Set Your Own Table: Stop Waiting for Permission to Share

Ben BeeriThere's so many points in our lives where we're ready to step into something, but we just need that extra push, and we're waiting to be in somebody else's environment to make that happen. But the thing about that is you're not always gonna walk into somebody else's environment with a table set for you. Like, sometimes you've gotta set your own table and then sit down and fucking eat. And that's a concept for me that I've been thinking about lately because we all sit there and think that we're just gonna walk up into situations where the table's literally perfectly set for us, and we just got to sit down and eat, and sometimes you got to set your own table.

Sometimes you got to come up with the ideas on your own. Sometimes you've got to plan something out. Sometimes you've got to take the flight. Sometimes you've got to make the extra effort to set your own table. Take the initiative. Go make it happen. And I feel like for me, that was a real step that I had to take to come here and sit here in front of the camera and talk to you because I didn't have any experience doing this. There's nobody that trained me how to talk in front of a camera. I wasn't comfortable doing it when I was younger.

I wasn't comfortable really talking to people or being social or putting myself out there or having things about me be known. But I realized at a certain point in time what was more detrimental to me, People knowing about me, or me knowing that I could share something that could possibly help someone, and I'm not saying it, and I'm not sharing it, and I'm not expressing it. And it got to the place for me where the pain of not expressing was louder than the pain of possibly being seen, possibly being known, sharing about the different things that I'm going through in my life.

And I realized at that point that nobody's gonna roll out the red carpet for me and set the table for me for me to be able to do this and share what's going on in my life. And I recognize that there's so many people in life who've done such extraordinary things. Things that the world would be a better place if you shared about. Like, that could be you. Like, I know that you have done something in your life that you're proud of. Like you, and you're proud of it. But you haven't really shared it with people. You haven't really told people about the thought process behind why you're proud of it.

Behind why you're proud of what you did. And think about it. Would the world be a better place if you shared what you're proud of and shared a little bit about your thought process behind it. Let's take it a step further. What's something that you've struggled with? Really, really, really had difficulty with? Maybe you overcame it. Maybe you're still working through it, and you're in the process, and you're doing better today than you were yesterday. Is there something that you can share about that that might help somebody else who's going through something similar get on a path to overcoming what they're going through, and I really started thinking about that and wanting to be in a place where how can I express what I'm going through to really pave the way for you?

So you can express what you're going through. We all have our path. I call it the authentic journey. Life's a journey. And the thing about the journey of life is it's going to be different for everyone. But understanding somebody else's experience, understanding where they've come from, understanding that your situation can be overcome, your triumphs can be shared, and that people can take those and take inspiration from it, and utilize it for their own personal growth, I think that matters. And when I sit there and think about that, I think about how can I set the table, not only for myself to eat, but I'm gonna put a couple extra plates out there, put a couple extra forks out there, put a couple extra knives out there, and really give an opportunity for some people to join me and sit at the table with me and eat with me because I understand that there wasn't a table available for me to sit at, so I had to make my own table?

And making my own table, setting my own table, setting the table for other people, that's something that I'm proud of, That's something that I'm hoping that we can all just set the table for one other person in our lives, an area that we know where we can give and we can help and we can provide value. Let's set the table. You might not even know who the person is yet, but what is something in your life where you can go, walk up to a table, and put an extra plate down, knowing that there is somebody there whose biggest dream is to join you at that table and sit beside you as you guys both eat, and you guys both be in a place where, hey, you understand what's going on in the other person's life.

And because you understand what's going on in the other person's life, you know that that next step is possible for you. There are many places in your life where you can set your table for you. We're just starting with you for now. And sit there and think about the things that you experienced. It could be positive. It could be negative. It could be something you loved. Something you learned from, friendships and relationships, business, sports, hobbies, activities. There's somewhere where you've had an experience that is unique to you, like nobody else has had that experience.

And you sharing that experience will not only set you free, it's really going to give an opportunity to somebody else who's out there to hear your experience, and take that as permission for them to go and take that next step that they've been waiting to take in their life. And then they can go and set the table not only for themselves, but they can set the table for somebody else. Sharing your story is simple. Like, we all have a phone nowadays. Like, you see this thing? It's called a phone. Pop it open, selfie mode, take a video.

You can post it on Instagram. You can post it on TikTok. You can post it on any video sharing platform. They all have algorithms, it can all get shot out to anyone. Any video that you share can be viewed by millions of people. It can also be viewed by, like, nobody. But the idea of you getting comfortable and being willing to put something out into the world, not knowing who it's gonna reach or who may be watching, like your video could have one view. One. But the person who viewed your video is going through something really difficult in their life, and the message that you just shared is the exact thing that they needed to hear at that moment to help them overcome what they're going through.

And I feel that that's important. I feel that we really can go and take those steps ourselves to really set the table not only for ourselves, but for those around us, even if we haven't met them yet. And the most beautiful thing in the world is at a certain point in time, somebody's gonna pull up a chair in that plate that you set right beside you, and you're gonna have good company to sit with and break bread with and really get to know somebody on a deeper level. That's a way that the world becomes a better place.