When my book came out, I was doing workshops at bookstore after bookstore. Some were well publicized and had great turnouts. Others were not publicized and, as much as I’d like them to have been in a place where “size didn’t matter,” I really found doing workshops with small audiences a bit of a waste of time and energy; however, on one occasion, I learned a valuable lesson.

This particular evening’s event was very small — only about 15 people or so. I really didn’t want to be there, but I did all I could to muster enough energy to make the evening special enough to remember.

After the workshop, a woman came over to say hello. She told me she didn’t know I was going to be doing a workshop tonight called “Relax, You’re Already Perfect,” nor was she aware that there was even a workshop going on. I asked, “So, what did you get out of this?” Her reply changed my life. She answered, “Well, something just told me to come here tonight. I don’t know what it was, and I didn’t know what to expect. I just followed my intuition.” She continued with joyful tears in her eyes. “You see, I was going to kill myself tonight. I thought I didn’t matter and had nothing to live for. This was the message I didn’t even know I needed. Thank you.”

I once heard a saying that went, “You may be only one person in the world, but you may be the world to one person.” This woman was a great teacher to me. We both received a lesson that was very timely for us. And while I still love to do workshops for large groups, no matter what size group it is, I give it everything I have.

And now the lesson is passed on to you. Instead of just going through the motions today, stop for a second and ask yourself, “If this was the day that I would be remembered for, how would I want to live it?”

—Bruce D Schneider, MCC, PhD
Founder, Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)