Do Business Well

How to develop the persistence of the Cheetah:

Learn to love those setbacks; Stay focusedwhen you’re tired; Keep foraging for thebusiness

A cheetah never feels “rejected” because it misses its prey

We have chosen the Cheetah as our role model for entrepreneurs. Do you know why? Because despite its hunting prowess, speed and predatory gifts, the cheetah misses its prey nine out of ten times. Nine out of ten times!! Can you imagine what would happen to the cheetah if on the ninth time it sat under a tree and exclaimed, “Bugger this,I think I’ll become a vegetarian!”

That’s why a cheetah will never starve. It may go through lean times. It may go hungry on occasion. It may have to leave its traditional hunting grounds in search of prey. But it knows it has no option: it must continue the hunt - for its sake and the sake of thefamily it may be sustaining.

A cheetah never feels “rejected” because it misses its prey. It doesn’t suffer self-doubt or self-pity. What’s more, when it begins its hunt - it always expects to succeed, no matter how many times it doesn’t. And that’s one of the ultimate secrets of high performance: the best of the breed always expect to win, no matter how many times they don’t. We call it pathological optimism - the inability to conceive of defeat even against all odds. You know why? Because the moment you do, you dilute your personal power with FUD - fear, uncertainty and doubt. Think about your own experiences. Think about what happened to your confidence and credibility when you contemplated the consequences of failure and loss. Not pretty memories, are they?

Now look, we aren’t telling you to be Pollyanna here. We aren’t telling you to be foolhardy and ignorant of the risks you’re about to face. You can’t walk through your garden shouting: “There are no weeds, there are no weeds” and expect the weeds to go away. The weeds will take your garden over. What we are telling you to do is always believe that you can deal with the weeds, even if your garden is covered with them. But you’d better have the right equipment, weed killer and skills.

Seriously, persistence is directly related to self belief and optimism.

Time and time again, we have seen that the most persistent entrepreneurs demonstrate these traits in abundance. In fact, they have developed such a powerful personal mission and attitude that tough times merely strengthen their determination and resilience. It’s as though they dare life to throw as much as it can at them so they can hurl it back with interest. If you are feeling a kindred spirit with these champions - welcome to an awesome future as an entrepreneur!!

“I don’t focus on the “No”, I focus on the R1000 I’ve just made”

Like the cheetah, Mike misses his prey nine out of ten times. In other words, for every nine “No’s” he gets one “Yes”. But when he gets a “Yes”, he usually makes R10 000. So let’s do the arithmetic: if it takes ten calls to make R10 000, each call is worth R1000. That’s why he stays so massively persistent in the face of adversity. As Mike says, “I don’t focus on the “No”, I focus on the R1000 I’ve just made”. Try it out.

It works.

I call it your “Explanatory Style”. It is the way we explain things to ourselves that determines our response to those things. If you explain it to yourself negatively, that’s how you will respond. If you explain it positively, you will respond accordingly. So start practicing a positive “explanatory style” immediately and enjoy the rewards.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
The Power to Endure part 1

• Serious Selling Your Business part 2
• Serious Selling Your Business part 4
• Serious Selling Your Business part 3
• The Power to Endure part 3
• I Made My Own Advertising Work part 1
• The Power to Endure part 2
• Hints for madam chairman continue...
• Use meetings to train and develop your downliners
• Get Your Business off to a Quick Start Week 1
• Making a Plan: how to construct a simple and workable business plan part 6
• The Power to Endure part 4

5 Comments »