At the Oregon Christian Writer’s conference this past weekend in Eugene, keynoter Jane Kirkpatrick, prolific author and speaker, shared a small side note from her main message that seemed to be the recurring theme for the rest of the day.

She asked us to ask ourselves: “What experience do you want to have come out of this day?” 

Taking an entire day out of your life to attend a conference is a big deal, she explained. Life is too short and you need to know what it is you expect to get out of the day. If you can articulate it, it’s 90% more likely to come to fruition.

This gave me pause.

A lot of changes have happened in the past few six weeks – from chickens, ducks, jobs, freelancing, fiction writing – nothing is where I expected I’d be a few weeks ago. I’m in an even more amazing place than I could have simply dreamed.

So my focus for the one-day conference had shifted a bit. I’m not longer looking for clients for Miller Media Solutions – but I’m always looking for people I can help and counsel when it comes to marketing and web solutions. I realized my new goal for the one-day conference was to gain inspiration for my own fiction writing.

I articulated my goal.

In the second half of the day, I was set to deliver a workshop on Facebook for Authors – and I’d planned on demonstrating the majority of my presentation on my computer.

But the projector in my classroom wouldn’t work, and the poor tech help at the venue couldn’t get it going either.

Delivering a speech on Facebook without any visual aids suddenly overwhelmed me.

Until Jane’s words came back: “What experience do you to have want out of this?”

I couldn’t control the projector. But I could control my own reaction. And I wanted my class to feel like their questions were answered.

So my incredibly understanding attendees and I talked a bit more casually about Facebook and social media marketing. It was wonderful. I was able to have more one-on-one support than I otherwise would have with my pre-set presentation.

I still plan to Screencast my presentation and send it out to my wonderful workshop attendees, but I’m still so grateful that the entire class was anything but a waste. It was awesome to step out from the protection of the podium and be far more vulnerable in front of my audience.

Thank you to all of those who attended. Thank you, Jane, for that single sentence that helped shape the outcome of the entire day.

What if we began each day asking, “What experience do I want to have out of this day?” and took the steps to truly live it. To truly make those outcomes a reality. Life is short. Live each day with that purpose and you’ll never regret a moment.