Some days when speaking to an audience I refer to myself as, Barbara Extraordinaire…. Not meant to be a ‘bragging’ statement but a Bold one; one I feel I can legitimately say.
That’s what I want to discuss … Bold enough to ROAR! Let’s look at ROAR; Responsibility, Opportunity, Action, Reward
How many of you are just starting your business? How many of you are at a point in your business where you are ready to advance? At either stage your R O A R is the same?
I found that Responsibility was a good place to begin. As a new consultant in the direct sales industry, from the start, I committed to learning the basic part of the business. There were no other sales force members in my location and I found myself on my own. The company I was with was relatively new …. ~The company was only 9 years old with the entire sales force count of around 12,000 consultants. ~My Director lived 800 miles away and my sponsor moved out of state the week after I joined. ~Plus I only planned to be a consultant for 3 months as a hobby.
With all of these factors (circumstances), I still took my training seriously and although I was on my own, I was committed to succeeding! You may be wondering if I did succeed and the answer is yes. I did because when I joined I’d given my word to represent the company as consultant and to me that meant Doing It Thoroughly.
Those humble beginnings are how I started to ROAR. Responsibly, with Action, seeking Opportunities and Reward. It began with Responsibility …. to be credible I knew I had to be authentic in the business by doing the job (taking action) even if at first I did not know HOW to book, hold those appointments, close the sales.
Was it instant success? … far from it! But being committed meant you stayed in the game by taking ACTION! Book and hold the appointments, close the sale and then rebook. It is a known fact that we Learn by Doing and also that we gain Confidence by Doing. Those first action-steps took a lot of courage on my part but they were the foundation for building a truly Extraordinary business.
How many of you are at a point of wanting to advance your career? Maybe ready to step up to a new level of leadership? Being bold means being convicted with unwavering belief in what you are doing. Limiting circumstances will be there so staying focused and true to your dreams is how you ROAR. Belief in yourself and in your dreams is vital because when life happens (and it will) you need to be strong enough to rebound from any pitfall.
Being responsible means being willing to take the lead. No matter what comes your way you continue to take the lead and be responsible for the outcome that you want. I dared to take the lead and to make the choices and decisions to continue to grow. I looked for (and took) every Opportunity to learn and to surround myself with like-minded people and because of that I did climb the career path and had a fabulous career for over 41 years. A career filled with great REWARDS that have allowed me to create the life I love living!
What I would like to share …. Is …. “What I Know for Sure”.
I know that it is important to;
- Follow a basic simple plan.
- To keep your focus and stay committed.
- I know that Fake It Till you Make it is a myth. …. instead, Believe It Till You Make It Your New Reality.
- I know that you do fail forward to success – failure is just feedback that there is a better way to do something.
- I know you need to have bounce-back ability – never give up.
And what I have recently learned is that no matter how successful you were in another career or in the same career but possibly at a different level you still have to start at the beginning.
~ First you need awareness – change can only happen when we have an increased awareness. Be open to opportunity. ~ Give yourself permission to take baby steps – but always take an action step! ~Learn new things – I was willing to learn form others who had already mastered what I was wanting to do. There may be times You may have to do things that are uncomfortable and possibly even need to swallow your pride and be willing to do things not so perfectly at first.
To sum it up… Dream your dreams. Define your vision of where you want to be, of the life you would love living and then take action and do the work necessary to support your dream. …. Learn your skill…Take pride in every step of the way and I know I will hear you ROAR with Responsibility…. Opportunity … Action and Rewards.
