Are you invincible? By Steve Waterhouse

My friends Pam and Steve are incurable Philadelphia Eagles fans. That’s how I found myself at the movies on Saturday watching “Invincible”. It’s the story of Vince Patelle, a working stiff from South Philly who answered an open call for players and ended up playing for the Eagles.

As the story starts, not much is going right for Vince. He lost his job, his wife, and his furniture, plus his car doesn’t run and he’s broke. Other than that, he’s fine! He is surrounded by well meaning friends who think he can make it in the big leagues and encourage him to try out. That is with the exception of one guy, who reminded me of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, who was convinced that everyone in South Philly was a loser.

Vince listens to the wrong voices.

You can see in Vince’s eyes that he just can’t get past the negative voices around him. His father, his ex and his friend Eeyore seem to drown out the positive voices of a dozen or more supporters.

Finally he listens…

The movie turns when Vince decides he has nothing to lose by trying out and gives it a try. Eventually, one success leads to another and Vince finds himself on the team.

Who do you listen to?

When you listen to the voices around you, do you hear the echoes of past failures or the sounds of future successes? Sales is a tough business and it’s easy to find reasons to get discouraged. I meet sales people every day who tell me all the reasons that they can’t succeed. They have years of failure behind them as evidence to support their case.

But every once in a while, I run into a real idiot. One who is not bright enough to listen to all that evidence. One who won’t listen to the old timers with all their stories of failure.

I love these idiots!

Are you smart enough to be an idiot and not listen to the negative messages around you? Are you willing to take the heat for your optimistic and adventurous spirit? Will you refuse to listen to all of the negative ‘intelligence” around you?

Listen to your supporters.

Silence your detractors.

The result is a symphony of hope, opportunity and success!

Steve Waterhouse is Principal and Founder of Waterhouse Group (www.waterhousegroup.com), a sales consulting and training company that helps companies dramatically increase their sales. He can be reached at 1-800-57-LEARN or info@waterhousegroup.com.
 

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