Good morning everyone,
I hope you are all doing well and winding down for the Christmas Holiday. We still have some wrapping of presents for the kids and prepare for family get togethers. It is always good to see family and catch up as well as see how the kids are growing.
It is amazing to see my niece sprout up almost as tall as my son seeing she was born at 31 weeks 12 years ago and was about the size of a book when she was born. It inspires me to see how it does not matter where you start, but how you work with what you have that counts. She is an accomplished horseback rider earning a great deal of awards, she is very smart, and when she is challenged, she responds well to overcome and achieve.
I have also overcome a great deal of adversity every time I had made a career change, learned a new skill, renovated a house, or wrote my first book. FYI “The Sales Process Uncovered” is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, along with other retail outlets. I will add the picture of the book to this blog post for reference.
Each time I have tried a new skill, or taken on a new challenge I have been met with a great deal of resistance. I have had to grind through the growth period to start learning and adapting my approach as I went. I am not the smartest person on earth so it tends to take me longer to learn something and I tend to get knocked down and have to get back up repeatedly. Yes, I do complain a bit. Just ask my wife who has heard me stomping my feet on the ground saying this isn’t fair, more times than I care to acknowledge.
However, I don’t stop when I get knocked down. I get back up and review what went wrong and then look to advance in the best way I can to achieve the desired outcome. I did not grow up with a great deal of money like some of my college friends. I had to work hard to get to where I am. I was not a naturally gifted sales person, I had to work at understanding people and the sales process so that I could gain influence. I can’t even read that fast so I have audio books at the ready for long drives so I can learn from them. I still do like reading books and plan to read a bit during my vacations, and flights.
There are a few keys to remember when setting out on a huge goal, or learning a new skill.
1. Don’t worry about if you already know the skills you need in order to accomplish what you are setting out to do. I rarely ever have the tools I need at the time I set out. I use what I have though and start moving forward and learn as I go. Having courage to move forward is needed.
2. Learn from those killing it. Be open to learning from anyone already doing what you want to do. See who is killing it and learn from what them whenever you can. Ask and be inquisitive because people have all sorts of little hacks that will help you.
3. Know you are going to get knocked down. It is inevitable. You will have set backs. Set backs are not failures. Failing is only if you quit. It is allowable to mope for a bit and complain, but get up, dust yourself off, and get back to moving forward.
4. Celebrate a new skill you learned along the way. Take time to acknowledge the new skill you have learned. Small wins are important. In football the teams needs to get first downs to move the ball downfield to score. There can be 10 first downs before they get into the endzone and score if they drive from one goal line to the next.
5. It does not matter how long it takes. It does not matter how long it takes you to learn a something new or complete a task. We would all love to learn the first time, but let’s be real. Those that have become masters at something take 10,000 hours of practice. They don’t wake up and say hey I am a master. Life is not like that movie “The Matrix” where the people hooked up to some machine and they automatically learned something new. If it takes you longer than someone else, so what. This is your race, not theirs. Sure you’d like to trip them to make yourself feel better, but focus on you and your journey. That is what matters.
I hope this helps and that you feeling better if you are worried about learning something new or getting ready to take a leap. Feel free to ask in the comments section if you have questions with a new skill you are looking to learn. I would be glad to share any knowledge I have to help.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
Sales and Leadership Enterprises