While chatting with a speaker friend of mine, he said he hadn't spoken in over a month or so and that his next gig was a small one so he could "knock some of the rust off and work out some of the kinks."
I was flabbergasted.
High performance machines don't rust. They're out on the open road as often as possible already, maneuvering and revving, ready for the next turn or hill.
Whatever it is you do - or aspire to do - if you want to be the best at it, you can't let yourself get rusty.
When I don't have paid speaking gigs, I'm either hustling up free ones or working on technique on a regular basis. I don't want to collect speaking rust.
This is important for those of you who have day jobs that aren't dream jobs yet. It can be easy to get rusty with your passion when you're not practicing it regularly.
The only solution is to find time - better yet, to make time - to hone your skills and stay fresh.
You may not know when that green flag will drop. It would be a shame to show up to that unexpected starting line out of gas, covered in rust, and not ready to show them what you've got.