Pixie Dust

Last week, I left a voice memo for my coach.

“Brian, I need a pep talk.”

I had been sending cold outreach emails for weeks. Hundreds of them. And I had been gaining very little traction. My motivation was waning, but I knew I needed to keep going. Luckily, I had also recently written about different types of help I could ask for, so I took my own advice and reached out to my coach for a motivational boost.

He reminded me that I was in what he lovingly calls “the murky middle” and that eventually, all the small actions will add up. He also reminded me that all speakers have to do this part – there’s no skipping it.

In the course of our conversation, I thought of the famous line from Peter Pan when Peter is teaching the Darling children how to fly; “All you need is faith and trust! And something I forgot! Dust! Just a little bit of pixie dust.”

I realized that the dust was the perfect metaphor for all of my small actions. I had started with faith and trust in my dream, but without all the small actions they can’t help that dream take flight.

So, I began to wonder how much pixie dust it takes to fly…

Not even 2 hours after I asked for my pep talk, my TEDx talk went live. Once again, a line from Peter Pan floated into my mind “He’s rising off the floor!” and I could see my own dreams begin to take flight as the view count on my video grew and grew.

So, here’s the takeaway – one, asking for the help you need, even if it’s a pep talk, is always worth it. Sometimes the universe will be the one that answers.

Two, if you’re in the murky middle, hang on to your faith and trust while you do all the small actions that will create your own pixie dust. It may take some time, but eventually, you’ll find yourself making your way towards Neverland.

Thanks for reading with me today. If you haven’t had a chance to watch my TEDx talk yet, you can find it at erikastedtalk.com