I had a blast talking with Jan Spence, a Certified Speaking Professional and TEDx speaker whose journey from professional women’s full‑tackle football to international keynote speaker is unforgettable. Jan shares how turning a sea of competitors into teammates through simple encouragement sparked her “Cheer Leadership®” philosophy. We dive into actionable tools - from ‘putting on that Teflon raincoat’ to overcoming fear, to using ‘A‑B‑or‑C’ goals to build momentum. Plus, we explore how small gestures - handwritten notes, energy boosts, meaningful check‑ins, etc. - can transform leadership, sales, and team culture. Prepare to be encouraged, motivated, and ready to lead with more courage and connection."
Key Takeaways
Fear isn’t permanent. Wear that ‘Teflon raincoat’ to slide off rejection or hesitation.
Your mindset matters. Reframe risks and focus on simple actions rather than perfection.
Cheer leadership works. Small acts of encouragement can unify teams and elevate performance.
Use “or” in your goals. Make goal‑setting flexible to build momentum and avoid overwhelm.
Intentional connection is powerful. From sticky notes to weekly one‑on‑one check‑ins, small acknowledgments go a long way.
Lead with authenticity. Being relatable, present, and encouraging builds loyalty and morale.
Relevant Links
Jan Spence’s website: https://www.janspence.com/
Jan’s Book: Cheer on Your Team! 52 Tips to Increase Employee Retention, Engagement, and Loyalty
Jan’s TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/k41bimZXAeA?si=uBahC83hAmdJZKSi
Jan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-spence/
Unedited Transcript
Avish
Hello, Jan, and welcome to the podcast. How are you?
Jan Spence
I'm great. I see that we color coordinated today. I love that.
Avish
We did. Fully, fully planned out. Right. We made sure in advance we knew we were doing this.
Jan Spence
Great minds. Right.
Avish
Well, Jan, thank you for being here. I'm looking forward to chatting with you. And we connected recently at the speakers association convention, and I was like, oh, I should have Jan on my podcast because we've known each other for a number of years. So for people who don't know you, though, could you give us the quick 1 minute bio of Jan Spence putting.
Jan Spence
Me on the clock? So. Well, it started when I was 18 months old. I was completing full sentences. My mother literally would say, she'd be in the grocery store and they'd see this tiny little thing because I was tiny little baby. And I would look up and just say, like, I want some Cheerios. And they're like, why this little thing is making complete sentences?
And of course, she says, I've not stopped talking since. So I'm doing what I was absolutely created for. So my passion is really sharing with leaders, with salespeople, with leaders of teams and associations, just helping them to connect on a deeper level, helping them to sell on a higher level more consistently, and just helping those leaders create an environment where people want to stay, they want to be engaged, and they want to work for that individual. Stay there, be fully devoted and fully 100% in with their company.
Avish
Gotcha. And the way you do this is you have a unique brand position. So I'd love to kind of just start talking about that, which is you have a whole football thing going on with your speaking topic and brand. And I love for you to share with me and with us, like, why and how that kind of fits into your background and your business.
Jan Spence
Sure. And that is the thing that people that I often forget these things. I forget about that part. And they're like, you forgot the most important part.
Avish
You played it for granted yourself. And then other people like, wait, wait, you got to tell us about that.
Jan Spence
Exactly, exactly. So as a little girl, my mother always wanted to play. She talked about how fun it would be to play. So she instilled that dream in me at a very young age. But of course, there were no, not even flag football for little girls back then. So the closest thing I could become is a cheerleader. But I found myself years later, I'm married to my husband, and he tells me that there are tryouts actually happening for an expansion team for women's full tackle football.
So Just like the NFL, just on a much smaller scale and a lot less budget. So I've got a TEDx story out where I talk about all of the obstacles, all the hurdles that I had to overcome to actually make the team. And from that, those lessons that I learned that what we have is really with it inside of us. So every leader, every salesperson, every individual, you have what it takes. It's just like you just said, Avish, sometimes we don't see it, we take it for granted and we don't realize that that's our superpower. So that's kind of my hook is that I played women's full tackle football and I have a weekly video tip on that and wrote the book cheer on youn 52 Tips to Increase Engagement, Retention and Loyalty. And so it's just, it's a lot of fun.
