Small Home Business Survival Skills
As a former human resources professional it intrigues me why
some people are more 'successful' than others. By 'successful'
we are referring to an innate ability of some people to set and
achieve worthwhile challenges for themselves.
Here we are using the word "challenge" and not goals. A
challenge may be a goal, but not every goal is a challenge.
Challenges stretch us beyond where we are and generally require
us to embrace learning something new.
Very often it is the learning process - or lack of understanding
of the learning process - that causes us to shrink from
challenges. When we are children we learn readily. Unfortunately
somewhere in our development some of us start to acquire
negative thoughts and feelings about learning new things. For
some, our experiences in school have not fostered a love of
learning and confidence in our ability to learn. Consequently we
enter adulthood not valuing or understanding these important
attributes.
Do you find yourself shrinking back from challenging situations?
Do you assess tasks as not possible, because you don't know
enough? Be honest, many of us do. Have you started a home
business and feel completely overwhelmed by your lack of
confidence? Do you say to yourself, "It can work for others, but
not for me". Or, "I am the exception that proves the rule!"
If this is you, then read on as we explain a process of adult
learning. There are many models of adult learning and the theory
of such has been the subject of many doctorates. These however,
are not the subject of this article. Here we are using a simple
model that most people can relate to which can make a difference
to their lives.
There are four stages of development when you are learning
something new. Once you understand these stages of learning, you
may be encouraged to place yourself in challenging situations
and extend your capacity and capabilities through the learning
process. You may even learn to drop "I can't" from your
vocabulary and develop an "I can" perspective of yourself!
Go on, you can't lose and you just might acquire the confidence
to make an outstanding success at your home business or other
challenging venture!
Stage 1 - You Feel Foolish! When you first start out you
feel like an idiot! You feel as though you are stupid. If you
are learning to play golf, you most certainly would not think of
yourself as a 'golfer' the first time you pick up the golf club.
The fact of the matter is, you are a golfer - simply a very
inexperienced one!
This is the stage where you feel like a fake, or a charlatan -
because you have not mentally and emotionally bought into the
concept that you are a golfer. You may have made a verbal
commitment, and taken some action (picked up the club), but your
heart and mind is still a long way behind. That's why you can't
call yourself a golfer. If your heart and mind was in full
alignment with your words and actions, then you could say, "I am
a golfer and I have a bunch of stuff to learn before I get
really good". If you are a newbie in the home business arena,
you may have decided to keep quiet about your new business until
the business proves itself! (Hmmm)
This is a dangerous stage because without a firm focus, you are
likely to stop and give up. It is important to make a mental
shift and imagine yourself having fully achieved what you set
out to do. Imagine yourself playing golf, confidently hitting
the ball straight down the fairway. In reality you may feel
uncomfortable, and out of your depth; perhaps even anxious. This
is simply the early stages of learning and your emotions will
change if you keep going with the task you have undertaken. The
more uncomfortable you feel about your new venture, the harder
you should work on your imagination of success.
Some people try to avoid this stage altogether and procrastinate
from getting fully committed because they want to be feeling
"comfortable". What they actually mean is they can't get started
until they have learnt everything there is to know! They want to
spend months researching before they pick up a club and approach
the golf tee. This is a great mistake!
You can't learn how to play golf from a textbook or from a
training video alone. You have to learn by continually
practicing. Likewise your home business will not grow if you
don't communicate with people and practice! You may feel totally
foolish, but you cannot go forward unless you try and learn by
doing. Learning by doing is one of the fastest ways to learn a
new skill. How good a game of golf would you play, if you just
read about how to swing the club? How quickly will your business
grow if you only read the training manuals and don't get into
action?
Despite how foolish you may feel, get started AND keep going
despite how foolish you feel. Determine not to stop because if
you do, you will stop at the start and never get to the finish
line!
Stage 2 - You Feel Uncomfortable In the next phase you
may not feel quite so anxious and foolish, but you most
certainly are still uncomfortable! Keep going no matter how
uncomfortable you feel. The only way to get past this stage is
more and more practice. Your heart will catch up if you keep
doing the deal over and over. You may feel moments of
exhilaration as you start to see some positive results and at
other times feel despair as you catch fresh glimpses of the
challenge ahead of you. It is normal to feel like you are on an
emotional roller-coaster! Keep your focus on the future for the
best is yet to come. If you keep going giving yourself more and
more practice, picking yourself up despite the mistakes,
eventually you will find some aspects of the game of golf (or
your home business) will start to feel more comfortable. Oh what
a feeling! Make sure you celebrate the wins no matter how small
and reinforce how well you are doing.
Stage 3 - You Feel Comfortable In this next stage of
learning, you will start to lose some of your nervousness in
talking to people about the business, you may even start to
EXPECT results. Possibly some questions which earlier on
distressed you, are no longer a challenge. You start to see that
you can answer objections people put in front of you, with ease
and style. This is the comfortable stage. Your heart has finally
caught up with your head. You can tell people confidently you
are a golfer, or have your own business. Once your reach this
stage your self belief will have grown exponentially. Don't take
your learning for granted - celebrate your success again and
again.
Stage 4 - Your Feel Proficient This is where you really
wanted to be when you start. You are great at what you do!!! You
have developed an unshakable conviction about your ability. Here
you start to entertain thoughts of resetting your goals higher
and engage in improving your style or processes. The only way to
get here is practice, practice, and practice. You can't get here
in one step. You must pass through the other three stages. Once
you are here, don't be surprised if unforeseen things happen and
you may slip back into feeling comfortable, or even
uncomfortable. For example, you may have to play golf on a
different or harder course. Do not fear, simply practice over
and over and you will again be proficient and feeling completely
in control of what you are doing.
These four stages of learning can be applied to just about any
situation which requires learning a new skill. Learning is a
journey and when you understand the stages of learning you can
use the experiences as a powerful vehicle to propel you to
achieving a worthwhile challenge, rather than a daunting
experience that gets the better of you! Celebrate your successes
not matter how small and, never give up!
(c)Kim Beardsmore