Rule of Life Lesson #109: Find your element.

My friend Melinda asked me a few summers back, “Tisha, if you could choose only one or two things that make you happy in business, what would it be?”

I immediately replied back, “Speaking and mentoring.”

By asking me this simple question, it clarified my life so much that everything I did from this point on fell into those exact two buckets. I no longer had to guess or grasp at straws to figure out if the path I was on made sense as long as whatever I was doing aligned with my mission – inspiring other individuals to get out of their own way and make it happen. And I learned to set boundaries and finally start saying “no.”

We’re often asked the question, “If you could be doing anything in the world and time and money were no object, what would you be doing?”

Mine would be the same answer. How you know you’ve found your element. You love it that much.

In March 2019, I was given a second opportunity to speak at PHX Startup Week which thrilled me considering my first year had its fair of challenges (see rule of life lesson #89) to get there.

I decided to test out some new material and prepped my first speech “Developing a Personal Brand to Stand Out and Grow Your Audience” which is something I was doing in my own business, too, so I had plenty of stories to share.

I was set to speak on day one of the week-long conference at the Mesa Arts Center and as I watched the numbers climb and my conference room move from one room to another to accommodate a larger audience, I grew even more giddy with excitement.

Even invited my husband Sean as I wanted him to get a glimpse into my world and catch me in action. As he took his seat, he asked, “Hon, how long are you speaking for?”

I shot him a smile and said, “One hour,” and he gave me a look and said, “Wow, an hour?” I replied, “Yep! Just watch.” Again, hubby and I are total opposites. He can’t fathom speaking in public for five minutes so he was shocked I could do it for an hour.

When I arrived at the room and the conference attendees started to pile in to where there were no seats left except standing room only, my smile grew and I couldn’t wait to get started.

Only trouble? The technology was a dismal fail and we couldn’t get my slides up for a solid 20-30 minutes and I was forced to just go with it. Hey, it happens! Prepare for the best, but expect the worst especially in a tech world. You can only control what you can control, right?

Nevertheless, this day, this speech went on to be one of my fondest speaking memories that introduced me to even more opportunities in the local community, and the exact moment I knew THIS WAS MY HAPPY. I WAS IN MY ELEMENT FINALLY.

Since then, I’ve gone on to give this speech several more times both in-person and virtually and still get excited watching the a-ha moments from the audience. I’ve continued to craft the message and even created a signature Tisha program called The Personal Brand Toolkit to help other individuals develop their brand style, voice and presence using my 7 P’s and combined my other passion, mentoring.

So, if you find yourself wondering, “What is my element?” Ask yourself that simple question Melinda asked me years ago. It may just put things right into perspective for you, too.

Rule of Life Lesson #109: