You Have What It Takes
About half way through the day at GETHustler in Bogota, Colombia this past Saturday, I think those in attendance started to question, "When are we going to actually start talking about sales and partnerships?" The reason being that I'd spent the first three hours talking about understanding ourselves, the way we operate in all kinds of situations, and knowing that you have what it takes regardless. I believe the confidence in one's self is one of the most important traits to master for anyone on the front lines of sales and entrepreneurship.
Understanding and learning about how we deal with victory and defeat, and how we keep going regardless, is something that so few entrepreneurs know about themselves. Frequently, our confidence in our own abilities, the hutzpah to handle anything that comes our way, allows us to be caught of guard by an achilles heal we hadn't taken the time to identify. We run at such a pace that when we get a twinge in our stride, we assume it is a temporary and keep going. But often it is the small and identifiable things that trip us up the most, not the big huge disastrous fails.
There is nothing tougher than seeing someone have everything going for them but being tripped up by something that used to be a small treatable challenge that grew into a monstrous road block and detour.
The theme of GETHustler was built around our venue, a boxing gym. Having joined a boxing gym last year, the overlaps between my routine in the gym and my routine in most sales or business development roles I've had is pretty similar. Of the hour or more I am in the gym, less than 30% of that time is spent actually boxing or throwing punches against the heavy bags. The other 70% of time is spent preparing to throw punches. Whether jumping rope, shadow boxing, circuit training, or having my core annihilated by the number of crunches, planks, and burpees the trainers think I actually can do, I know it is all in preparation for and in service of throwing a better punch when I see my spot.
The fight of sales and entrepreneurship is one that I am happy to be in the midst of, training everyday for the next time I step into the ring. Fighting along side others who understand how they handle the high highs and low lows is even better.