We can have a lot of fun and lots of football analogies.
Avish
Well, I do want to dig into that a little bit and first I kind of want to just hear about some of the logistics of the story before getting into the leadership lessons. So I'm just curious. So was this a full time thing or were you doing this while you had a job? And it's like a side thing. You would then also play football? Like how, you know, I mean even, I think the entire world, not even just of women's sports, but minor league sports. Like you see the pros, you know, that's their full time thing.
But like how, how was your life operating while you were a professional football player?
Jan Spence
That is a great, great question. Because I was doing sales training for a local company that at the time. So it was, I like to put it this way, I went from pinstripes to shoulder pads at night. So it would. All of our practices were in the evening. Local rec league or high school football stadium, very minimal budget. We had to raise a lot of money to do the travel portion of our team.
So grew out of that. So I was actually working full time, as most people were. We actually had a grandmother that was, that was a player. And she actually had a daughter and a grandchild. And so we came from all walks of life. Firefighters, ups, drivers, nurses, runners, teachers. It was just the gamut.
And what I learned is that by encouraging people on the sidelines, that was really my place on the team, that we needed that person to unify them. But yeah, it was basically a side thing. And then we travel on the weekends because I was the cheerleader, I would lose my voice. So inevitably I would come back trying to do Sales and training with no voice. So, yeah, there is, there is that little drawback.
Avish
So you said you're, you were the cheerleader, but you were also, you were a player on the team. And this, you know, I encourage everyone, we'll put a link to it to watch your TEDx talk where you kind of go more in detail in the story, but you point out in there how you sort of set yourself apart at the tryout, not necessarily through your, your play, but through your attitude and the support. So like I said, they can, they can watch the TEDx for the, the full story, but could you just share a little bit about that and also how that sort of. Then you use as a bit of a springboard into your, your speaking.
Jan Spence
Yes. So what I found that particular day, I was super scared. I was not ready for tryouts. I mean, the most exercise I had been doing at VICH was like jazzercise. So.
Avish
Well, yeah, real quick. So you, I think you said in your story, or maybe it's in your book, that, that you're like lead time between the time you found out about the tryout and the actual try it. We're not talking like months to prepare. It was like hours. Right? Like you found it like that day.
Jan Spence
Yes, they were happening that day in two hours. So it was literally the decision of, do I just go for this thing that I've always wanted? And, and just at least say I did it. And that's. My husband actually challenged me because I thought, oh, I'm not ready. And yeah, I went from this euphoric, I've got to do this.
This is my dream come true. And then when he tells me that the tryouts are in two hours, I went to, I'm not ready, I shouldn't go. And he asked me the questions that I think are important for all of us to ask ourselves when we're making quick decisions or big decisions in life. And that was. He said, what's the worst that can happen if you go? And I said, well, obviously I don't make the team. And then he asked me the more important question.
He said, what happens if you don't go to the tryouts? And that's when I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life. It would have been that opportunity missed. And so I'm so glad that I thought about, okay, I'm not prepared. I'm scared these women are going to clobber me. But I went anyway. And what I found was that everyone there was super competitive.
Now we know that women can Be competitive in the boardroom, in the office, in the workplace, even the gym. So it was super, super competitive. People weren't talking to each other, they weren't helping each other, they were laughing at each other. And so I thought, oh my goodness, I am just messing up terribly. What can I do to add value to the team? And that's when I started cheering on other people. And it wasn't just the ones who ran a great 40 yard dash or caught the ball miraculously with one hand.
It wasn't just those folks, but it was also the women that were struggling. And I started to encourage them and just say, take my place or try. Got this. And so what the coach noticed is that in that time frame and in about an hour, we went from being competitors to being teammates. And so I believe that if I could do that with just using what I had inside myself, which was cheering people on, giving people water, making them laugh, we all have something that we can give to make the team well.
Avish
What I found really interesting about that story, in addition to the, the transition that happened is you have a line, I believe, kind of summarizing all which that behavior is contagious, that it wasn't just you cheering everyone on. Then you became the leader and everyone followed you. It's that other people then started following your lead and cheering each other on as well.
