Know that You're Good

In the movie, Get Low, Quinn and Buddy approach the mysterious hermit Felix Bush's house to sell him a funeral, and Quinn makes Buddy go alone.

Not only is this a scary situation for Buddy because it was his first sales call, but because his client is a notorious and unpredictable hermit. His boss Quinn challenges him to do this call alone because “If you don’t do this yourself you will never know if you’re good, and you will never be good unless you know that you are.”

Did you know that you grow stronger when you step out and face your fears? Doing something that you don’t think you can do helps you to stretch your boundaries. It helps you gain confidence. If Buddy can be successful in this situation, he can be successful in any situation. Felix Bush had a need. He made his need known. If you believe that your product or service is good and helpful for people, then do what you need to do to help people connect with it.

Practice makes you good at something. When you get good at something then you will be more confident about it. When you are more confident, you will do it more, which will make you do it better.

Remember, you will never be good at something unless you know you are!

Faith and your Dreams

In this clip from the movie ‘Rudy’, Rudy’s best friend, Pete, gives him an unforgettable gift for his birthday; Faith. Pete didn’t just say that he believed in Rudy’s dream of going to Notre Dame and playing football. He gives him a tangible reminder of this goal, and whenever Rudy puts that jacket on, he will remember that at least one person in his life believes in him and his dream.

Do you have a dream like Rudy that seems so far, but so real that you can taste it? Or maybe you can relate to Pete. Are you the friend that fans the flame of your buddy’s big dream?

We all need people to be on our dream team; someone who will tell us that we can do it and remind us why we have all that it takes to make it happen. If you don’t have a person in your life like that, find one. If you can be uplifting faith inspiring person for someone else; be that person.

One of the reasons that I love being a Dream Partner is that I can come along side the dreams of my clients. If I can help them see it clearly and help them believe that it can happen. It will happen.

Who do you know that needs encouragement today for their big dream? Send them a card today or give them a call. Let them know that you believe in them.

Who do you know that can be your encouragement today? Let them know that some days you may need them to do the same for you.

Remember what Pete’s dad always said: “Havin' dreams is what makes life tolerable.”

Make the World a Better Place

Maybe you can relate to Ana as she tells Harold the story of how she intended to make the world a better place with her law degree and wound up doing it with cookies. Sometimes we start out thinking that we will do or become one thing and then things turn out differently. If we are blessed, they will turn out much better than we imagined. Our gifts, life and circumstances can sometimes take us down roads that were unplanned or unintended.

Sometimes we are so close to the situation that we don’t even know what we truly bring to the table. Our gifts can be masked by our own image of what we think we should be or become that we can miss it entirely. Perhaps a parent set you on a path that they wanted you on as a kid and you just didn’t have the same passion for it as they did. Maybe it was their unfulfilled path, and you simply got stuck on it. Or maybe you had an interest in something for which you really didn’t have much talent.

Life can give us course correction opportunities if we are paying attention. Ana realized that she could make the world a better place with her passion, baking. Perhaps her study group friends encouraged her with their compliments, or just by their growing numbers. There are always clues about your gifts and ideal contribution, if you pay attention. Most life coaches that I encounter will tell me that they had been ‘coaching’ all of their lives before someone, or many people encouraged them to ‘become one’.

What do people say you bring to the table? What gifts and talents should you make sure you are contributing to the world? How would you like to be remembered as leaving the world better than you found it?

Whatever we do, we all can and should make it a goal to make the world a better place in whatever way we can.

Just Ask Already

Yikes, do you ever feel like this when you are face to face with a potential client? Gulliver brags about asking out a lady in his office, but when he is presented with the opportunity, and even gets some ‘interested’ clues from her, he chickens out.

Does that happen with you and your potential customers sometimes? The prospect sends you some buying sign clues that they may be interested and you just don’t take it to the next level. You know you want to move in for that ask, but your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth. I know that I have been there. Heck, if we are honest, we have all been there. What stops you dead in your tracks even in the face of a seemingly willing potential client? Is it fear of success or failure? Or could it be that you have a lack of confidence in yourself or your product? It’s really about having the right amount of confidence.

“If you really put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.” ~Author Unknown

Believe in your service or product and believe in yourself as one qualified to represent it. If what you are doing wasn’t worth your time and attention that it would be of no value to you. So, if you value it, there must be some benefit to others who also value the same thing. So keep reminding yourself of the value of what you are doing. It’s not really about you; it’s about helping your customers.

