Seriously...

Day four of taking myself seriously has gone splendidly. I set a goal out of nowhere to talk to at least two people a day (except for Sundays and occasionally Tuesdays as I have a day of rest and a day of practice for worship team that can get in the way) and so far I’ve been getting it done. Looking back over my week and musing over why all of a sudden I decided to take myself and my business seriously all I can think is that it started with finally listening to the conference and opportunity calls and my brother getting his hands on the book The Slight Edge.


Reading the Slight Edge has been great. The principles in it aren’t anything necessarily new, which in my opinion makes them even more credible, but are reminders of things I needed reminding of. Like do things. If you don’t do things things won’t get done. And learn things, because if you aren’t being mentored or surrounded by the influences that are going to draw you in the right direction you will flounder.

Absorb absorb, that’s the habit I want to create. Oh, and face my fears. Because every time I’m about to do an appointment I get absolutely petrified.

I don’t even know what it is I’m afraid of. The only possibilities I’ve landed on aren’t necessarily that I won’t get a sale, or that I won’t find someone else who wants to do the business as much as I do, but really it’s the fear that I’m going to make a fool of myself or say something that misrepresents what I do. I have indeed had those appointments. So now my current solution is to pray this before each and every appointment: “God, please let me represent you well in everything I do, including this. Help me to be sensitive to this person’s needs and not my own agenda, and help me to love others the way you want me to.”
Pretty straightforward, and so far it hasn’t necessarily changed the fact that I get nervous (though that has definitely been on the decline) but as soon as I start talking I feel myself tuning in to the other person instead of falling back on an internal script. This flexibility makes me feel so much better at the end of an appointment; like I’ve given it my best and I have nothing to be ashamed of.

To close today, I’ll end with one of the quotes that inspired me: “How can you judge the course of action you’re taking by its results, when its results come last? The problem with focusing on results is simply that it doesn’t work. Having your attention on your results is like driving your car by looking in the rearview mirror. Your results live in the past, and like all things in the past, they belong there.” (pg. 108, The Slight Edge)