Good morning Reader
I’ve recently been thinking a lot about one of the biggest problems that so many small business owners and salespeople have, and that is a lack of confidence in their own history and story.
Too often I meet with people who tell me that they haven’t achieved much or they don’t have a history that positions them for success. One of the first actions I take with new people I work with is to get them to focus on their own history and what they have achieved.
I am always intrigued by the history of those I speak with – what their journey has been to get to where they are now and what affected them (whether good or bad).
Two of the key tasks that I ask them to complete is to write down the following, and I invite you now to do the same:
1. What are the top 10 achievements of your life so far?
2. What are your biggest failures and biggest successes?
Understanding our own history and the story that has brought us to where we are today is vital. The quote below from Carl Sagan is so true and some of the best success stories in business are people who have failed but used that failure as fuel to drive their future success.
Take Max Levchin. He had 4 previous business failures but when you consider his 5th was Paypal, then you wouldn’t mind being a step behind him.
I have had lots of failures both in business and within sales. I had a failure a few weeks ago when I lost an opportunity that I should have won as I didn’t react to something in the right way. But what I don’t do is ignore that history or try and blame the past for where I am now.
History is a great teacher and can be an inspiration for us. If you have not achieved what you wanted to or think that you have failed then take a step back and look at what it did give you.
- What could you learn from it?
- What would you do differently the next time?
Review the list of achievements and identify what made you get that success. What did you have to do at that time to get the result you wanted?
Whatever your history and story is, own it. Don’t hide away from it. Don’t try to cover it up. It is in the past and you can’t change it. Providing that you have a clear path ahead that works to help and serve others (and you show this each day) then others will respect your honesty and it will help them build trust with you. And as we all know, trust is gold when it comes to selling.
Be proud of your own history and use it to motivate you and to drive you toward better things.
I use my failures to make me better and inspire me to achieve more and I also celebrate and look back at my best times to know I can achieve anything.
Until next Saturday, stay focused on becoming a fly on the wall on the brain of your buyer.
James
