Chance

1. likelihood that something will happen: the degree of probability that something will happen
2. opportunity or opportune time: an opportunity or a set of circumstances that makes it possible for something to happen
3. gamble or risk: a gamble or other act involving uncertainty or risk

photo credit: http://stevegutzlerblog.wordpress.com/

When I was little I remember two things that my Dad used to tell me. The first, let your conscious be your guide, which I actually think is from Pinocchio. And the second, take chances. I don’t really remember, to be honest, if he actually said take chances or take risks, but they are pretty close, so we’ll go with take chances. There are a lot of things that I remember from childhood and many things I don’t, yet these two things have stuck with me.

So, with gratitude to my parents and with confidence in myself, I will say that I have grown to be a person who really does lead a life with my conscious being my guide and I have led a life that has been and currently is full of chance and with chance comes risk and risk taking. My husband often says I am random. In fact people who know me well, say I’m random. I’ve been told by several that they can’t believe some of the things that I have decided to do and not do in my life. Now, let’s be clear, I’m not in anyway saying I’m perfect and I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. We all make mistakes, we’re human. But, I take chances, a lot of them, often.

I’m on Twitter (follow me, if you’d like). Lately, I have been gaining followers, several have found me because of this blog. It is really cool when I get a new follower. It gives me a little splash of excitement when I get the notification that someone new is following me, I won’t lie, I like followers. And, with all my new followers, I check out their profile and see what we have in common. I have met some amazing, I mean amazing people through Twitter. Yesterday, I had a new follower, Steve Gutzler (follow him, he’s cool, promise). When he started following me the first thing that stood out in his profile is that he is in Leadership Development (which I am too) and then the second thing was the fact that he is from Seattle (which I am too). Then I happened to notice that he has over 39,000 followers (this guy is legit). I became a stalker or as I later told Steve (yes, we have talked! I’ll get to that part in a minute) that I wasn’t stalking him, I am befriending him. In my befriending journey, I came across his blog which I found to be a great read, particularly the entry where he finds himself in at an event with several “big names” like the Nordstrom family and the owners of the Seattle Mariners. He makes a comment about him being surrounded by all these people and then there is “little me.” I thought wow, here is someone who just starting following “little me” what do I have to offer him? I was shocked. I had to make a decision. Here were my options. Option 1: Reach out and talk to this guy. Option 2: Do nothing.

I pondered my options for a bit, then decided to make contact. So, I did, a safe contact, I made a comment about his blog entry. My comment was genuine, it said “Fantastic read about your mtg! Things happen for reasons, no mistake you were invited! Cheers!” There I did it, I thought. I made a comment, now lets see what happens. He responded back, with honestly a pretty simple acknowledgement of “Very kind, Amber, thank you!” But in my head, he commented back, which was cool.

So now, here’s where I was … a dude (yes, I’ll call him a dude) with over 39,000 followers, very successful keynote speaker and leadership development coach, didn’t just follow me, he responded to me. That was huge. Like, “think big” huge. If nothing else happened, it was a good ego boost for me, it was acknowledgment enough for me that life is about taking chances. Life is about putting yourself out there.

So, I had another decision to make. Option 1: Continue the conversation. Option 2: End it. I took a chance and went with option 1, continued the conversation. Without boring you with all the details, here is where that led. We went from talking on Twitter, to exchanging cell phone numbers, to texting (yes, I texted with Steve Gutzler at 10:30pm last night … he started the texting conversation). Which then led to a very inspiring phone call this afternoon. With our next steps being we are meeting in person next week to explore a potential partnership together. Wow. Isn’t life just amazing?

Steve knows I’m writing this entry, yet he has no idea what it says. He isn’t reading it before I post, all he knows is I’m writing it and he said it was okay to reference his name. His is the only name I have ever referenced on this blog besides my own. Remember ThinkingWords has never been about identifying people, it’s always been about paying attention to the little things, the things that we often overlook and sometimes take for granted. But, today, well, today is different. See, I’m not using Steve’s name to “use his name”, I’m using his name to show all of us that ANYTHING is possible. Seriously, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

You might think you are “little me” but here is what I’ve learned in the last 24-hours, “little me” is bigger than “little me”. “Little me” is full of possibilities. Full of hopefulness. Full of knowledge. Full of inspiration. Full of ideas. Full of so many things. “Little me” doesn’t exist, for when we think of ourselves as “little me” we trap ourselves. We put ourselves in a box that limits our potential. We get stuck. When we are stuck then the world freezes and we can’t see the possibilities.

We when take “Little me” and make it “Me” we become alive. When we are alive we have passion. With passion we have potential. With potential we have possibilities. With possibilities we take chances. With chance, comes BIG, HUGE, exciting opportunities.

So, go do it. Take the chance, because in the end, what do you have to loose? Probably not as much as you think. And, if you do take the chance, what do you have to gain? Probably, more, way more, than you could have ever imagined.

To my new friend, Steve, thank you for your inspiration. Thank you for telling me the three things about being effective (and I’m going to share your knowledge here) are:

1. Have Character

2. Establish Credibility

3. Build Chemistry

And, Steve, I still see your book title … it’s big, bold and amazing. Copyright it so we can announce it to the world!

May we all find it in us to take a chance today, tomorrow and everyday.