Lesson 5 - Know Your Strengths, But Stop Labeling Yourself

I have lived most of my life telling myself that I'm not great at sales.  My first real 'sales' job was at The Buckle, the clothes store that worked strictly off commission.  I had my moments of greatness, but I wasn't a sales person who was on 100% of the time like my manager always seemed to be.

However, when I use something that I love or believe in, I have no problem selling that to anyone who comes across my path.   So the question really does become am I sales person or not?

I've been able to sell.  I've had to be able to sell.  Without being able to sell I would have never built my businesses.  However, I would say following up and cold calling are two very weak qualities for me.

As a business owner, I believe it's crucial that you know what you're great at and do more of that.  If you're in the position where you can hire what you're bad at, do that.  However, sometimes we may not have that luxury.  I did have someone join me on a partnership basis to help with sponsorships.  However, the majority of the responsibility was still on my shoulders.

I discovered something I never knew about myself before.

You can teach an old dog new tricks.

When money is on the line, everything changes, in a good way.  I was the follow-up and cold calling queen.  I would talk to anyone who wanted to listen, and if I had a lead, I followed up on it.  Oh and not just once, again and again and again.  It's like I channeled my inner Grant Cardone.

I didn't recognize the girl sitting on this side of my computer.  The girl who refused to believe she could do it.  The girl who suddenly became a sales person.  The girl who was suddenly doing the impossible.....selling sponsorships.

Yes, I know as entrepreneurs we all need to be sales people.  However, we just know that there are some better than others.  However, if you limit yourself and say 'I'm not...' well, then you will never be.

I'm currently reading the book 'Mindset', by Carol S. Dweck, PhD, and there hasn't been a book since 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad', that has had such an impact on my life.  A growth mindset (removing the I'm not's) is where true greatness happens.  It's so crucial that you recognize where is with every decision you make.

I could spend the next year writing a new blog post ever day about everything I don't believe I am.  Instead of boring you with those details, I have two choices.  I could believe these things and just let life be that way, or I could make a change and work on bettering myself.

Luckily, I took the latter path, and was able to do what I thought was impossible, cold call, follow-up, and sell.

So what are some of your 'I'm not's', and how are those holding you back in your business?  What can you do right now to make the change and start getting over your excuses?