Stop letting Fear stop you from getting what you want. Find out how to get over your fears and get the business and personal results you want.
One of the keys to being successful in business is to feel afraid and do it anyway, just like the successful self-help book by Susan Jeffers. In fact, it's one of the most important keys to success in almost everything you want to do in life.
You are a salesperson, in case you didn't know that. Before you say this isn't true until your face turns blue, let me explain. You are a salesperson if you:
- Tell other people about your own business.
- Tell people about the business you work for.
- Tell people about yourself
At any given time, everyone fits into one of these groups. You are either directly selling for your business or for the business you work for, or you are trying to persuade others that the business you work for is a good one. Or you are trying to get people to agree with your point of view on a subject. So, we all try to convince other people every day in some part of our lives or another.
How does this relate to fear?
Take the act of getting someone to buy something from you or your business. One way to do this is to try to get them to agree to a meeting where you can show them a new product. For those of us who do this all the time, this may seem like a piece of cake. But for the rest of us, especially if we are new to the job, this can be very scary.
So what do you do when you feel this way? Simply put, feel the fear, but do it anyway.
It's important to admit that Fear is a real thing. It's not a good idea to try to act like the feelings don't exist, because they do. When your stomach does a flip-flop or your palms start to sweat, you know. Instead of trying to convince yourself that you don't have those feelings, just accept that you do and that this is why.
When you face Fear straight on, you take away its power over you.
The first step is to accept that your feelings are real, but that they don't have power over you.
The next step is often for our brains to make up what the other person (client, prospect, friend, etc.) will say or do when we tell them about our ideas. Will they tell you no and slam the door in your face or hang up on you? Will they feel like you're wasting their time and wish you hadn't gotten in touch?
In reality, some people might think that way, but most people are so worried about what is happening to them and what other people think of them that they don't think about what they will say to you.
So, instead of giving your brain time to think about and imagine these scary things, which will only make you feel more scared, get moving. And here is the second secret to feeling scared and doing it anyway.
Action destroys the power of fear and drives you toward a certain result.
You may have heard that FEAR is an acronym. FEAR = Making up events that seem real. When I heard that for the first time, it was on a CD by Anthony Robbins. False events are fantasies or what you make up in your head.
By stepping up and taking action, everything you do starts to break down these false images, because your real life is so different from what you thought it would be. People will be glad to take you up on your offer to help that company, give them a new product, or show your friends a better way to do something. Now, this won't always get you what you want, but it will always get you something. They will either take you up on your offer, ask for more details, or say no.
Let's take a quick look at these results.
- If they say yes, you have reached your goal.
- If they say no, you can try the next person until you get what you want.
- You can still reach your goal even if they want more information.
Even if they don't want to hear what you have to say, they will be kind and polite to you 99 percent of the time. No matter what happens, the things you think will happen (the Fear) are always ten times worse than what actually happens. Now, we can be sure of that.
So, the next time you're nervous about asking someone for something, whether it's a sale, a favour, or a date, remember this and do something about it. Don't ignore how you feel. Instead, acknowledge them and decide to change them. Also, the people you're talking to have the same fears as you do, and when you really understand that, you'll know that your actions will help get rid of their False Events, too.
