where I will share with you one of the challenges my students have been facing recently - and how the lessons from my story can help you overcome it. As Ryan Holiday once said, 'The obstacle is the way'. 

What is a challenge you had in your life? How did you overcome it? Share in the comments below