WHAT TO DO WHEN (ALMOST) NOTHING GOES AS PLANNED

I log in and get situated with Carrie. Mic check, mic check 1-2-1-2.

HUNDREDS of folks are logged in live in just the first few minutes…from all over the world.

A half hour into the call we’re up to almost 500 – and they’re staying on! (Whew.)

I have my husband’s laptop nearby so I can see what THEY see (there’s a weird delay with WebinarJam + want to make sure I don’t miss anything major).

I’ve also got a private Slack convo going on with my sister Stacey and dreamy new assistant Ari – making sure all is well.

We’re rockin’ and rollin’ through the free training – they’re loving it.

I make it through all the content and finally start to introduce ACAC.

I get to this reeeeeally cute slide of Bryson in his first Halloween/birthday costume (Carl from “Up” – explaining why entrepreneurs literally can’t afford to see effective copy as a #squirrel – distraction or a shiny object) – and then I see it out of the corner of my eye:

“Thanks for coming! The presenter has ended the broadcast.”

Say WHAT?!

No – I definitely didn’t end the broadcast. I’m still talking, and my slides are still up…

IS THIS THING ON!?

Carrie says I’m fine (she can see me because she’s a fellow presenter) and – bless her heart – keeps talking just in case they CAN still hear us.

But I know better.

I can SEE from the audience view on Jerm’s laptop that sure enough – nobody else can see my slides or hear me talking.

Chaos in the chatbox.

Confusion in the Slack channel.

HUNDREDS of people drop off. Quickly.

We were at almost 500 at the highest point (600+ total).

Now we’re at 400. 300. 200. And down to the 100s.

Wellllll SHOOTS. That seriously couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

Think, Nik. What can you do?

I remember that with WebinarJam you can use the same link to log back in, so I open a tab to my email (where I’ve got the link) and I try that.

It works!

But still – over half of our study buddies are gone (and rightfully confused). We are too – but we gotta keep movin’.

So we rally.

Ari sends a quick “we’re back!” email on my behalf, and the number quickly climbs back above 200.

(Talk about dreamies – especially those who signed back on a second time!)

By the time we finish the live Q&A, we’ve welcomed a dozen new dreamies to the ACAC fam – which had to happen manually, BTW, because we forgot to make sure our auto-delivery sequences were connected #oops.

Okay, but what on earth just happened?

No clue. No time to worry about it now. Gotta keep movin’.

We quickly make a plan to make it up to everyone by offering a bonus live Q&A next week (Tuesday), before Carrie’s special bonuses expire. An unexpected second chance at the part they were MOST excited to be there for.

WHEW. No rest for the webi-weary.

We get THAT registration page set up, tweak and swap the welcome emails (I was SO close to having these all ready to go!), get the replay video edited, exported, embedded, blah blee blah blee blah…

And (several) hours later, we BREATHE.

Breathe.

Breathe.

Because all is well.

Even when all feels crazy.

All is well.

Did we face some unexpected obstacles today? Um, YES.

But did we handle them like solution-oriented big girls? HECK yes.

I am SO proud of and thankful for the dream team I’m building over here. Definitely would’ve cried at some point if I didn’t have their help. (Although technically my mom’s sweet + encouraging text totally made me tear up. Love you, Mama!)

At the end of the day, though (and even in the midst of it) – this was a GREAT day.

I woke up in a safe, secure house in a beautiful (although unusually rainy) part of the world.

I’ve got a healthy baby boy growing in my belly – and his precious big bro had a great day at a wonderful school.

(And BONUS: he’s sound asleep in my bed as I type because even though Aunt Stacey left a few nights ago, we’re not ready to give up our slumber parties just yet ;))

I had more than enough food to (emotionally) eat throughout the day – and fresh water to keep the thirsties quenched.

I even got to sneak away from the chaos and get out of my head for (most of) an hour this afternoon thanks to my investment in a great personal trainer.

My car(s) work. My tanks are literally full.

I’ve welcomed over 2,000 new subscribers to my corner of the internet in the past couple of weeks (thanks to this promo, my new cheat sheet, and some FB ad experimentation)…and I know that every single one of these folks is connected with me for a reason.

And (even if it’s “dude I’m just here for the cheat sheet”), I trust that it’s a great reason.

So. Even when it’s a lil crazy, life is GOOD, my friend.

Technology may throw us for loops every now and then, but meh – it’s really not that big of a deal.

I could look at it like this mystery glitch cost me $10,000+ in revenue (and PS – if you’re reading this WebinarJam, it seriously did), but I know and believe that everrrrry dreamie out there who is meant to join my A Course About Copy family will do so in perfect timing.

Whether that’s before this clock runs out, six months from now, or two years from now.

It’s just how it works.

When we’re open enough to chill out to realize it – it’s how it ALWAYS works.

Let’s bring this back to how you can benefit from my experience today, shall we?

The next time you find yourself thinking, “WHAT NEXT?!?!” try working through these steps:

Literally. Take a deep breath and take a minute (or five) to collect yourself.

Find folks who can help lighten the load and LET THEM.

You may feel stressed right now (feel the feels, by all means), but don’t let it consume you. This too shall pass. (Please don’t smack me for saying that.)

Focus on what’s going right. Gratitude is the universal cure for unnecessary stress and whininess. Shortest distance from blah to better.

Please don’t let a hiccup (slash technological wrecking ball) stop you from shining your light. The world needs you to show up today. And errrryday.

Sidenote: If you’re in the mood for meh-coulda-been-way-worse dramatic stories today, you’ll enjoy this one about how our wedding venue went bankrupt 33 days before the wedding. Wrote it on my old personal blog almost three years ago, so forgive me for the lengthy paragraphs ;)

I will DEFINITELY do a live Periscope this weekend to recap these lessons learned, so be sure to follow me @nikkielledge on there so you can join the conversation!

Til then, in the comments, I’d love to know:

Got any great tech disaster stories (and by “great” I mean fun, funny, inspiring, or just that awful)?

Better yet – got any stress relief tips for those struggling to let it GO?

Do tell.

To the miracle that there was no chocolate in the house today,