Saturday, September 26, 2009

Always Have a PLAN B!!

Greetings Happy People,

Today I am getting ready for a Division level Toastmaster contest. This contest is to determine which contestant are the best evaluator and humorous speaker at this level of competition. These contestants competed and won at their respected club and area level competitions. It will take place today 6:30pm at the CSN Cheyenne Campus – Morse Arberry Telecommunications Bldg. Admission is $10 for one person ($15 for two people). If you have time to stop by today’s competition, please feel free to do so.

Why am I promoting this contest and what message could I possibly give in this blog? Well, this contest almost became a disastrous mess. How you ask? Well, let me take you back to last Wednesday. We were scheduled to have this contest at another venue. When the chair of this contest wanted to do a walkthrough of the place, the people at that venue would not let her do so. Why? The person that scheduled to have the contest at that venue was fired AND the current people won’t let us hold the contest there. Could this have been a panic moment? Yes!! However, it did not feel that way. The current Division D Governor, and my successor, Narayanan (pronounced na-RYE-un) looked for different options on a new venue. Later that afternoon, he found another venue to hold this contest. YAY!!

A crisis was averted and the contest was saved!! This story reminded me of what I went through back in the spring of 2006. At that time, I served as an Area Governor. I was getting ready to host an Area level contest scheduled for that March. Two months earlier, I secured a venue to hold my contest. At that time I asked if someone was going to open the doors, they said that the scheduled “Sharon” to open the doors for me that day. One month before the contest, I asked the same question, they gave the same answer. As I did my own walkthrough the day before the contest, I asked the same people if “Sharon” was going to open the doors for me tomorrow. They said no problem.

On the day of my contest, I encountered problems. It was Saturday afternoon. The outside temperature was 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The time was 3:00pm and “Sharon” did not show up to open the doors.

3:00pm became 3:30pm – no “Sharon” in sight.

3:30pm became 4:00pm – still no “Sharon” in sight.

4:00pm became 4:30pm – Sharon STILL has not arrived. At this time 40 people including myself were waiting out in the cold for her to open up the doors. It was at that point I decided to look for a PLAN B. Fortunately, a friend of mine named Deecie offered her house to have the Area Contest. Making a BIG game time decision, I accepted the offer!!

As I was driving over the Deecie’s house, I was disheartened and disappointed with the people at the venue. I was going to feel hot-headed, but I was too cold to even do that. When I got to Deecie’s house, I saw about 10 people at her place. But before I believe this contest was a complete disaster, 30 more people showed up!! Yes, these were the same people that waited in the cold with me at the other place. Talk about your miraculous moment!! Despite what was thrown at us, we STILL had a successful contest that day!!

These two stories are examples on how something can STILL turn out good, despite the odds. How did Narayanan and I pull this off? SIMPLE!! WE BOTH HAD PLAN Bs!! Imagine if we thought things in a one-track mind. We would have experienced disastrous results!! It is always good to have a backup plan when things go awry. One of my favorite things to say is the following:

If PLAN A doesn’t work…..go for PLAN B up your sleeve.

If PLAN B doesn’t work…..go for PLAN C in your back pocket.

If PLAN C doesn’t work…..go for PLAN D in your shoe.

People with different game plans are more likely to get results done. No matter the situation, they always find a way to make things a success. They always find a way to get to their goals. So if YOU are ready to get to where you want to go, make sure you have backup plans for your journey. It will come in handy in the long run!!

That is all I have for now. Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I

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