Drawing Solutions: How Visuals Will Change Your Life: Save Someone's Bacon

Save someone's bacon - To prevent an undesirable occurrence.

I don't know about you, but recently it seems like the world has gone topsy turvy on me. Normally confident in facilitation and speaking, last week I found myself shaking with fright in front of a group. What?! I'd lost my voice, I had that weird dry mouth where you can't get enough saliva to keep talking correctly. :-) It was a mortifying experience.

Well, how did I handle it? I did what I thought I needed to, I confessed. I told participants afterwards, "I don't know what happened to me, but I was so nervous, it was terrible." They went out of their way to reassure me, but trust me, I'm a professional, I know when what I did wasn't as good as it could have been.

Humbled, I looked for the lesson. What the heck happened?
At first I started looking around me for whose fault this was. LOL. Oh that always works well. ;-)

Then it hit me. I really hadn't been into this experience from the start. In fact, I found myself complaining, dreading the delivery, mad at the client - for what?! Just being alive? For paying me? Oh, (doh) woe is me! Subsequently I resisted preparation, I crammed at the last minute, I refused to thoroughly review the materials that I was not personally presenting, so I had no idea what state they were in. I put a lot of pressure on my co-facilitator that was really unwarranted. Had I reviewed her materials thoroughly, I would have known that they were too high level for our audience.

I had the perfect opportunity to save someone's bacon. Hers and mine. Whoops! I missed it. (sigh)

The great thing about life is that when you think you have something down, figured out, you're on top of the world...it brings you another experience to level the playing field once again. What a great gift - humble pie - (actually since I stopped eating sugar, any pie tastes sweet) thanks universe!

You could save someone's bacon right now. Look around at the projects you are working on. Ask yourself, "Am I taking full responsibility here?" Sometimes our ego makes up a story about what's their part and whats your part, when you are collaborating. The truth is, the buck always stops right here at your doorstep, with you.

Life will give you multiple chances to take your game to the next level. When you say yes to a project or client, a new collaborator, a change in something you are doing, be ready (and willing) to accept the additional level of responsibility that's required. You can wait and wait and try to sidestep your way out of it, but the truth is, it all comes down to you.

You are one who has the ability to save your own bacon. Go do the right thing. You owe it to yourself, (your clients) and your growth.

Do good, be good, & kick ass.
(Thanks to Gallagher Design for this awesome slogan and graphic.)

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