Jan Spence
Thank you for bringing up that key point because I think that's, that's part of the critical point of, of the whole story is that you're right, it wasn't just me. But while I was applauding, it was a little awkward just to have one person applauding. So, so the women, one by one started to copy me and started to encourage each other. And that's what really, it elevated our level of play. The morale was better, we were having more fun. We're performing better because we were encouraging each other. And that's what I think we can take into our teams, our companies, our families, our neighborhood, so we could all learn a lesson that, you know, and I think we saw this a lot, you know, five years ago, where, when it was, how are we going to do this?
We're on lockdown, how are we going to sell? How are we going to have our Monday meetings? But we figured it out, the tools were there. We just had to push through it and realize that as that leader, we had to say, we can do this and here's how we're going to do it. One step at a time. Here's how we're going to Encourage each other. And so we made it through.
So are you a toxic leader or are you one that encourages and says we can do this?
Avish
Yeah, I love that idea. And kind of talking about leadership then is this then one of the key principles when you are doing a leadership program is about being sort of the, how can you cheer people on, how can you support them? Is that the kind of the transition you make between the football and the leadership?
Jan Spence
Yes, leadership as well as sales. So both as a leader, how can they be not only a contagious leader, but a courageous leader? That is that person that walks in and says, we don't know what's happening in the world, we don't know what's happening in the economy or the market or where our products are going to come from next. All of those things, those day to day challenges that ebb and flow just depending on the time of life. But when we see those things changing, are you being contagious by being positive and are you being courageous by saying we can do this? And it's the same thing in sales. I think people see sales so often as just transactional.
You know, can this person buy from me? Will they buy from me? How many do they want? But we forget that it's that deep personal connection that it's seeing someone post on LinkedIn and it's about a personal family thing and weighing in on that, or sending a handwritten note card or someone celebrating a big anniversary, do you send them some flowers or find out where they're going and send a bottle of hotel, you know, wine or chocolate covered strawberries to their room. So really, really connecting with people just on a deeper level that most people are too afraid or too lazy just to do, to think of, hey, there are simple things that we can do that can connect us deeper with the people that we influence.
Avish
Well, I like to ask and dig in a little deeper on that then because I think the, the assumption I had believed is that you would either be too lazy to do or thinking that I don't have time, you're just overwhelmed. So you don't even think about connecting a level. But you mentioned that having the courage to, to take those little steps, which as you say it intuitively, I'm like, oh, that kind of makes sense. But it also seems counterintuitive because it's like, oh, why would someone be afraid to do something nice for someone? So could you explain a little bit more what you mean about that?
Jan Spence
Sure. And I think a lot of it with the leaders that I've Worked with some of the best managers. One tip that I love is this particular manager, and then I'll get back to answering your overarching question. She was intentional. And I think that's what a lot of leaders forget to do, is to be very intentional. So every week she had each one of her team members in rotating order, and whoever was written on the calendar for the week, that's where she gave the focus. So she took the time to stop by their desk and ask them.
She had family names, she had pet names, she knew what grades the kids were in, she knew what hobbies they played, she knew what special interest that that particular team member had outside of work. So she could go and connect on a deeper level by being int and just saying, how are the kids?
How's soccer going? Or you've been doing that candle making. How's your candle making going? So she really connected with them on a deeper level, which they would step in front of a train for her. And so I think being intentional, it's super easy to do. But Avich, it's also super easy not to do. Just like you said, you think, will it really matter?
You do it half the time. Am I just being too lazy? I think a lot of times leaders get to such a level that they feel that they're above that, that that's something that lower management should be doing. But we've all heard stories where the top, you know, Sam Walton would walk around Walmart.
I've worked with the Rosen Hotel Group, and Mr. Rosen is at every property walking the grounds every single day. And his employees love him, but you'll see him picking up trash, or if he sees that the water jug in the lobby is empty, he'll go fill it himself. So he's just being that connector to just say, I care about you, I care about our mission, and I'm a part of that. I'm not in some ivory tower barking out strategy. I'm actually here living it with you. So I think sometimes people are fearful that it might make them look small or that it's going to be.
