Have you ever found yourself frozen in a moment, opportunity dangling before your eyes, only to hesitate and miss out? Picture this: a room full of college freshmen, a motivational speaker, and a single $50 bill that sparked a revelation Joan has carried with her into her forties.
On this bonus episode of Proofing Stage, Joan takes you back to her freshman orientation at Montclair State University.
Listen for a candid reflection on the insights that simmer over time and discover why, when the next chance comes your way, you might just find yourself reaching out with unhesitating eagerness.
Carpe cash!
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It was my freshman orientation at THE Montclair State University. That is how you say it, right? And my already full schedule also included a seminar with a motivational speaker.
A young man, who wasn't much older than I was at the time, took the stage in front of a room of seated freshmen. He began. Not by saying a word, but with a grand gesture. He took a $50 bill out of his pocket and held it out in front of him.
It was then that our confused silence was broken with these words: "Who wants it?"
That confused silence quickly became a confused chattering amongst us. "Is this for real"? "Wait, what?"
Again, he dared any of us to move: "Who wants it?"
Finally, after 60 seconds? 3-minutes? An afternoon? I don't know. Time felt weird.
Someone jumped up and grabbed the fifty. And honestly, the rest of us rubes did NOT deserve it. But we did deserve the consolation prize.
"This," he said. "This is the G.O.Y.A. Principle" writing G-O-Y-A on a dry erase board.
Looking around, I didn't seem to be the only person who was both, utterly confused, and also annoyed at myself, for missing out on 50 bucks.
I thought: "Jesus, dude, just put us out of our misery and either 1) start to make sense or 2) leave the room in a glorious puff of smoke." My inner monologue has always been zesty, BTW.
He continued. "G.O.Y.A." saying it as he began to flesh out what was actually an acronym.
G - get.
O - off.
Y - your.
A - ass.
That would have been enough to make the point but, of course, he continued to unpack things. I'll spare you the long-winded part.
Here's the punchline. Actually, I'll give you two. It's a BOGO kind of day.
18-year-old me wasn't ready to receive that lesson. Or maybe I was ready for the receiving part, but had no chance of applying it at that age. Know that with some advice - you take it and tuck it away until you're ready to use it. Now, me in my 40's, that bitch is grabbing that shit so fast, that the person handing it out is counting their fingers after I'm done.
So that's one lesson.
And two, sometimes you just need to get off your ass, speak up, raise your hand, buzz in first, whatever to otherwise get it; before your brain has the chance to question things. Because, as we know, some of us are conditioned to serve others first, make ourselves small, hold ourselves back, let someone else take the opportunity.
So, in conclusion, if someone's going to get that $50 bill, why not you?
This has been a bonus episode of Proofing Stage with me, Joan Kanner.