12 Weeks Until Competition

Hello! Normally when I am training for a competition I post my progress pictures, but not this time. Because this time it’s not a bodybuilding competition – it’s the World Championship of Public Speaking. (Basically, it’s like American Idol, but for motivational speakers.)

I’m in limbo right now. Having won the district competition, the video of my speech advanced to the regional judges. At some point this summer they will announce who made it to the semi-finals, which is held at the end of August.  From the semi-finals they select eight finalists. The winner becomes the World Champion of Public Speaking.

Normally this competition is live, and semi-finalists get to speak in front of about 2,000 people, which is pretty amazing. To put this in context, the Broadway show Hamilton performs at the Richard Rodger theatre in NYC, which has 1,319 seats. (Yes, I Googled it.)

Due to the pandemic, the competition had to go online last year and guess how many people watched the stream? Almost 60,000. To say I’m excited/nervous/impatient to hear the results if I can go forward is putting it mildly.  Since the final competition is about 12 weeks away, I’ve decided to start preparing as though I’m doing a bodybuilding competition.

That means I’m eating clean and working out four days per week again.  Why? Because my body feels better when it’s fueled with unprocessed whole foods versus the takeout food and junk food I’ve been consuming during a quarantine/TV binge watching year. Now, I’m eating clean and editing my speech. I’m memorizing my lines while breaking a sweat on the elliptical.

 

 

Do you notice something similar in your own life? Does a healthy lifestyle make your work life better? What ways can you incorporate healthy changes into your everyday life?

Lisa