And I'll say this for the men in the group, Avise your listeners out there, they sometimes think, well, that's too mushy. I can't write a handwritten note card to my best dude, you know, on the team. But you'd be surprised that being willing to be a little courageous, that by willing, be willing, being willing to take that step, that that means so much, that employee, wow, you know, the top of the country, of the Company, my leader took the time to put a stamp on a letter and mail it to my home telling me how much they appreciated me. That stays on the refrigerator for a lot long than even just to. Atta girl or an attaboy.
Avish
Yeah, I love that. It's so funny the way, like, the universe works to give you the same message. So I just started reading this weekend this book about the West Wing, the TV show, which is one of my favorite shows of all time. And I've just read the first chapter or so, and they talk about Martin Sheen. And like, the first day when he came on set, he immediately just started going to everyone.
The extras, the. The. The crew people, and just introducing, saying, hey, I'm Martin. And learning about them. And. And then, you know, he. They. They said at lunch, normally everyone sort of had their pods, like the A list.
Actors over here, the extras over here, the crew over there. And Martin's like. And they ate at different times. And on day one, he's like, nope. Like, we're a family. We all eat together. And talked about just the ripple effect.
You talk about behavior being contagious. And it's just so funny because exact same message you're talking about just those little steps of acknowledging people how powerful that can be. And I don't know if this is related or not, but I want to kind of talk about. Since we're talking about courage.
There was, you know, we. We reconnected, as I mentioned, at the beginning, recently at a conference. And I didn't hit this make the session, but there was one where the speaker sort of had everyone write something on their body. And then they took like, black and white pictures and made a whole collage. And you were supposed to write down sort of your brain tattoo, like your. The phrase, your mantra for your life. And you wrote down a really interesting one.
And I think it ties into what we're talking about. So just. I don't know if I explained it properly. So if you could just quickly explain sort of what that exercise was and then what your particular phrase was that you chose for yourself.
Jan Spence
Sure. So it's by the Dear World organization. And so they started in. Don't quote me on all this, Avish, but I believe it was hurricanes in New Orleans, Louisiana. This team went down there and to give these people hope, they started writing on their hands and on their arms, just words like, I am resilient, or, you know, this won't define me. This doesn't stop me. And so it's become this movement across the world.
So Actually, Dear World, the organization will go to areas of war or areas that have experienced a natural disaster, or just a group that's struggling. And so they go there and they give people the opportunity to have a voice. And so they write. You know, they get them to figure out what that mantra is, what they need to say to the world, and then they write it on arms, usually sometimes face, chest, hands. And then from there, it gives that person just that. That sense of. And it's not permanent, but it gives them that sense of, hey, they've got this moment.
And the film crew does. Takes these beautiful black and white images, people just saying, you know, here's what I stand for. So part of that exercise was just to go back in time, and I believe it was to remember 3. Recall three significant memories that have been important to you in your life. And I don't know why, you know, mine popped up, but I realized that that was a thread throughout my life that day when I was so fearful to go play football and to go to the tryouts knowing that I was not ready. But I set that fear aside and I wouldn't. I did it anyway. And there have been other times, too, where you've applied for a job or you've asked for a raise or a promotion, and it's scary, it's uncomfortable.
There's all the what ifs, what if, what ifs. You know, our brain goes to the negativity, but if we can just set that fear aside and just move forward, it's really about mitigating that risk and just telling our brain, you know what, this is a risky thing, but how can I reframe that risk so that I'm okay going forward and doing this and giving it my best shot and seeing what happens? Because only good things can happen from it. If nothing happens, no harm, no foul, but if something good becomes of it, we're glad that we. We did it anyway.
Avish
And so if it was unclear, your phrase was set fear aside was your. Your short phrase. And that, you know, kind of goes to your point, like, so the football, the leadership, and the other area that I wanted that you talk about with people, I believe is also sales, which so many people, myself included, hate. There's probably a lot of fear there. So I'm assuming this set fear aside message is. Is one that's very relevant in sales as well, because you even have a whole.
Did I see correctly? On a website? You even do a whole program on cold calling.
Jan Spence
Yes, cold calling is my specialty. And it's not dead. And there's some people out there that say, oh, we don't want warm calling. Build a relationship first. And I'm thinking, my goodness, it depends on how many people you have to call a day as to whether or not you can build a relationship with those individuals or may. Maybe we're more selective about who we start that social media relationship with before we actually pick up the phone. But that is the number one thing that keeps salespeople back is prospecting for new business.
