ESTEVAN — Corliss Rassyle has found a passion for public speaking and helping people reach their potential.
Rassyle delivered her Be the Best You speech to the Southeast Women of Distinction Awards on May 10 at the Estevan Exhibition Association's building. She reflected on her life experiences, told the crowd that she's proud of how far she's come and she also stressed she's proud of the audience on progress they've made.
"The women that are in this room who are being honoured, it's incredible," said Rassyle. "I couldn't even tell you how excited I was to join you here in this celebration. I don't think we celebrate each other enough."
Be the Best You involves believing in yourself and striving to be something incredible, she said.
Everywhere people go, they should know they deserve the best, and she told them they are all leaders.
"Leadership has evolved," she said. "Leadership is no longer about a title or a role or your status. It's no longer who runs the town or who runs the country. Leadership is literally every single person here. Leadership, if you look up the definition, is an initiative and an action and an example to follow."
Parents, coaches and even kids on playgrounds can be leaders because they're influencing, she said.
"You are leading whether you know you're leading or not. So, let's be consistent with that, really own and understand it."
Rassyle asked the crowd what would inspire them to be their best, who would inspire them to fulfill their potential, and what would make them show up at their peak.
She also reminded the audience to be someone who could lift other people up during their tough times.
People need to focus on themselves first, she said. Rassyle compared it to travelling on an airplane, encountering turbulence and being asked to put their mask on first before helping someone else.
"There is no way that I can look after my child if I am not okay myself. This is true," said Rassyle. "We all know this on a surface level, but do we live it? Do we really understand it? Are we putting ourselves first and taking care of our own needs first?"
Rassyle also shared several principles to be the best you. She asked people to practise self-care. This doesn't just mean something simple, it extends to the point of what keeps people well. Did they get enough sleep? Were they listening to something inspiring? Who was around them?
"There are things that keep us well, physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally," she said.
When people commit to their well-being, they bring their best to everybody else.
"If women aren't doing well, we aren't able to show up for our families and our careers and our communities," said Rassyle.
Next, she encourages people to make decisions. Some of them might seem to be small and minute, and they might not seem like a big deal, but they wind up being important. She wanted people to think back on a decision that they made that completely changed their lives.
She recalled when she decided her daughters should go to daycare for a couple of days a week so she could do her job, so she wouldn't be torn in different directions.
Third, people were asked to understand the power of their thoughts. What they think about themselves, their lives, their relationships and their careers matters.
"Your thoughts, if you look at the top of this, create your emotions," she said.
Rassyle, who is not fond of mornings, recalled a client she met with. That person loathed mornings too, but it was important to stress that thoughts create results. The client improved her outlook, and it improved her working relationship with her co-workers.
The average person has 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day, she said, and those thoughts impact how people feel and behave.
"Instead of reacting, what if you were to be thankful and grateful for everything that you have?" said Rassyle. "What if you were then to create these feelings of peacefulness and gratitude in your heart? You're going to start feeling appreciation and love."
At one point, she urged the crowd to turn to others and proclaim themselves as rock stars.
Fourthly, Rassyle urged the crowd to take action. There are so many things that people can't control in life, but what they think, decide and do is up to them. Nobody else decides what they think.
"I'm here to try to inspire something in you today," she said. "I'm here to try to give you something that will ignite your life and motivate you and inspire you to be your best. I don't decide what you're going to do with it. Only decide what you're going to think, what you're going to decide, what you're going to do."
An event plus a response equals the outcome, she said. Things happen in our lives. People get caught up in the occurrence, and they cause their own outcomes. If people shift their response, they can change their outcome.
People need to surround themselves with people who will support, encourage and inspire them.
Finally, they need to embrace their power of one. It's a concept that one person can make a positive and significant difference in the world by showing what is their best.
"You can be that one today and every day," she said.
Rassyle is the author of Lead Your Life; How to Live With Purpose, Passion, and Confidence, and the host of the Connections with Corliss podcast. She is also bringing the Lead Conference Canada gathering to Saskatoon later this year, the first time a Lead Conference will occur in this country.
