Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

Every so often, if you are fortunate, someone will challenge you to go beyond your comfort zone and to try something new.

My friend Charlie Gilkey was recently that someone for me.

He invited me to be a guest on his not-yet-launched podcast Creative Giants Show. Charlie describes Creative Giants as “naturally compassionate, creative people who have the vision to see how the world might be, the courage to take action, and the capability to actually change the world.”

I was honoured and humbled to be included with the likes of Pam Slim, Seth Godin, Mark Silver and Jonathan Fields. All people I look up to; way up to.

Once I got beyond the star factor, my thought was “Sure, no problem, I have the technology to do this.” I’d write my responses, convert the text to speech and then save as audio files to play during the interview. Like I have done a few other times before. No problem, I’ve got this.

Except…Charlie does not interview from a set of questions. His show is not an interview, but rather a conversation with twists and turns, and therein lies the magic.

No scripted questions meant no prepared answers, which meant I’d be typing and “speaking text” live during the Skype call. Technologically possible (after some testing), but one thing you might not yet know about me is: I don’t feel confident thinking on my feet (or on my butt, as the case may be). Chatting is one thing, but conversing when I am expected to have something profound or wise to share, while it is being recorded. Nah uh, that isn’t me. But…declining the opportunity would not have been my style, either.

Charlie and I decided to give it a shot with the agreement that, if the conversation and audio were crap, we would try again or scrap the idea.

Except for a few typos, which translated into a few misspoken words on my part, the conversation went well. And, considering the mash up of technology, is actually pretty frickin’ awesome!

Click play to have a listen:

Be sure to check out Charlie’s show notes and to listen other episodes.

Thank you, Charlie, for the great conversation and for enabling me to add another check mark in the “can do” column of Life

Happy New Year! May your 2015 be filled with well-being, health and happiness.

I’d like to take a moment to share a Christmas gift that I received from Mom; a gift that I already know I will cherish throughout the years to come.

The gift: a basket filled with rocks. Yes, rocks! Each was individually wrapped in a paper towel, love and memories.

In addition to each rock being uniquely shaped and beautifully polished, each one is embossed in gold lettering. One word per rock.

Believe.

Celebrate.

Joy.

Goals.

Success.

Dream.

Hope.

Remember.

Inspire.

Spirit.

When I asked Mom why she chose the words she did for me, she responded, “Oh, I could go on about each one. You reflect about each. Maybe it’ll be a set of blog posts or something.”

I have been handed a writing challenge for 2015. Thank you, Mom. Challenge accepted; I am looking forward to it.

If you could choose 10 words for a loved one, which rocks would you give? Share in the comments below.