They will come up with every excuse in the world from re alphabetizing their business cards to social media. I just need to do one more social media post. But it's really fear of rejection and fear of looking like that icky, slimy, yucky salesperson. Because you're right, most people see sales, we hear the word and we just think, who wants to be that? Who wants to identify with that? But truly, when we do it in the right way, and that's what I teach, just a nice, direct, straightforward approach. When we do it the right way and when we've got the confidence, we've got our head, we're being courageous and that courage comes forward that we're able to connect with those people very quickly, get our questions out, move the process along.
You're 100% right. It is fear that keeps people from picking up the phone or knocking on the door.
Avish
So do you have a tip or two for people to set that fear aside? Whether it's to make a cold call or to have a conversation or to send a handwritten note, you know, if I was sitting here and I'm like, maybe I should do this, but I don't know, like, what would be your advice to me? Like, I hear is something you can do to get in the right mindset, to set that fear aside just long enough to take the action.
Jan Spence
So without going into too much content and a whole full sales class now, I would say that I'm going to give to everyone, for all of your listeners free today, their invisible Teflon raincoat. And what do I mean by that? It is just a Teflon raincoat that we can put on. What does Teflon do? Nothing sticks. It slides right off. So I deal with a three pronged approach mindset measurement method, which is my mindset to mastery methodology with sales.
But it all starts with that mindset. And we have to deal with that fear. We have to deal with what's holding them back. But I give them that Teflon raincoat so that they think, you know what I've Got my Teflon raincoat on. If this person hangs up on me, or if I get escorted out because there was a no solicitation sign, or if I get shut down and this person never replies to my LinkedIn Connect request, that we remember that it's just the logo that we're wearing or, you know, it's the hat that we're wearing that particular day that they're rejecting. It's not you personally. So when we can separate and get our mindset around, this is just a role that I fulfill.
It doesn't define who I am. At the end of the day, I'm still an awesome, amazing, worthy human being. So I'm just going to put on my raincoat, my Teflon raincoat, block it out and just realize that nothing can hurt me. It's just gonna slide right off. And so when we dig deep into that, that little tip, if people would just remember to put that Teflon raincoat on before they pick up the phone or send that request or grab the note card to send that letter, that just helps free them up to do that under the guise of. This is my salesperson role, not my everything role. It doesn't define me.
Avish
Yeah, I love that because on some level it sounds silly like this imaginary raincoat, but there is something really to it. And almost even just the, the physical activity of pretending to put it on just shifts the mindset because I know me as a sort of, you know, deep down, insecure performer. Like everything feels like a judgment of, you know, you as a person.
But you're right, you're not. Whether they reject me or love me or ignore me or escort me off the premises, it's not a judgment of me or my character. It's just, it's the sales process, right? It's like, oh, it just maybe it's a judgment of my sales approach. I can learn, I can improve. And that, I think, comes back to the, Even the cheerleading thing, cheering people on, right? There's all like growth versus versus fixed mindset.
And when you're cheering people on, even those who weren't doing well, you're cheering their effort. And that's going to kind of encourage them. But as a salesperson, same way, it's about separating the value of the individual from the effort. And how do we. So I, I'm going to use that approach. You know, this is, this is the part now we're entering of the podcast where it becomes free consulting and coaching.
So I like that. I'm going to use that later. Today when I have to do some outreach. So thank you.
Jan Spence
You're welcome. My pleasure.
Avish
So speaking of free coaching and consulting, I want to talk about one more thing before we sort of move to the the end. I was curious because you, I believe one of your programs is about goal setting and kind of a new approach to goal setting. And this is always near and dear to my heart because I am an awesome goal setter and you know, not always the best goal achiever. You know, the ADD brain gets distracted and all of a sudden and at the time of this recording, we're about halfway through the year where I'm sure most people have completely forgotten about the resolutions and goals they've set. So what is sort of your approach when you're working with people or organizations on goal setting and I guess more importantly, goal achieving?
Jan Spence
You just gave a lot of great tips there, so I'll say yes. And.
Avish
I did talk a whole lot there. Sorry about that.
Jan Spence
That's. It's great. It's great. Yes. And we find that people will set goals that are too big. So when they do that, we're setting ourselves up for failure. And so I really through that keynote and I've got a workshop that follows that we dig down into what are people's core values?
