"The gates of hell are locked from the inside"

CopyHour's first live event ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ How's that for a dramatic subject line? I recently read this quote from C.S. Lewis and, well, it's a hell of a quote: "The gates of hell are locked from the inside." I considered the subject line "Speaking on stage" because that's kinda what this email is about, but not quite. Let me explain. This past weekend we had the first ever CopyHour live event in Boise. It was an absolute blast. Previously, I'd sworn off hosting any sort of live event or workshop. The idea of speaking on stage, if I'm completely honest, is terrifying. It's odd to me, my distaste for public speaking. In high school, I was the sports reporter for my school's tv station. In college, I played guitar in a band in front of 5000 people a couple times (there was a big UCLA talent show thingy). I've also done approximately 40,000 live Facebook videos in the CopyHour group. Maybe there's something different about those "performances" but long story short... I didn't want to speak on stage. But last November, Ian Stanley and his team convinced me it would be a lot of fun. So I said okay, and didn't think about it too much until about February. Then I slowly started to feel the nerves. Even though it was a small room... and I had Ian (who's a standup comedian) to host and lead... I still felt fear. But that fear was a signal. The signal obviously saying: "Don't do this." So then I asked myself, "Why don't I want to do this?" Public speaking is a skill you really do need to have if you want to be a leader of any kind. Talking to employees. Talking to students or the kids you coach. Talking with the media. It can never hurt to be comfortable expressing yourself. Now, here's where I'll get a little woo woo. Being comfortable speaking on stage or in public, means you're comfortable with yourself. You love yourself and value your opinions. Most people (myself included) prefer to stay in their own personal hell, not loving themselves or valuing their own opinions. It's easier to dismiss the fear or run away from it and stay comfortable. The gates are locked from the inside. So for me, I realized that the fear of public speaking was signaling a path I needed to follow in order to find salvation. (This might sound religious on the surface, but that's not my intention). That path was actually kind of simple. I was spending a lot of time (consciously and subconsciously) worrying that people would love me and love the event. "I want them to think I'm awesome." Any time you approach anything from this angle ("I need you to like me") you're in trouble. The better path is straight up just loving yourself. Loving and valuing your opinions. So I did quite a bit of work on this mindset leading up to the event and found that on the morning of... I had little-to-no nerves. I just had the good kind of anxiousness. (I won't lie: Ian helped a ton with any nerves because he's hilarious on stage and knows how to have fun.) Interestingly, the only time I got nervous was at the VERY end of the 9 hour event. I decided to read a story that I hadn't finished writing yet. When I started reading from the notes app on my phone, it was clunky. I didn't fully value the quality of the written story... hence, I didn't love it (or myself in a way), and I got nervous. So that's it for now. Love yourself and you shall be free! 😘 - Derek ---- Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( ) CopyHour.com, 340 S LEMON AVE 5007, WALNUT, CA 91789,