With less than ten weeks to go now until the end of my 100 week-long adventure, I get asked many times questions such as:-
“What will you do next?”
“Where are you going to live?”
“Will you go back to Australia?”
“Are you going to get a job?”
To be honest, I have been trying to answer these questions myself, and my answers are still pretty vague. I have a few ideas, and some outline plans, but am unsure exactly how all of this will pan out.
My first priority is to try to complete Goal # 100 – to sign a book deal about this whole adventure, from the lead-up to the ALife4Sale auction, through to the end of the 100 weeks. I did have a literary agent in London trying to sort out a publishing contract for me, but after approaching 14 UK-based publishers, came up with nothing concrete. I now have my outline draft of the book in the hands of a representative in the States, and hope something may come from that soon.
However, even if I cannot ultimately sign a deal, I still plan to complete the book, and will self-publish if no other option is available.
So, at least for a couple of months after the end of the 100 weeks, writing and publishing the book will be a major focus. I hope to find somewhere very cheap to stay, preferably scenic and interesting too, but without too many distractions, and just get my head down and get the job done. I have a lot of notes and ideas, it’s just a matter of having some quiet, uninterrupted time to get them properly fleshed-out.
But a couple of events and chance meetings have taken my thoughts in another potential direction too. While in California last year, I was invited to do a talk at an outdoor sporting goods store in Ventura, and at that talk I also achieved my 62nd goal, by reciting the poem “If…”
Afterwards a few people told me how much they had enjoyed the talk, and one suggested that it is something that I should possibly consider doing professionally.
Co-incidentally, on my travels I have also met two people who work as professional motivational speakers, one who trains speakers, and another person who works as an audio-visual engineer in a hotel where many conferences are held, and has seen many speakers perform. All of these people have been very encouraging about my potential to start a career in this field.
With a background in teaching, and a fair amount of history with working with groups of people, I have a reasonable confidence in speaking in front of an audience. I am also, of course, very familiar and confident on my subject – goal setting and achievement. But the thought also fills me with trepidation. It is a big leap once again into something completely new and unknown, but I do feel it seems like the next logical step in my adventure.
America is the obvious place to try to do this, I think, as the market is so much bigger, and all the relevant contacts that I have in this field are in the States.
So, wondering exactly how to get started, I have come up with a bit of a plan. By the start of June I expect to be a little more settled, the bulk of the travel-based goals completed. I am going to make a temporary base for the month, staying with friends in Colorado, while I address the last few longer-term goals, before the end of the 100 weeks on 4th July in New York.
And to try to get my new career kick-started, I will offer to do a FREE talk, for any company, group, organisation or event, anywhere in the States, as long as the organisers can cover the expenses of getting me there.
This offers advantages for both sides of the equation, with the organisation getting a free speaker, while I am still within the 100 weeks period too, and I get the chance to polish my speaking performance!
So, there are much fuller details on the new “Motivational Speaking” page here:-
http://www.100goals100weeks.com/speaking.php
Please feel free to forward this link on to anyone who you think may be interested, and as always I look forward to any comments, suggestions or ideas.