Why are they doing this to begin with? Because someone, avish could say, you've got to do a podcast and so you feel like you have to, but in your heart of hearts is not a passion. Then it becomes this struggle to get it done because you're constantly fighting. Not just a voice where you need to be courageous, not just an audience where you need to be contagious, but you're also fighting. Just those internal voices that just say, will the content be good enough? Will I have enough followers? All these things go through your head.
And so getting back to why is this important to me and making sure that that aligns with our core values first. So when we do that, when we've got a driving, committed, unstoppable commitment to our core values, we'll push through the hard stuff to get there. My husband and I bought, Built and Sold a small business. And on the mornings when someone would call up in sick, it was a service business, a mobile service business. An employee would call us at 4:30 in the morning and say, hey, I don't feel well, I can't go in today. Well, guess who gets up to go work the shift at 4:30 and their schedule's completely been rewritten for the day. But when those things got tough, when it was Friday afternoon and I hadn't made all of my sales calls yet.
I had to push through that and realize that the reason we were doing this was the core value of good financial management. And our strategy, our goal was to become debt free. Our strategy was to buy a business, build it and sell it. So I hope that gives you an example of what's the core value that means the world to us is to be financially free. What is the strategy? You know, what's the ultimate goal? And that was to become debt free.
And then the third thing is, well, how are we going to do that? And then this was the actual strategy to buy a, build and sell it.
Avish
Yeah. Which is great because I think the traditional model is you think of the goal and the strategy and the tactic, but leaving out the value piece. So by adding that in, I think it does become critically important when in times of setback or change or struggle, because it's easy to say, well, here's my goal. But then when things get tough, I think, or even if it doesn't get tough, like, I think that's the New Year's thing. Right? Like just when life sort of becomes normal again two weeks in, it's because you haven't focused on your values. The goal is like, ah.
And so, so is that kind of one of the things you'll have people do in your sessions is really think about and identify what those values are so they can then build goals out of that?
Jan Spence
Yes. So we, yes.
And we, we have them select five personal core values and five professional core values. So no less than three, no more than five, because we start listing everything, it muddies the waters. So we have them do that in the session to begin with. And then we start looking at what I call an A or B or C target goal. Neuroscience tells us that the brain doesn't really recognize or. So it sees those things as equal. When we use the word or.
So we might have to lose 40 pounds. We use weight loss because it's easy. One that people often set number one goal at the beginning of the year. And so we might say lose 40 pounds or get to the gym twice a week or just park my car farther from the office. So three, you know, parking the car, very simple, very short term, exercising a couple of times a week. So a little bit bigger, a little more commitment. And then obviously actually losing the 40 pounds is a bigger commitment. So. But when we do the successful thing like parking further that endorphin, when we acknowledge that and cheer ourselves on, we acknowledge that and it has the same endorphin impact on our brains as it does as if we had lost the 40 pounds.
So we start to train our brains that we are successful at completing small goals and that momentum helps lead to. I've done this for a couple of weeks. Maybe it's time to hit the gym a couple of times. And Avish, maybe we find out that twice a week is not it.
But you know what? Saturday morning is my day to go in. I'm at least going to get Saturday morning in once a week and give ourselves permission to goof up a little bit and have the fries instead of the salad, but to get back up on the horse and ride and keep going until we hit that ultimate goal. A lot of times we're just too hard on ourselves. I don't think there's anyone that's doing a podcast right now on how can you be more critical of yourself? It's not happening.
Avish
You don't need help with that. Well, it's interesting because I talk with my improv approach and this new book and framework I'm working, I talk about the power of small steps. It's very similar.
Like figure out. But what's interesting, I have not heard about the or principle. And you know, I would think that the push back would be that, oh, well, then you're sort of giving yourself permission like the. The staunch disciplinarian people who are all about all or nothing. They're going to say, oh, well, if you give yourself three options and one is really easy, you're just going to let yourself off the hook. But you're saying that in fact, by giving yourself those options, it'll give you something to start with which will build that momentum and motivation to. Is that correct that then that you'd be more likely to take those harder steps?
