Have you ever been right in the middle of a conversation with someone in a public place, and had the thought of "Wow, I really hope there is no one listening to this." Followed by the overwhelming desire to stand up and explain to everyone within ear shot what you are actually talking about? Well as you may guess, I recently had that exact experience…
Let me paint the picture for you. I was sitting with a very good friend at our local coffee shop sipping away on a Grande bold coffee, discussing "my marketing thing". I'm not sure about you, but people seem to have a difficult time wrapping their head around what it "is" I am doing online. Thankfully we have had several conversations and have moved form "tell me again what you are doing?", and "what are you selling exactly?" and other such questions. We have now moved onto the "how". I was discussing how much I am growing to love article marketing and the reasons why. I then began to discuss some of the challenges I have faced recently. Nothing I was stating is unique to the industry, heck, it isn't even unique to me. Never the less, the conversation went a little something like this:
"This sounds like a whole lot of work"
"Yup, it is! Funny though, the more I do, the less it feels like work"
"What happens if you spend a lot of time writing an article and no one reads it,? Or what if they do and they don't like it? I would likely just give up, that would be so defeating."
"Well, you can choose to look at it two ways, either you choose to see it as a failure and do exactly that, give up. Or you can choose to see that you just learned what it is that people are not interested in and focus on what people are interested in."
"Again, that seems like too much work"
"Not really, I like to do something, "fail" as quickly as possible so that I can adjust my course and keep moving forward."
"Where do you get that drive from?"
"Ha ha, it comes from within, a determination not to fail. I firmly believe that one of the keys to success is that the only way to fail is to give up."
"Huh, I guess when you put it like that, I can see how failure is just a step in the process. Although, that is easier said than done, I'm sure."
"Yup, it sure is. I also firmly believe that in order to achieve success the Universe will hand you a series of tests. Only those who are persistent will be granted great success"
"You sound like Yoda"
"Ha ha, no, I am more like Wylie Coyote"
"What? Who? I don't follow"
"You know who Wylie Coyote is, right? From 'Loony Tunes'?. Every week he tried to catch the Road Runner. He never did catch the Road Runner, but that didn't stop him. He was a true Entrepreneur. He always took the time to plan out his "attack" on the Road Runner, never got discouraged, always went back to the drawing board. He never gave up even though each week the Road Runner outsmarted him, he just kept thinking of new ways to approach the challenge."
"Ok, if that is true, then why didn't he ever catch the Road Runner?"
"Great question, I could get all philosophical with you and say that the reason why he didn't ever catch the Road Runner was because he never stopped to ask himself "Wylie, how do I need to change to solve this challenge?"
"Of course he did, you even said that he never gave up, he always went back to the drawing board etc…"
"Ah, no, I said he didn't ever ask himself how HE needed to change himself, not change what he was DOING. We often ask ourselves "What and I doing wrong" when things aren't working out the way we want, rather than "How do I need to change".
"Ok, now you are going all "esoteric" on me"
"Maybe…. just remember that we are called "Human Beings" and not "Human Doings". My point is that when things aren't working, and you keep adjusting course but still haven't found the answer, maybe it's YOU that needs to make the change and not what you are doing."
This is the point in the conversation where I began to realize that anyone listening in might not quite understand what was going on…
Why was I talking so seriously about a cartoon character? The reason is quite simple, I find him to be an excellent example to the double-edged sword that can consume us all on the journey toward success. There are three types of actions people generally take when things get "real" with their business.
- Those who will simply give up when things get a little tough, when what they are doing is not working they just walk away and look for the next opportunity.
- Those who will persevere and keep going back to the drawing board, each time with a renewed sense of purpose and determination, but just seem to spin the wheels over and over again, rubber never really hitting the road. These people settle for minimal gain and movement forward.
- Those who are take a step back, get a little altitude on the situation and ask themselves if there is a need to change themselves, maybe a new perspective, maybe some personal growth is in order and so on. These people adjust course and persist without exception.
Which one are you?
Are you someone who can see the opportunity in front of you AND also see the need for change and personal growth? If so, congratulations, you may just be on your way to finding more success then you ever thought possible. You see, in order for things in your live to change, you have to change things in your life. In my experience, this almost always begins with YOU!
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