What can you do to overcome paralyzing fear when you are in a situation like this so you don’t kick yourself for the lost opportunity?

“Confidence is preparation. Everything else is beyond your control. ~Richard Kline. Separate the outcome from the action. Measure your success by your willingness to act on the buying sign clues. You can only control ‘you’ in a situation like that. You cannot control what the client will do.

Represent yourself or your product honestly. Don’t over promise something. The fear of success is tightly wound up with the fear of failure. You may be saying to yourself; ‘What if I am promising more than I can deliver’? Err on the side of under promising and let the service or product speak for itself.

Remember, if the client has already indicated interest, then you are half way there! All you have to do is meet them half way.

Live Rejoicing-Change your Story

You may feel like Penny Chenery Tweedy, the owner of Secretariat in this movie clip based upon the true story of Secretariat. The world is against you, the road feels so uphill. Looking back at history retrospectively, we know that Secretariat was the only horse in history to win the triple crown. Penny could have given up and a lot of people told her that she should. But, against what seems like impossible odds, she believed in that horse and never gave up.

Did you know that you could be one decision away from breaking your old story and facing success head on? That’s right, you could be one moment, one instant away from changing everything. It depends so much on the story you choose to tell. Is your story about the failed economy or the competition? Or how about your difficult childhood or how everyone else gets all the breaks? Penny didn’t tell the story of her obstacles, she told the story of her future success. She persevered until she reached her dream.

You were not put on this earth to fail. Yet, why do we write our life stories like we were? Don’t let the negative ‘what ifs’ be the headliners to your story. Consider your obstacles part of the amazing journey of victory and success. Penny saw her horse as a winner. Do you see yourself as a winner? That’s what it takes to become one!

Can your Genius Come out to Play?

When I was a kid I had to have a few ear operations. My parents always scheduled them in the summer so I wouldn't miss school. Not only did I miss some fun time being in the hospital, but, then there was the recovery time. I had a helmet of bandages and I wasn't allowed outside until they came off. I did miss playing outside with my friends. Those summers were the low point of my childhood.

Do you ever keep your genius cooped up like that? Stuck behind a window with all of the fun stuff happening outside? Every once in a while, you let it out, but for the most part, you keep it hidden inside when all the fun is happening outside. What is your genius? It's three things:

The stuff that you are really Good At; the stuff that you LOVE to do, and the stuff that people NEED you to do because it would HELP THEM.

When you are clear about those three things and begin to let them shine, you are letting your genius come out to play. Ask yourself about what those three things are for you and then ask the people that are closest to you to answer them for you too. See if what they say is the same as what you think. Sometimes people see our genius clearer than we do ourselves.

What opportunity is presenting itself for you TODAY to let your genius out to play?

It's a Wonderful Dream

Have you seen that classical Christmas time film it’s a Wonderful Life? George Bailey has the seemingly perfect life: a loving wife, Mary, four beautiful children, and his own business. However, on Christmas Eve, George has serious business difficulties at the Bailey Building and Loan. George has a major financial crisis when his Uncle Billy loses the cash they owe the bank. The unsympathetic bank owner, Mr. Potter makes things worse. This leads George to a life crisis, and he considers suicide. A visit from his Guardian Angel Clarence shows George how much his life means by showing him how the world would be without him.

It's a magical tale of a man who's allowed to see what his family, his friends and his community would have been like if he had never been born. The moral of the story is that everyone is put on this earth to impact others in their own way. All of us have a unique contribution to make. Your contribution can change the world if you let it.

You may be living your dream and take comfort in this story because you know you are helping people and making a difference; even if times are tough, or things get challenging. The pause to consider the people you are helping will help you live to serve another day.
For others, your dream hasn’t even been born.
For those of us who let our dreams stay in our heads and not in the world; wouldn’t it be cool if we could have an Angel like Clarence show us what the world would be like if we DID bring our dream to life. Who could we help? What impact could we have? What ripple effect would our help have on the people that pass that help on to others?

Is your dream worth it? Can you make a lifelong impact by your special gifts and services? Things got tough for George in the movie, just like they will for you and me. But, in the end, the community came together to help him solve his problem and he was blessed by that. It all worked out. He had impact. The community made sure of it. "Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more." Anthony Robbins

You are not the only one that is hurt by keeping your dream in your head. Do you believe that the world deserves your dream as much as you do? So, do something today to make sure that your dream has the chance to impact people. Do one thing. Do it now!