Archive for: June 2007

Shyness can be a crippling condition. It’s so extreme for some people that they avoid social situations altogether. Shy children tend to grow into shy adults. The vast majority of us need to have contact with other humans, either socially or in a work context. Overcoming shyness is difficult but not impossible.

Today is a new day. Yesterday is a thing of the past and so is everything that you did. Good or bad, what is done is done so now it’s time to seize this day and all of the opportunities …

By Gary Vurnum

Unfulfilled potential.
We all have it.
It’s like a little chip on our shoulder reminding us -
“You can do better”
“You can make more of yourself”
But…we know that being the top salesman, fast-track manager, or best-selling author is far, far out of our reach.
Or is it?
Why do you think it is? Can you PROVE that you haven’t got the necessary talent or credentials for the job?
You’re probably more qualified than them as well, aren’t you?
So – what’s stopping you from seeing your true potential?
Well…in most cases three words are responsible :
“Fear of failure”
It’s nothing to be ashamed of – at the moment I KNOW that I am subconsciously limiting myself because I KNOW that I am not succeeding to my true potential.
The difference is – because I am aware of it – I can force myself to do something about it.
I’m as human as you are.
So – even as I write this – I am working hard to push down those thoughts that say:
“What if it goes wrong?”
“What if I lose money?”
“But…I’m not worthy” etc etc
Even the greatest successes in the world share my thoughts – so I know that I’m not alone.
And neither are you, too.

There is a little ‘test’ that I regularly put myself through when such thoughts start fighting with the positive thoughts in my mind.
Want to know what it is?
OK. It’s what I call the “Million Dollar Test”. I don’t claim ownership for this idea – I’m sure that I’ve read it somewhere before.
If I’m in a position where I am not sure if I can go through with a challenge I ask myself this question:
“If you succeed I will give you a million dollars – do you think that you can do it now?”
So – I might feel sick at the prospect of making cold calls, but I know that it is solely my mind playing that ‘fear’ trick on me again – because I would gladly make 100 cold calls a day in return for a million dollars!
See What I mean?
You can’t help it. Your ingrained fear of failure automatically finds excuses for you not to do something that’s new, or perhaps just a little ‘difficult’.
So we just give it a reason to want to do it instead!
Of course – you won’t have a million dollars to give yourself – but it will certainly get you thinking about why you don’t want to do something.
And…if it enables you to take that first step then you are 80% there – as your challenge will get easier once you start it.
Once you make that first cold call, or take that first meeting, or challenge your aggressive neighbor – then your mind will find it more difficult to come up with an excuse why you can’t the next time.
Don’t sabotage yourself and your future.
Your potential is only limited by you…and you alone. Jump straight in, take a deep breath and go for it!
The only thing that you would have lost is the time you would have instead spent worrying about it!
Go on…give yourself a potential makeover – you deserve it!

Whatever your field, improving communication skills leads you to greater success. Smart people make improving communication skills a lifelong endeavor. Improving communication skills now can make the difference between success and failure, profit or loss later.

Strive everyday to improve. If you keep learning more and doing more you will become more. More of what you want to be than you are today. So often in life we give up too soon only to settle back into the mundane routine of mediocrity. I know I did for years at a time. But once I picked an area that I wanted to grow in. I searched for all of the instruction I could get on that subject. I learned the necessary skills and then I would practice until I accomplished what I wanted to do. I probably shouldn’t be using past tense. I still approach challenges this way today.