It was a pretty big work week! Not only are things running a mile a minute in preparation for our trade show next month, but I ran my very first meeting as the Manager of Wireless Industry Network (WIN) this week!

I knew when I took this job promotion that it would come with added responsibilities, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about this meeting. I’ve been a part of plenty of meetings during my short time at NATE already, but this was the first one I was completely in charge of. I spent all of my free time over the last week prepping for it. I even practiced going over the agenda a few times beforehand like I was rehearsing lines for a play. I was NOT going to go into this meeting looking like I didn’t know what I was doing! And I think it paid off!! By the time I got to the meeting, I felt pretty good about the topics we were discussing, and I felt like it went very smoothly.

And even though I felt like my heart was going to leap out of my chest for a majority of that meeting, I can’t wait to do it again. Mostly because I know it’s only going to keep getting easier from here on out. Doing something new is always going to be scary, but once you get past the first few times of doing it, you’re basically a natural.

For me personally, once I feel more confident in what I’m doing, it already feels easier. Even if I’m not an expert or completely know what I’m doing. That’s what I tried to keep reminding myself before this meeting last week, too. I kept telling myself to ACT confident. Even if I wasn’t totally feeling it, I knew if I acted confident I could get through it just fine. And I think it worked pretty well. I’m definitely going to try it again the next time I do something new and scary.

What do y’all do when something is new? What kinds of tips do you have to help make it less scary? I’d love to hear some ideas. I’ve always had some pretty bad social anxiety, and over the years I’ve gotten a lot better at controlling it, but I know there’s still some tricks out there I don’t know about. Let’s help each other out!

Overall, it was a good – although incredibly busy – week, and I’m pretty proud of myself for getting through my first meeting. Can’t wait to see what the next one brings!

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger