I did something crazy today. Okay, maybe it wasn't all that crazy... but it was completely out of my comfort zone and I have to say, I am so incredibly proud of myself.

Today was Coldwell Banker Prime Properties' first annual regional sales meeting at The Desmond Hotel in Colonie. A few weeks ago, I was asked to speak on their agent panel. I have to admit, when my manager first told me they were going to ask me, I looked at her with utter confusion like ... "Me?! Are you sure you have the right person?" LOL - no but literally, that's how it happened. I was confused because while I did have a considerably decent year in real estate (especially for this being my first full year in the business), I didn't think it was anything worth publicly mentioning or honoring.

I have ultimately realized through this experience that I definitely suffer from a bit of imposter syndrome. (Imposter syndrome: the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.)

Ever since I was younger, I've been absolutely petrified of public speaking. So speaking in front of a room full of people sounded absolutely insane in my head. I knew there were agents that would be there with much more success than me; ones that have been in the business for much longer and had way more experience and sales under their belt. But for some reason, they wanted me! It took a while for me to wrap my head around it and I even considered saying no at one point because I thought I may throw up or pass out up there. But I ended up doing the crazier thing, and I said yes to something that completely scared the sh*t out of me.

Leading up to this event, I honestly tried not to think about it. I have a tendency of overthinking and overanalyzing and I didn't want to think about it too hard, which may send me into a spiral of self doubt. I was in Florida for the past week and just got home last night, so that made it pretty easy to get my mind off it all. Luckily, I had some words of encouragement from my loved ones that told me to just do it, and I would do great. Some of my favorite advice maybe came from my mother, who told me to just picture everyone naked. (I didn't actually do that btw - but the thought helped me to be less nervous).

Long story short, I got up there and did the damn thing! (Of course, not without some extra deep breathing this morning and a lot of self talk in the mirror). I think the fact that it was a panel of other people made it a little less difficult for me. It's so weird but when I got up there, I was nervous but it was also super comforting hearing the people around me talk and just be natural. OK I may have blacked out a bit up there and don't remember my answers - but I tried my best to just be authentic, and honest, and it worked.

The support and love I received from my fellow colleagues after was just so humbling and made me feel so grateful for the people in my corner. I have even had a few other agents at the meeting reach out to me since then, telling me how inspired they were and asking to get together for support and mentorship. Surreal, I know.

Now for some, this may sound like such a silly and miniscule thing to get so worked up over. But quite honestly, this may be one of the most significant moments of my never-ending self development journey. I walked out of that meeting feeling like I could literally do anything! Even the hard, anxiety-inducing things that I don't want to do.

I write about this experience not to brag or boast about my accomplishments, but rather to possibly inspire just one more person to do "that thing" that you're most fearful of. It may be public speaking; it may be getting out and talking to new people; or maybe just trying something else completely out of your comfort zone. Whatever it is, I'm here to tell you to just do it. 

Because conquering that one small fear may help you to discover how capable you really are of doing anything that you put your mind to. Even the hard things.