by Janus Boye
From a peer group meeting in Florida in January 2019, where Tim was a guest star
Did you get your job by playing safe? According to Florida-based community expert Tim McDonald, we are too often focused on the end result and programmed to always have a plan. Then there’s the element of fear and what might happen if we move away from what is expected.
In our recent member conference call, Tim talked about how by letting the world feel your heartbeat, you inspire others to share theirs. A deeply touching conversation about the difference between telling a story and making an impact, on fear, and Tim’s very personal story.
Tim is the previous Director of Community for The Huffington Post, where he set strategy and oversaw a team of moderators, support and standards for the leading online news site with over 300 million comments and 70,000 bloggers.
Your story has to come from the heart
Tim opened by talking about his early work at Huff Post in 2012. He was often asked about how to get on the site and like other media outlets, he couldn’t promise coverage, but he did encourage everyone to share something they truly cared about.
Later he became involved in fundraising for No Kid Hungry, a non-profit committed to ending childhood hunger in the U.S. In the two years working directly on the No Kid Hungry campaign, Giving Tuesday fundraising increased from $56,000 to over $249,000 in 2015.
One of the storytelling secrets according to Tim, is to stay consistent. To quote Tim:
A wonderful thing starts to happen once you consistently learn and take action (i.e., letting others feel your heartbeat), your actions are replicated by others.
If your heart is really into it, you can better build meaningful relationships and work in a healthy way with purpose.
Talking about fear
You can easily become scared and instinctively your fear is there to protect you and hold you back. Still, there’s a rational and irrational fear.
In our call, Tim asked the participants a few questions on fear:
Getting hit by a train if you stop on the train track?
Putting your hand in a pot of boiling water
Losing your job?
Do you fear not being good enough?
Not having enough money
Which kinds are rational fears?
The two first ones, but not the others. The rational ones are here to protect you so that you don’t get hurt or killed. The others are your ego talking to you. To quote from the call:
If you were to lose everything you had today, would you still be alive? Would you still have people who loved you? Would you still be able to exist and look at things in a new way?
Don’t let fear stand in front of you!
Tim follow up by sharing his story of being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at the end of November. That was the heartbeat that changed the conversation and moved it beyond the typical work calls, that we have so many of these days.
From problem-solving to opportunity-creating
In sharing what Tim is going through at the moment, he also talked about the difference between positivity vs. happiness. It may be really tough times, but you can decide to remain positive, no matter what you are going through.
You can also look beyond solving the problem facing you and see how you might be able to turn it into new opportunities. Like that new job you want.
Thank you for sharing, Tim! Such a privilege to be surrounded by good friends as we take the next steps.
Learn more about letting the world feel your heartbeat
Tim has written numerous articles and regularly shares updates. Do connect with Tim on LinkedIn and you can also read his popular post on Creating a Healthy Relationship With Fear.
To experience this special call, you can also enjoy the entire 28-minute recording below. It’s without slides and begins with a simple, yet powerful exercise that you can also do while viewing. Enjoy!
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