This Is Something You Need To Know About Yourself

A couple of years ago I was giving a talk somewhere. I forget where exactly, but I remember what happened after because I let myself down.

I was pretty tired — it had been a long flight the day before and I was getting over a cold. I walked backstage and said thank you to the organizers and got ready to go.

“Could we take a picture?” they asked.

Of course, I said, thinking it was some kind of informal thing. It turns out they had a backdrop and wanted me to take a picture in front of their logo…and not just one picture but quite a few with quite a few people. Then they asked if I could wait a few minutes because there was someone else they wanted me to meet…and it was quite a few minutes…and then after I talked to them it turned out they also wanted to do a picture. Oh, let’s do a fun one too! And then, the videographer asked me if I could answer some questions for their podcast and record a testimonial. All the while they were also leading me towards a lunch with some of their clients that they were hoping I’d attend.

None of it was a huge imposition by itself, but it’s not stuff I normally agree to. I’m usually pretty good about saying “No” to things I don’t want to do — especially points that are usually, in the speaking world, points of a contract — but I was exhausted and I was…