Today is one of those days.
James Valvano, nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American college basketball coach.

While head coach at North Carolina State University, he won the 1983 NCAA Basketball Tournament against high odds. He is remembered for running up and down the court after winning the 1983 NCAA championship, seemingly in disbelief and looking for someone to hug!

Just ten years later, Jimmy V was in the midst of a year-long battle with cancer when he gave a speech at the creation of the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

“Time is very precious to me. I don’t know how much I have left and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I will have said something that will be important to other people too.

People say to me how do you get through life or each day… To me, there are three things we all should do every day.

- Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day.

- Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought.

- Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears – through happiness or joy.

Think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special…”

Jim Valvano died less than two months after his famous speech.

Thank you Jimmy. This morning I laughed with my wife. I spent time thinking, during a call with a client who is literally changing the world. And I cried.

I cried when I watched your video.

The motto of the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research is “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.”

And in less than three weeks I have interviewed over 10 people for my book Secrets of The World’s Most Confident People. That makes 60 interviews to date <big grin> its been real fun!

So I was really excited to be invited to a dinner at The European Chamber of Commerce as the speaker was Jing Ulrich, who is #95 on the list of Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women.

You see, just a few weeks ago I set myself my next crazy goal of interviewing the World’s Most Powerful women…

I had no idea how to make this happen but I know that when I set crazy goals that excite me enough, they seem to have a way of coming to pass…

Anyway, I arrive at the dinner and everyone is wearing business suits, everyone is handing out business cards and everyone is talking about their high-powered company.

Me? At this point I got a little nervous…

After all, I was wearing jeans. I don’t use a business card. And my high powered company consists of just me, my Virtual Assistant and My Marketing Guy!

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What was interesting though, was that at the dinner, everyone at my table was fascinated by me and my job and my book.

And then I think my ego got a little carried away!

Someone asked do people ever say no when you ask to interview them?

I reflected and said no!

Well, its true. Everyone I have asked to interview has said yes, including some extremely well known people..

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Uh huh… I guess you can see where this is going….

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After Jing Ulrich’s speech, I strolled up to her table.

In my head, I could already hear her saying, You’re writing a book about the The World’s Most Confident People. I’d simply LOVE to be in it, Rich….

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Here’s how the actual conversation went:

Hello Jing, did you get the email I sent you?
No.
Oh, well I’m writing a book and I’d like to interview you.
I’m too busy right now.
Its about confidence.
That’s nice.
I’d like to find out about your journey into confidence.
<Awkward silence…>

I’m interviewing the The World’s Most Confident People. <Can you hear my note of desperation?!!>
Why don’t you use something from my speech… <Her speech was about the Chinese Economy>
<She turns away…>
Hmmm….

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Conversation clearly over.

I turn around and walk slowly away.

My tail between my legs.

The truth is, I was embarrassed, mad and inside I was saying Who do you think you are anyway, you’re only #95 out of 100 – on the List of  the The World’s Most Powerful Women!.

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So. What did I learn from this embarrassing experience?

1. Set CRAZY goals. The crazier the better. If they make you feel excited enough they have a way of coming true.
2. Don’t get attached to achieving them (immediately!).
3. If too many people say yes to you then you’re not asking challenging enough questions!
4. Watch out for your ego. The clue for me is when I think I’m cool it usually means I’m not!
5. You only really learn when you f**k-up!.

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“Here’s what I want you to do next.” – Email me with (a) One of your CRAZY goals, or (b) A time that you f**ked-up!

*****

Rich Litvin
that confidence guy.

Author, Speaker, Confidence Coach, Entrepreneur
rich@thatconfidenceguy.com