Jan Spence
Absolutely. So occasionally I'll get pushback from people that say, if I don't make all my calls, I don't have a job. And I'm like, okay, well, that now becomes a requirement. It's not really a goal for you personally, it's a requirement of your job. And that's a little bit different from. So I've had a couple of people push back and say, well, I can't get away. You know, if I set the goal to make five prospecting calls a day, if I only make three, I'm gonna lose my job.
But for the average person who doesn't have that kind of a hard and fast consequence of not doing that, if you find out you're not getting five, but you're getting three in and you did zero last year. I don't know about you, but I think that's a win.
So that is. It is beginning that momentum and then we get three and then we get used to that and then it becomes 4 and then it becomes that 5, and before you know it, 5 becomes 10. And we've changed those habits over time by allowing ourselves to start small and then grow into it rather than it's got to be all or nothing.
Avish
Well, I love this in two areas. I got like a few goals in my own life. So one was fitness. And, you know, I wanted to go to the gym, but I also like walking and so I kind of walk or go to the gym as a goal. And honestly, for the past four months, I don't think I've been to the gym once, but I've walked almost every day. And over time the walks have increased and a lot of this is summer schedule. So that I feel like is is evidence of your point, which is by having two things, like, I've still made progress and I got my six month blood work back, which had improved.
On the flip side, I wrote, I finished a draft of a novel finally, and then I needed to edit it. And that's been just sitting on my computer for like over a year now, where I've barely touched it because the task is so big and it's very much like, you gotta sit down to start editing. So now, based on this and the results I've had that I'm like, well, what if I build momentum by creating an or goal? So instead of saying, all right, you got to sit down and edit a thousand words, or you have to just say, well, I can edit a thousand words or I can review this or. And I feel like that actually makes me more motivated to go back and, and actually do something, like you said, instead of having another year go by where, because the goal was so big, I did nothing.
Jan Spence
And listen, we've been there and I'm guilty of that. And I learned I hired a business coach, but very early on in my speaking career, it was, you need a book, you need a podcast, you got to have an amazing demo reel. I needed all of these assets and I didn't have any of it. So I would just go into my hole and be like, you know what, I'll take a nap and think about this later. So I worked with a coach and she said, we're not writing a book tomorrow. We're not doing a demo reel. She's like, what is one thing that you can do to complete in a week? And I thought, well, I can at least get the one sheet done, my one pager that talks about what I talk about.
And so that was the success. It was like, finally, here it is. It's not perfect, but it's done. And so from that it was, okay, what project? What's the next easiest bite sized piece? So you're 100% right if you just said, I'm just going to edit one page. So this was shared with me and I shared this with friends if they, you know, being a professional speaker and trainer, we're often alone.
We don't have big teams, we don't have an office to go into. So that can be very lonely at times. And so I'll talk with other of my colleagues that will say, you know, gosh, I'm just in a slump. I just can't seem to get motivated to get anything done. And my rule of thumb is what I have those days is just three things. Just figure out three things. I don't care if it is check the mail, check your email or make that phone call.
It just three things. And they'll respond back to me and say, you won't believe how good I felt. These were three simple things which shouldn't have been hard to do, but I did them. And actually I did 4, 5 and 6 because I got. Yeah. So lots of great wisdom and tips for your listeners to just give yourself permission to. Yes. And it, yes, I need to do Yes, I need to write the whole script, but.
And I need to break it down into smaller chunks. What can I do?
Avish
Yeah, instead of, yeah, I need to do that, but it's too much. It's like, yep. And I'll just take the first step and see what happens. All right, well, this has been terrific. We're gonna finish up here. I'm gonna have one more question for you before we get to that. If listeners would like to learn more about.
Oh, two more questions afterwards. But if listeners want to learn more about you, watch your stuff. You know, we talk about your TEDx talk. Where are the best places for them to go to find and connect with you?
Jan Spence
The easiest place to go is just to go to my website. Very simply, it's janspence.com and that's J A N S P e n c e dot com. My YouTube channel is there. So I've got my demo reels along with some other other professional reels and then my weekly video tip, which is called Moving the chains. And it's all about making forward progress with connecting people. So it's SAL tips as well as employee and team engagement tips. The book Cheer on youn Team can be found through my website or on Amazon, Kindle and hardback.
