CHAMPION STRATEGIES

Strategies for customer centered selling success

August 27, 2010                                                                                       Newsletter # 1522

SOMETIMES IT IS BETTER TO FORGET – IN ORDER TO MOVE FORWARD

Forgetting….Huh?  We teach memory training – what do I mean by the power of forgetting? I wanted to share with you how the power of how forgetting past poor performances can help you in the NOW and in the future.

A few sports analogies to illustrate my point:

– It is said that, for NFL quarterbacks, the shorter their memory, the more successful they are. For a NFL quarterback, the easier they can forget past failures, the better they play in the current game or down. If they are focused on that concussion that they experience the last game while playing the current game, they will play to “not get hurt”. This attitude of playing “not to get hurt” will only get them hurt again. If they are focused on the 3 interceptions that they just threw this game, they play scared, playing to not make mistakes…which will lead them to do more of the same–the law of attraction in effect.

Dominant thoughts attract your reality. It is such a great thing to witness when that quarterback who just threw a couple of interceptions takes the field again. The commentators are talking about if they are going to pass again. First play, pass and catch for 35 yards. No fear. This is a great example of how forgetting the past and playing in the moment works the best.

– Brett Farve is by far the best example of forgetting the past. In his career, he has had to deal with so much adversity and criticism. I would bet that he does not need a series of sessions with a physiologist to move on. He appears to live in the moment, as most successful professionals do.

– How about a boxing analogy? Mike Tyson, not the current Tyson, the early boxer. This guy was unstoppable, he was a super aggressive bull and mulled his competition. His approach was the same every time: attack, attack, attack. He intimidated his opponents before, during and after his bouts. Then he met Buster Douglas (from Columbus, Ohio by the way). Douglas was not intimidated by the bull, stood his ground and hung in there, even got knocked down in the 7th round. Then in the 8th round, the tide turned in favor of Douglas. In the 9th round, the unheard of happened: Douglas knocked out Tyson. Tyson was never the same again. He brought that knock out with him everyplace he went. It frustrated him to the point of biting off ears. He was still a bull in most people’s minds except for his own.

– The movie, “The Blind Side” is a true story about the life of Michael Oher. I highly recommend this movie. Quick recap, Oher grew up motherless and essentially homeless, living with people who would take him in for short periods of time. Tough life. Then a wealthy family took him in and gave him more than what he needed to excel in school, through college, and now he plays football for the Ravens. Outstanding story.

The scene that hit me and sparked me to write on this topic was where the mother and father who took him in were talking about taking Michael to a physiologist to talk about his past. The father said “the great thing about Michael is that he has the ability to forget his past, he does not let what happened to him affect NOW.”

I thought it was such a great line because of course those thoughts will pop into his head from time to time, however those thoughts do not affect his present moment. His personality was full of humor, joy and love.

How can we use this power to our benefit? We all have had failures in our lives. We all experience these situations. Take what you can as far as learning from it and FORGET IT. Personally, when I experience these types of things, I will quickly take one learning from it and then stop thinking about it, QUICK.

We are at our best when we are living in the moment, the NOW. When we are fully with the present, we are great. If that thought appears while you are in the moment, you can get rid of it by thinking about the greatness of this moment that you are in. To help, you can also think about how different this moment is from that moment.

If the moment that you are in NOW is that negative experience, know this: “This too shall pass,” and it will pass very quickly. That actual moment happens very fast. Your failure did not last all week, it only happened in a matter of moments.  Then it is has passed. Take a learn point from it, accept the result and move on.

How has the power to forget helped you in your life and/or business?

 

Make It A Champion Day!

 

“Sales Training Matters”