Sam Gerstein

Ever had one of those moments where you wish the floor would just swallow you up?

I had mine in front of 70 people.
After leaving my medical career, I became a speaker. I wanted to share my message about finding your Dream Career with as many people as possible.

But I had a little problem...
I was a PERFECTIONIST. (Thanks, medical training! 😅)
I needed every single word to be exactly right. Which meant my eyes were glued to my notes the entire time I spoke.

One night, I was delivering a speech at a community center. About 25 minutes in, I got really passionate about a point I was making.
I walked away from the podium to really drive it home.
Then I finished that point.
And suddenly realized...
I was 15 feet from my notes.
And my mind?
COMPLETELY. BLANK.
70 people staring at me.
Pin-drop silence.

I felt the cold sweat. The panic. The shame.
All I could do was awkwardly shuffle back to my podium, desperately flip through my pages trying to find where I left off, and then robotically read the rest of my speech.

But you know what was worse than the actual moment?
What my brain was telling me while I finished that talk:
"Everyone thinks you're an idiot"
"This is SO humiliating"
"You're never speaking again"
"They're all judging you"

My Perfectionist Part and Inner Critic were working overtime.
When it ended, I stayed to answer questions but couldn't even look people in the eye.
The shame was THAT intense.
But then... something happened that changed everything.

Comment "👀" below if you want to know what happened next!
(Hint: It completely changed how I view perfectionism and mistakes)