In 2004 I was introduced to the speaking industry and
started my first professional speaker bureau. Since then I have been extremely
fortunate to be able to mix with some of the most inspirational people in this
country who have inspired me and taught me many skills in sales, marketing,
social media and a list too big to name here.
Persistence is the ability to keep going after rejections
and setbacks, and the majority of people give up all too early. How many
stories have you already heard of people never giving up? Take J. K. Rowling for
example, rejected by 12 publishers before a small publishing house picked up Harry Potter. What if J.K. had given up? The publishers that knocked her back missed out
on millions of dollars. Same in sales, rejection is just part of the process,
not everyone wants or needs what you have to sell but sooner or later someone
will.
Here are the mind tools that I used to keep myself going
through some extremely tough times, times where I was about to push the eject
button on my dream and by using the following methods below, was able to push
on.
The first thing is to have the finish line in your mind.
Whether that is increasing sales, becoming a top sports performer or whatever
your goal is. Make it visual, see it and feel what it’s like to reach it. Live
it! To give you an example, my finish line is to live in a tree house in a
rainforest. That might surprise many readers, however in my mind, I know that
when I’m living in that tree house, I have succeeded in building my business to
where I envisage it to be. So how do you keep going when times are tough and you feel
you have no energy left or the willpower to take the next step?
Have your goal in mind. Write it out in the now, i.e. “It is
January 2015, my business is turning over $xxxx and I have employed XXX staff, etc. I’m a visual person, so I have always had pictures of what I
am working towards printed on a board or put on my laptop desktop as a reminder
why I am so driven.
You have to be passionate about what you do. If the passion
isn’t there, you might need to consider doing something else. Remember that life has its ups and downs. In the downtimes
keep focusing on what you want to achieve, not on the things going wrong in
the moment. In my down times, I always used what I call “flip thought” I
would actually change the negative thought (or worry) to the opposite.
Learn to leverage off other people, share resources and
skill sets. It’s not expensive to hire people from Elance or Odesk.
Do not allow other people’s negativity get to you. It’s only
their opinion and if they are telling you ‘you can’t do that’ or anything
similar, they are actually saying that they couldn’t do it themselves.
If things are not going quite the way you planned, you might
need to consider altering the course slightly. For example, when I was
establishing my first speaker bureau, I wasn’t making enough money so I ended
up getting a job as a recruiter, while building my business on the side.
That was a blessing in disguise because these days I am freelance recruiting
which fits in nicely with the speakers bureau. The two are aligned together by offering a service to find
the staff and having the resources to have them trained and motivated!
Sometimes you just have to walk away...for a day! Take a day
to clear your head and give yourself permission to relax for the day. Whenever I have a bad day, I always know tomorrow will be
better. I can’t stress enough about positive self talk, so be very
mindful of what you are thinking and what you are saying. In other words...don’t complain!
Work to your strengths – for example, anything to do with
administration work stresses me because it’s a weakness for me, so I hire other
people to do that. Write a list of where you will be if you succeed in
achieving your goal and the consequences if you don’t. That should keep you
motivated!
What has kept me going through tough times is my unshakeable
self belief in what I am doing, and the ability to switch off when the
doomsayers offered their unwelcome advice. If you believe in yourself and see
what you want to achieve in your mind, you will eventually get there.
I start my day by writing positive affirmations in my
journal, visualizing what I want to achieve for the day, meditating on the
finish line, praising myself for what I have achieved so far, and writing down
thoughts of gratitude. This little exercise sets me up for a productive and
happy day. I know on the other
hand, if I don’t entertain positive vibes my day usually isn’t productive or
good. Also, whatever it takes, make time to go for a walk some time during the
day and promise yourself that you will not think about anything when you are walking....unless
it’s your finish line!
It’s really all in the mind and trusting, really trusting
that you can do it.