Five years ago I began building a relationship with someone I’ve wanted to interview for a long time. Who it is doesn’t matter, but what I learned from this experience does.
I would consistently touch base with this person, or their team. I’d send packages in the mail with pertinent information for them; I’d stop by in person whenever I was in their city; I had several friends mention my name to them; traveled to see this speaker locally when he was in my area; and much more.
About six months ago, there was a change in his team and I started talking with a new contact (who I happened to already know). Finally, everything felt like it was in place to get this “celeb” on the phone for a 60-minute interview. I was texting back and forth with his new contact, had several phone calls with her and got as far as hearing her say she was inclined to say yes. Needless to say, I was getting excited to finally bring you this interview – as part of my 2012 Transformational Author Experience coming up in May.
Then, on a phone call when I though I’d get the final YES… I got a “no” in a short 2-minute conversation. What? I couldn’t believe it. We had come so close, they were inclined to say yes, I had worked on getting this interview for five years! What do you mean that “it wasn’t a fit?”
This racket in my mind lasted about 5 seconds. Then, I took a deep breath, thanked her for letting me know and drifted off to a peaceful sleep – seeing that our “final details” call was at 10:00 at night! (I was breaking all of my own rules to get this interview … that’s the only business call I’ve ever scheduled so late in my day!)
Anyway, before I drifted off to a peaceful sleep, I had a short conversation with God. I offered a prayer expressing how much I trusted that this was how it was meant to be. Then, I offered my gratitude for whoever was going to show up in this speaker’s place. And, I meant it with every cell of my being. I could FEEL deeply that something was unfolding… and the next piece would show up with total ease.
Since I believe in praying AND moving my feet, I took immediate action. The next morning I followed-up on another nudge I received about a speaker I wanted to interview. I’d only met this speaker two months ago, and hadn’t done any follow-up YET to ask her for an interview. So, I did that morning!
Within a few hours I got a response that she was interested and asked for more information. I responded quickly with the answers. Apparently, the answers I provided were what they were looking! 48-hours later I was on the phone with her executive director and within 2 minutes got a YES to the interview! Plus, this speaker agreed to promote my Transformational Author Experience to her sizable list of people who are also my ideal clients. I literally jumped for joy and thanked God the moment I got off the phone.
I share this story to help you embrace the perspective of being thankful (and curious) when one door closes. There are doors all over the place that want to open for you. But, they can’t if all you see are the closed ones. Everything happens for a reason. So, give thanks for the closed doors in your life and ask for the strength and courage to trust in the new doors that will open.
