Let Down Your Hair! How to release The Rapunzel Complex and increase self-esteem in sales and marketing
Dear Magnetic Entrepreneur,
I wrote the following article a little while ago and posted it on Biznik in August 2008.
It has had such a positive impact on independent sales professionals, I thought I’d share it also with you on this Monday morning to start the workweek off right.
As you read the article, remember in every moment to “Let Down Your Hair!”
It becomes you.
In gratitude,
– Tshombe
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You gotta admire anyone who goes into business for him- or herself. It takes a lot of guts to be a salesperson, because you really have to put yourself out there to the world and be vulnerable.
I think most people go through life believing there’s something wrong with them. This is especially true of people in sales (which we all are in the business of sales and marketing, regardless of our industry).
What if they find out I’m not who they think I am? What if they find out I’m a fraud?
There are many keys to success, but a foundational piece of the puzzle is having a high level of belief in yourself and in your expertise. It boils down to self-image.
And whether and to what extent you have a healthy self-image smacks you right in the face when you work for yourself……especially when you have to get out there and sell yourself.
Our minds try to sabotage us with nonsense like “I’m not good enough” or “I don’t have enough experience.” Have any of these thoughts crossed your mind?
For a salesperson, these thoughts left unchecked will stop you in your tracks.
The truth is even if you just started your business today and until this very moment you’ve never sold anything before, you are more than qualified and have plenty of experience. There is no other you.
In fact, there are people out there to whom — if only you boldly marketed yourself so that they could find you — you are the answer to their prayers.
These people — to whom you are magnetically attracted and they likewise to you — are your ideal clients, because they reveal to you how wonderful you really are, and that all you already are is all you need.
Why wait until you meet your ideal clients?
You’ve probably heard the advice to “act as if.”
(I used to wonder why they never complete the sentence! Act as if what? Of course, now I understand that it means to act as if you already possess whatever it is you desire)
In this case, whether or not you possess a high level of healthy self-esteem to boldly put yourself out there despite the risk of rejection, act as if you already do. The result is that you will find in your ideal clients confirmation of your greatness.
How does that feel?
This reminds me of the story of Rapunzel, as interpreted by Andrew Mathews, author of Being Happy! A Handbook to Greater Confidence & Security
He offers (on page 22) that the story is about self-image.
Rapunzel is a young lady who lives locked up in a castle, imprisoned by an old witch who continually tells her how ugly she is. One day, a handsome prince passes by the tower and tells Rapunzel of her loveliness. She lets down her golden locks (apparently of some considerable length), so he may climb her hair to rescue her.
It is neither the castle nor the witch that has kept her a prisoner, but the belief in her own ugliness. When she recognizes her beauty, reflected in the face of her prince charming, she sees that she can be set free.
Who’s telling you you’re ugly?
If you’re not the salesperson you want to be, it’s really you (or, more accurately, your mind) doing all the talking about how unworthy you are.
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Flickr Image by sophiea, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License
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