You are an intelligent, hard working person, aren’t you? You are very good at what you do. You work long hours and you put a huge amount of effort into your business. So, the question is: are you as successful as you should be?
Clients and seminar delegates ask me a lot of marketing questions. Sometimes, I wonder whether it’s the marketing that’s holding them back, or something else.
The successful people I have worked with think differently. No matter what their current circumstances, they know that they will succeed. They have a strong self image and a clear vision of a bright future – regardless of the state of the economy, the state of their business or the state of their bank balance.
They realise that failure is inevitable, along the road to success. On this basis, it doesn’t matter if a particular initiative doesn’t bear fruit immediately – they know that they are moving in the right direction.
Successful people love to learn. They like trying things out, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. They know that it deosent mttr if thy mak mostooks bcause peoople are forgiving and – believe me – they will point your mistakes out to you.
For 12 years, I delivered a ‘Creative thinking for marketers’ course for CIM (the Chartered Institute of Marketing). I read widely about creativity in its many forms. Whether I was reading about a scientist, an artist or other creative person – the same pattern emerged. Every famous creative person is / was curious, intelligent and hard working. Thousands of hours of practice meant that they became extremely skilled. They worked long hours, largely because they loved their work. They took into account that some experiments wouldn’t work.
They knew what Thomas Edison (the light bulb inventor) knew:
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Search within yourself and discover what is holding you back. Could it be a fear of success? A fear of money? Concern about being ‘found out’? Worries about writing ability? Anxiety about public speaking, presenting or selling?
Whatever it is (and we all have these concerns), work on yourself and think about getting help from a mentor / coach.
As your ‘inner walls’ crumble, the real you emerges. What you have to say becomes more authentic; your marketing becomes more original; and customers will come to you.
I wish you all the best in everything you do.
Nigel Temple
Founder of The Marketing Compass
This article reaffirms one of the main reasons why I decided to join the Marketing Compass; it is not just a question of attaining marketing techniques, but of finding a human ground that encompasses the highs and lows of the striving individual within a business community.
It made me remember what Nelson Mandela said,
‘And as we let our own light shine, we unconsiously give other people permission to do the same.’
— such a great blog, Nigel.
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