In this article, I share the kind of thinking that will enable you to repeatedly overcome adversity and progress – even as an entrepreneur breaking new grounds in a very difficult environment – to pursue authentic success, with honesty and integrity.
1. Development Of A Positive Mind Set:
A lot of people out here are so good at TALKING about how to be positive in spite of failure. About how never to give up, no matter how difficult things get – or even when friends and loved ones stop believing in, or abandon you.
Yet, I can tell you, from over eight long years of personal experience (tinged with uncountable bouts of loneliness, and lack), that very few people actually apply these principles in their lives when they are faced with those difficult situations.
I am not trying to make myself look good here, but my insistence on earning a living, supporting my family, by developing MS Excel-VB driven software and web marketing systems, NEVER won me any fans amongst those who knew me.
Yet, I stayed committed. Too many people who were irked by my refusal to do something else, year in, year out, even went as far as scheming to frustrate me. I have gotten numerous phony calls and emails, from people hiding their true identities who tried to play mind games on me.
They typically pretended to be interested in my product or service, when in reality all they wanted to do was make fun of me, if I fell for it. Sometimes – especially in the early days – I did, but over time I learnt how to protect myself.
My positive mind set has kept me going this long, to the extent that today, my client profiles have taken dramatic leaps to include larger businesses, that I never stood a chance of getting noticed by, when I was starting out.
2. You Will Need Mental Stamina:
In the course of my work out here, I have studied a lot of people, and come to realise that most of them are really good people – deep down. Many do not want to be crooked in doing business. They do not really want to cheat others, if they can avoid it.
Unfortunately, they have not developed the ability to ENDURE prolonged suffering without seeking undignified outlets to escape from it.
And this is what leads them to begin cutting corners! Take it from me – it is not easy to stay straight and honest when you have nothing to fall back on. When you see your spouse and kids threatened with lack of food or other necessities, on a repeated basis, THAT CAN make you change into a not-so-good person.
This is what makes many people in Nigeria feel “tired” of fighting or resisting fuel attendants who randomly impose unlawful fines or levies on them, whenever they have to buy fuel during so called periods of scarcity. People like me who have constantly refused to give in to their demands, and who stuck to our guns even when fellow citizens criticized us for playing “holy” now enjoy the benefit of being “recognised” by those greedy attendants, and reaping the rewards of being able to buy fuel at normal rates, without paying ANYTHING extra!
That’s what mental stamina can do for you. It makes it impossible for adversity to wear you down or break your resolve or commitment to your goal. No one is born with it – you DEVELOP it. And I offer PRACTICAL, personal, and confidential coaching to help interested persons develop this important aspect of their Emotional Intelligence.
3. You Must Be Able To Visualise:
The ability to imagine what can be; to envision what is possible – regardless of what IS the current reality around you, is one that EVERY person who wishes to achieve his/her dreams MUST develop. The picture you create in your mind and/or the images that dominate your thoughts, if kept positive, and in tune with your desires or longings, will ultimately attract to you, those things you want.
This is not some fancy theory or hypothesis. It is a concept that has been proven to work in real-life for as long as man has existed. I am able to say this because I have read a book written on this subject as far back as the 1900s that attested to this fact. When you think back to the history of man’s invention of the airplane and eventual travel to space etc, you will begin to understand why this is true.
In my journey to entrepreneurial stability and maturity, I have successfully used this principle to make myself relevant and in increasingly greater demand, by my preferred target audience, for my unique range of products and services. For instance, I recently got paid N2,500 (Current exchange rate: N150 to $1.00) per article of approximately 750 words, by a client, to write sixteen (16) new articles for use in his website marketing campaign, right here in Nigeria. And this is not the first time it has happened.
Most people out here only know something like this to happen in developed societies. A lot of people out here even try to get hired to write – via the Internet – for people based in developed societies, but are often unsuccessful. What I have successfully done is to create the same lucrative market for myself right here in my country. And all it took was my ability to hold my vision, and take practical steps to actualize it.
If you want your dreams to come true – start imagining in vivid terms what exactly you want to SEE or FEEL when you achieve your dreams -and then take definite steps to work towards achieving them. It is the key to your ultimate success.
Final Words – It Starts With How You Carry Yourself
You must come across as self-assured, confident and enthusiastic to the person you approach with your product or service offer, or indeed anyone you have to interact with. And you must KNOW your stuff – or subject. This goes without saying.
One Example:
I have entertained friends and clients with the story of how, back in 2007, I entered an office in Ikeja area of Lagos, to introduce my custom spreadsheet software development service.
The owner of the company was so amused to hear me say I could develop software for him using MS Excel that he burst out laughing so many times, as I spoke. Eventually, he turned to someone seated next to him, and pointing to me said “Can you imagine him wanting to teach me Excel? I know more Excel than he knows! What can he possibly teach me?” Looking at me, with a mocking expression on his face, he said with a tone of finality “Anyway, I wish you all the best”.
All my handwritten testimonials from past clients – including two well known companies he was familiar with – did not impress him. As I left that day I had to muster all the courage I could, to avoid feeling depressed. I shook off the embarrassment of that experience, and continued my foot-solider-marketing. And it was a good thing, I did so.
Guess what happened? Before the end of that day, I had won a project to build an Excel-VB driven software for a medium sized hotel in Omole Estate, Phase 1 in Ikeja, Lagos. And I went on to sell THAT same application to another hotel in Ikeja less than ONE month after finishing it!
Looking back, I realise that it was the way I carried myself that often “won” over the clients. I always presented my offer in an engaging manner – using very graphic illustrations that instantly communicated the benefits they wanted. I NEVER let past unsuccessful sales attempts faze me one bit. THAT was the key! Anyone who wants to succeed in selling to others will need to master this ART.
One more thing:
It’s NOT necessarily how good your clothes look, but how good YOU look. Think about Arnold Schwarzenegger dressed as a barbarian. Even though he’s dressed in rags, he still looks “good” to behold. His physical presence commands attention from people of both sexes. Am I saying you should go and build muscles in order to succeed more? No, I am not.
But Zig Ziglar did let on in his writing that at some point in his salesmanship career, he decided to do more workouts to build his physique so that he could look more presentable. In my case, I have found staying physically fit not only makes me look physically good, it also helps me stay mentally sharp and alert – an asset that has paid off in terms of my being gable to deliver earlier than clients expect by working longer hours than they anticipate I can.
More importantly, the way I walk, and the fit of my body to my clothes, even when I wear the exact same ones day after day, has often helped me focus clients on ME, and my message, instead of what I am carrying or wearing.
You May Not Have The Means To Dress Well Enough:
I feel a need to hammer a little more on this point. Some people feel if they don’t have enough good clothes to wear, they will not be able to impress, and succeed. I argue that not everyone will have the means to buy good clothes, shoes etc to wear and impress those s/he wishes to win over. Sometimes, you just have to make do with what you have.
In these situations, the way you carry yourself, and how to engage the attention of your target audience will prove crucial in directing their attention to YOU, instead of what you are wearing.
Trust me on this – I HAVE been there and done just that, many more times than I can count. In fact, some of my new clients have confided in me that they hired me because they felt I “looked and sounded competent”. Now, THAT is what you want your clients to do – hire you because of the perception you have created in their minds that they will benefit by doing so!