And if they wanted to connect with me personally for a question, there's a way that they can contact me or email me directly from the website.
Avish
Excellent. Well, we will definitely link to your website and to the book if people want to pick that up. All right, two questions then. So speaking of books, the one thing, you know, we had talked before we started recording. We're like, hey, what's the one thing you want to make sure we talk about? And that's the one thing we have not yet talked about.
Jan Spence
And I would have forgotten, but thanks.
Avish
So you're actually in a new book. You were kind of contributed to a new book. So could you just share? Because I think it's pretty interesting. I haven't picked up a copy already yet, but could you just share with listeners what this new book is all about and what your contribution to it is?
Jan Spence
Yes. So I feel like I just birthed a grandchild. We are both, as a certified speaking professional, one of the highest earned designations in the world for professional speakers. We have a summit each year, and so we get into small groups and we basically mastermind for the entire weekend. Out of that mastermind, one of our speakers had the idea of he had a relationship with a publishing company and he said, what if we created a book that talked about all the speaker mishaps, you know, the experiences that we've gone through on planes and not having any luggage, and you've got to be on the stage in 30 minutes, all of the things that go on behind the scenes. So it is just a fun. It's an easy summer read.
There's still time, but it's just a nice, easy read. There are 28 contributors that share a very short story, several pages about their speaking mishaps. I bought the Kindle version when it was first released. I thought, oh, let me just look at it. And before I knew it, I was three chapters in. I'm like, I've got to stop. But these are so good. So. And even the I love the giddy give back is that 100% of the profits from the sale of the book, the contributors don't get anything.
Everything goes directly to the National Speakers association foundation to help those that have hit a medical or natural disaster struggle. And it helps to help those people along during that tough time.
Avish
Got It. So it's a great cause. It supports that. And for listeners who might be interested, this book will appeal not just to other speakers who are like. And really. But it's almost like a little peeling back the curtain because you go do an event, you see the speaker, you're like, oh, everything their life must be all, you know, they just show up, they speak, they get a check, they walk away. But this kind of gives a little peek behind the curtains of like, you know what?
A lot of times everything goes wrong.
Jan Spence
And I think it's inspirational in the fact that even though these things happened, there's always, at least from what I've read so far, there is a silver lining. So that can give each one of us, no matter what you're doing, if you're digging ditches on the side of the road, that when you have that tough day, that we can all turn around, laugh at it after it's over, but that we can make it through and we'll live to tell about it.
Avish
Love it. And that book is called Speechless. And we'll link to that in the show notes as well.
All right, final question, Jan. And this is what I like to end every episode with. And it's one I did not share with you in advance because I kind of like the spontaneous response. And it is, you know, I talk about this idea of saying yes, and instead of yes, but because I have an honest belief that I think the world would be a better place if everyone just started with a default mindset of yes and instead of yes, but so my question to you is, what is one small thing that you believe if everyone in the world just did this one small thing, it would make the world a better place.
Jan Spence
Oh, what a great question. All right, so now I've got to think. I think, and based on what we've talked about thus far, avish. And it's so simple and it's going to come across very simple. But this is what pops into my mind, is for people to just not to set fear aside and do those little things just to be nice to each other. I know that sounds so simple and you're like, oh, Kumbaya, rainbows and unicorns. But I think part of why we struggle is because we're just not taking the time enough to really connect with each other.
I mean, I've been going to the same grocery store for 20 plus years, but I know the baggers names and so I can say, how's it going, Amelia? How's it going, Josh?
What's up, Mark? You're looking great today and you just see their faces light up and they just know someone cares enough about me to remember my name. I'm not just that person putting their groceries in a bag, but someone cares. I think just being a little intentional about connecting with people. It's amazing how that lifts us up when people do that and we can do that so easily with other people.
Avish
Well, I love that answer and it is simple. But I'll tell you what, every single person I've asked that question to, the answer has always been simple. Because at the end of the day, it's these simple things that we just don't do because we're overwhelmed to make the world a better place. So simple. Yes, but still very powerful. Thank you very much, Jan, for being on. I had a great conversation.
We'll send people to the links on your site and yeah, we look forward to doing it again sometime in the future.
Jan Spence
Sounds great. Thank you for having me. This has been fun.