Jet Lag is obviously something we experience after an intense period of travel between one or more time zones. Truth be told, I felt like I had jet lag before I even left for vacation. Not physically tired, but a whole lot overwhelmed by work and everything I had on my plate.
My vacation strategy? To drop out and off all technology, enjoy my husband, and take in the many sights of unknown places.
Eighteen days of travel was truly a blessing, but I can’t say that I arrived home rested and ready to begin again. After twelve hours in the air, my plane touched ground late Saturday night. When the customs agent stamped my passport and said, Welcome Home, I let out a disgruntled sigh. I just wasn’t ready to get back to work.
To make matters worse, I had committed to attend the SCORRE Conference in Orlando scheduled to begin the following Monday evening. I barely had time to unpack and do laundry before it was time to pack again.
The very thought of spending four days in a conference room made my teeth hurt. Whatever was I thinking?
Here’s the good news for you and for me. The SCORRE Conference proved to be the best anecdote for jet lag and for the sense of overwhelm that I was feeling before I left on vacation.
Please allow me to tell you why:
1. Clarity.
The SCORRE conference is technically designed to enhance communication skills. As a professional speaker, I saw this as an opportunity to learn a specific process that would enable me to more efficiently prepare my keynotes.
The process, however, takes a basic formula that is so brilliantly outlined in Ken Davis’ book, Dynamic Communications
, and expands it to include group interactions. You see, Ken Davis and Michael Hyatt both believe that “the power of communication is proportional to the physical, spiritual, and mental excellence of the communicator.”
I totally agree with this premise because it creates space for so much more than the mechanics of speaking. Over the course of three days, I gained greater clarity on the purpose of my speeches, and, watch this: My life and work in general.
That’s where the good news for you enters the equation because you don’t have to be a speaker in order to reap the benefits of SCORRE. For example, my husband attended with me, and he learned better ways to recruit, train, and develop his real estate agents.
2. Community.
The SCORRE Conference is also designed to encourage and support a sense of community. Instead of wallowing in jet lag, I found myself energized by a host of people who are committed to excellence, each in their own unique industry.
For example, my small group included a Chick-Fil-A franchise owner, a pastor’s wife, a mother of two, an attorney, a professional copywriter/podcaster, and a salesman. Each of us brought a host of life and work experiences to the process. We laughed and learned together, and in doing so, discovered innovative ways to take our work to the next level.
I was once again reminded that Ken and Michael are supporting a community of individuals committed to making a difference in the world. It is exhilarating to be part of this community because it allows us to engage in something bigger than our own game.
As we develop and support one another, we enter a far more important conversation—one intended to affect change. We are then better prepared to move beyond the “jet lag” of our own lives and to serve at the highest level.
3. Transformation.
Finally, the SCORRE Conference is designed to surprise. For example, on the final day of the conference, I decided to develop a lighter speech about my early experience in the equestrian world of hunter-jumper competition.
To my utter shock and amazement, that speech transformed into a much deeper revelation. As I began to craft my presentation, I came to realize that I took on the sport of riding to overcome fear—fear of losing my one-year-old son who had been diagnosed with a rare metabolic disorder.
As I began to consider the elements of the speech, I also came to realize that the same transformational effects I gained from overcoming the fear of riding were also the ones I came to rely on when my son became terminally ill some twenty-seven years later. I had never before made that connection. This revelation then lead to the additional clarity I need for a specific book I’m now writing.
All this being said, I must confess. I am a learner and someone who enjoys going to conferences that can take me to another level of thought and action. Because I always go in expecting to have an amazing experience, I usually do.
The difference with the SCORRE Conference is that I went in expecting to learn a technical process that would strengthen my prep time for keynotes. What I didn’t anticipate was that the process would transform my perspective on my life and my work.
Thank you Ken Davis, Michael Hyatt and the SCORRE Conference coaches and staff for making my jet lag disappear and for giving me the jump start I needed after vacation. Thanks to you, I am now truly glad to be home.
Leave a comment here if you’ve been to a SCORRE Conference or would like to know more about how attending one might impact your work/life.