Last night, I went to support my friend Darryll Stinson at TEDx Cool Springs Youth.​

I’ve coached a lot of TEDx speakers and watched more TEDx talks than I can count, but these young people reminded me what happens when someone stops worrying about whether they are old enough, experienced enough, or important enough to have something to say.

They had something to say.

I learned. I laughed. I left inspired.

One of my favorite lines of the night came from 17-year-old Abigail Goddard, already an entrepreneur, accomplished musician, and storyteller:

“Any time you tell your story, you give someone else the courage to change theirs.”

It is something I try to help every adult I coach understand.

Your story is never only about you.

When you are willing to name what you have lived through, what you have learned, or what you now believe, someone else may finally see a new possibility for their own life.

🔑 Small Shift: Stop waiting for permission

Most adults treat "having something to say" like a credential they haven't earned yet. Enough years, enough titles, enough proof. The teenagers on that stage last night didn't do that math. Nobody told them to wait until the story felt important enough to tell.

They just told it.

Try this:

• Name the thing you've been waiting to feel "ready" enough to say
• Ask yourself honestly if you're waiting for permission or waiting for perfection
• Tell one person the version of the story you usually skip

💡 Insight: "Permission is not a milestone you reach. It's a decision you make before you feel ready for it."

📝 From the Work

When I coach adults for TEDx, the first session is rarely about the talk. It's about talking someone out of talking themselves out of their own story. They tell me it's not big enough. They tell me someone already said it better. They tell me they're not the expert in the room.

The young people last night skipped all of that.

What you can take from this:

1. The story doesn't get more valid with age. Your willingness to tell it does.
2. If you're waiting to feel like the expert, you may be waiting for something that was never the requirement

❓Question for you

What are you still waiting to be "enough" of before you'll say it out loud?

▶ Featured: Watch | Read | Listen​

Featured TEDx Talk: Who are you without your stories? (And why they’re slipping away) | Corean Canty | TEDxMSU

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My most recent TEDx Talk, a reminder why your stories are so important.

• ​Watch here​

PS: If this made you think about the story you've been sitting on, that's the work I love. I've got a few coaching slots open this summer. Reply and let's talk.

💌 Add corean@coreancanty.com to your contacts so you never miss an issue.

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