President's Tip of the Week

The Toastmasters Gym
(9/16/09)

“Often we can achieve an even better result when we stumble yet are willing to start over, when we don't give up after a mistake, when something doesn't come easily but we throw ourselves into trying, when we're not afraid to appear less than perfectly polished. "

— Sharon Salzberg, The O Magazine, The Power of Intention 2004

When I attended Dobson Ranch's evaluation contest, contestant Paul was asked how long he'd been a Toastmaster. "Twenty-five years," Paul responded. The obvious question followed. "You're a fantastic speaker; why do you still come after twenty-five years?" Paul’s response was something to this effect:

Maybe we aren't as fit as we'd like to be, or maybe we'd like to lose a few pounds. So what do we do? We join a gym. After we work hard for days, weeks, months, and years, we finally reach our target weight; we are finally able to lift a certain amount in weights; we can finally run as far as we'd like. What do we do then? Do we stop going to the gym? No, because if we do, we'll lose that fitness level we've worked so hard to achieve. We keep going, to maintain our level of fitness.

Toastmasters works the same way. We visit and join a club hoping to gain a certain level of communication and leadership fitness. If we should ever achieve our target fitness level, we stick with it knowing that if we quit, we'll start to lose it. We continue to attend Toastmasters to maintain our communication and leadership fitness.

That's why Paul continues to be a Toastmaster after 25 years. That's why Nancy is working on her 5th DTM. That's why I will be a Toastmaster for the rest of my life, though I would add to help others achieve their fitness goals. How about you?

Don't forget to renew your dues!