Then My Boss Said, Take That Fear And Shove It!

Hey gang; Ok it's time to create some good habits. You know, like eating a pork barrel full of Ben and Jerry's ice cream at 3 am in the morning. Nah......that's not the kind of habit I'm talking about. The only habit that will create is a quick trip to the toilet first thing in the morning. Ok, what then?

To create a personal success system that never fails requires good habits. Without good habits, you will default to bad habits.

I say this all the time....When you go after something don't come back till you get it. Let me illustrate. In the sales profession, people are taught never ask a prospect for his time. Take it; they're taught.

Well, if you think about it, then success in anything you're doing can be boiled down to a scientific formula. Failure can also be boiled down to a formula. Apply the one, avoid the other. Sounds simple, right?

Then why do so darn many people fail when attempting something worthwhile? Why do so many find themselves sucking wind and always ending up the tail instead of the head? Michael Jordan said it best. "I have failed over and over again in my life, and THAT is why I succeed.

Then why do so few people achieve what Michael Jordan has? Fear of failure. No body likes to fail. But failure is only temporary as long as we take another stab at what we're doing.

You say though??..yea, but I'm the one that's been stabbed. Ok, so what makes you so special? You think Elvis never failed? You think Henry Ford never failed? What causes failure anyway?

Timidity and Fear! Yuk! I knew you were going to say that.

Yea, that's right. Let me illustrate. I knew a guy a few years ago that was hard up for a job. He told me someone suggested he sell insurance. Yuk, he said, why don't I just slit my wrist? But he said, I can't even get a job driving a garbage truck, so, he did take a job selling insurance.

He said I was scared stiff. He had never sold anything in his life. So, his manager told him, "I'll give you five names everyday to call on. Just make sure to see these people the very same day. He promised and went Home to study his sales material.

Everyday for a week, he made several sales, and then, something interesting happened. His sales manager was in a meeting and could not give him his five names to call on.

He told him to go to the yellow pages and find the names of five owners and call on them. He said that's what I've been doing for the last week. And his sales manager said these words to him. "Success is a matter of mental attitude." YOUR attitude. And, your entire career will depend on your attitude.

He said I went out there with the same attitude with the names I selected as I had with the names that my sales manager had picked for me.

Then he said I learned an important lesson about timidity and fear. First of all I recognized fear is nature's way of keeping me from harm, particularly when I don't know what's waiting for me.

He learned that fear could be a destructive emotion. So destructive that it could paralyze the biggest of men. Success is achieved by those who try. If there is nothing significant to lose by trying and a lot to gain by trying, by all means, try.

And, the emotion of fear will be neutralized as you begin to try. Not as you sit on your rear eating that pork barrel full of ice cream and wish and hope.

Another illustration from my personal experience. Many of you know I am a recording artist and my passion is music. People all the time think that "some" people are just gifted to sing and perform. If they only knew. When I first started singing, I would go to night clubs that sponsored karaoke or open mic nights and sing.

When I first started, I would sit in my seat hoping the DJ would lose my slip of paper with my name on it so he couldn't call me up there. Of course, no one else knew this. Ha! After I would sing one s