We're still not done with the notion of persistence and Andy Andrews! First off, here's a video of Andy in which he talks about his book Mastering the Seven Decisions.
Today, I'd also like to share a very powerful note about persistence we received from Judy Roberts as an entry to the Inspired Abundance book give away contest. After you are done reading, be sure to visit Judy's blog at http://wealth-for-newbies.blogspot.com. It's well worth the visit.
"Dear Michelle and Warren,
There was one time in my life when lack of persistence actually paid off for me. It was my attempt to smoke. When I was a teenager, I joined my classmates behind some bushes in the school grounds and tried to smoke. We all coughed and spluttered while we tried to inhale. They persisted, and got past the coughing and spluttering. Some of them have been less successful trying to travel in the reverse direction. They’re middle aged, addicted to nicotine, and would give their eye teeth to be able to quit smoking.
But I was different. After choking on a few cigarettes, I gave up. So I never did experience smoking as a pleasurable activity. On the other hand, I’m nicotine-free and extremely grateful to be so. It’s the one and only instance that I can recall in which giving up in the face of difficulty served me well.
In all other instances that I can think of, quitting has served me poorly.
One example of persistence that I’m proud of is the time that I climbed Table Mountain – in Cape Town, South Africa – with my brother. He’s a veteran hiker and mountain climber. When I asked him how easy or difficult it would be, he said it would be a cinch. Yeah, right. His idea of a cinch turned out to be very different from my idea of a cinch. There were a couple of places where we had to climb some rocks that absolutely terrified me. But I was determined to do it, and I did. Reaching the top of the mountain, and knowing that I had persisted to the end, was a terrific feeling. Yes, the view from the top was tremendous. But my sense of elation didn’t come just from enjoying the view.
My brother took a photo of me clinging to what felt to me like a cliff, but what he described as a little scramble. Well, whatever you want to call it, I framed that photo. Now, when I’m in need of courage, I look at the photo and think to myself, “If I could do it then, I can do it now.”
Last night I was listening to a training call about network marketing. The speaker said that being a new distributor in network marketing was like entering a haunted house at the state fair when you were a kid. Grown ups who had been through lots of haunted houses knew that they’d emerge at the other end. But, when you were a kid and this was your first experience of a haunted house, the ghosts and goblins that jumped out as you turned a corner scared the living daylights out of you. You really were in some doubt as to whether or not you would get out of the haunted house unharmed.
The trainer said that the objections that potential business partners expressed on the phone were like the monsters in a haunted house. An experienced network marketer knew that objections didn’t have any substance. A newbie, however, thought that objections were non-negotiable.
In the audio, the haunted house was used as a metaphor for a conversation with a potential business partner. But I think it’s also an appropriate metaphor for the larger venture of networking marketing. As the saying goes, “What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?” The experienced network marketer, like the adult entering a haunted house, knows that he/she will be just fine. The newcomer to network marketing, like the child going into a haunted house for the first time, has to take a leap of faith and then persist until he/she reaches daylight again.
So, if I look back at my own life, I draw a few lessons: (1) You need to assess whether or not a goal, like smoking, is worthy; (2) You need to decide, and (3) You need to persist until you reach your goal.
At this point, I’m looking at the photo of me clinging to the side of Table Mountain, and I’m determined to have the same result with network marketing.
This very email is another example of persistence. I thought I wouldn’t bother to enter the competition. I thought I wasn’t persistent, and I wouldn’t be able to think of anything to say on the topic of persistence. Then I remembered the saying, “Half the battle is showing up.” I decided to sit in front of my computer, and see if any thoughts about persistence came up. At first the only example I could think of was the time I hadn’t persisted. Then I remembered Table Mountain. Lo and behold, before I knew it, I’d actually typed quite a long email on the topic of persistence – basically by just showing up.
Judy"
Wonderful email Judy. Thanks so much for commenting on Andy Andrews and his seventh decision dealing with the notion of persistence, without exception.
No comments:
Post a Comment