Are there days you feel like an Olympian?
The 2014 Winter Olympics are now over. For those that won a Metal, they deserve all the accolades that come with the success.
Those that came up short are most likely going over in their minds what they could have done differently or better and what they need to do to improve.
Maybe the biggest challenge for those will be to not allow doubts and negative thoughts to take over. Not to begin doubting their abilities and resisting the urge to give up or making excuses.
We can learn a lot about how to handle defeat from Olympian Shaun White’s failure in this year’s Winter Olympics.
Shaun White went to the Olympics this year expecting and being expected to win a Gold Metal – just like he had done before. But instead he came home without a metal, coming in 4th place in his event.
In his interviews afterward, he did not say or give any indication that he doubted his abilities, was not well prepared or was thinking of quitting.
Instead of making excuses for his performance he put his performance in perspective. He knew that he “just had a bad day.” He didn’t blame anything or anyone. He just accepted the loss and was willing to deal with it. He said “it was only one night.”
“Every time I’ve had a bad performance at an event, I’ve come back more determined and focused.” – Shaun White
As a Sales Professional, how do you handle defeat?
When you meet with a client or customer and everything you say seems to come out wrong.
When you don’t close the deal you have worked long and hard for and feel like your proposal was the best.
When you realize in March that you are not reaching the Goals you had set just a couple of months earlier.
Do you begin to let self doubt and negative thoughts take over?
Do you start to doubt your abilities and think of giving up?
Or worse you begin blaming others and making excuses.
Maybe we should all take a lesson from Shaun White and tell ourselves “ it just wasn’t my day, there’s always tomorrow.”
Realize that we don’t always win at everything we work hard for and sometimes we will have a bad day!
If you don’t get a deal closed or have the winning proposal, don’t beat yourself up just move on!
Commit or re-commit to doing the things each day that will help you reach your goals!
Take ownership of your own performance and resist the urge to blame others or make excuses!
Don’t let negative self thoughts begin to take over your thinking!
Learn to come back from each defeat more focused and determined just like Olympian Shaun White!
Maybe we should all start to act like an Olympian. What do you think?
I would like to thank Rick for suggesting this topic for this week’s blog post.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this article.
Now let’s get out there and over-deliver!
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