"Come Out of Your Comfort Zone"
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Come Out of Your Comfort Zone In this article:
PRISON BREAK You will succeed in life in direct proportion to your willingness to come out of your comfort zone and escape from your self-imposed prison of mediocrity. You hold the key to mental freedom, and you will find it if you reach into the pocket of your own mind. START GOING IN CIRCLES Imagine a small circle drawn within a large circle. The large circle represents your true potential in life, and the inner circle represents where you are actually living your life. Too many of us live in the small circle thinking as the Peggy Lee classic goes, “Is That All There Is?” No – that is not all there is, and in this article, you will learn how to expand your boundaries. OH SAY CAN YOU SEE You have comfort zones in all areas of your life. Let us examine a few. You have a singing comfort zone. I always ask a member of my audience to sing the National Anthem in front of our class. The usual expected response is a big fat no. OUCH, THAT HURTS If you don't make a living singing in public, it is perfectly acceptable to stay in your small circle and not feel the pain of embarrassment when someone asks you to get up and sing the National Anthem. However, if you made a living singing and turned down an opportunity to exercise your vocal chords in public, you would not go very far in the music world. A STANDING O One time I asked a lady in the front row to sing our Anthem; she grabbed the microphone from me, leaped to her feet and belted out a great rendition of our country's signature song. She even got a standing ovation. THE RIGHT STUFF Curious as to how she was able to sing in front of a group of strangers, she informed me that she was an opera singer. I picked the one person in the room that had the right stuff when it came to singing in public. SUPER BOWL JITTERS However, if I were to take that same person to the Super Bowl, and at the last minute ask her to get up and sing in front of the sixty thousand fans in the stadium and sixty million people watching at home, she may have experienced the jitters and reacted differently. SING A NEW SONG As long as there are mountains you have not yet climbed, you will always have an opportunity to expand your capabilities and come out of the inner circle. When you reach the outer circle, you will always find the outer circle is now a smaller circle within another large circle. You need to learn to sing a new song or take a new risk. There will always be comfort zones to conquer. THE ROLLER COASTER EFFECT Challenges along the way give life the edge, and create excitement. Whenever you have an opportunity to come out of your comfort zone, you will also have an opportunity to expand your horizons and grow in your profession. You will experience the same thrill that you experienced on your first roller coaster ride. Imagine how boring a roller coaster ride would be if the track was flat. The ups and downs make it worth experiencing. COME OUT AND PLAY It is no different in selling. Your willingness to make cold calls is a form of coming out of your comfort zone. The sales person, who is unwilling to come out of the inner circle and make calls even when he or she is afraid and discouraged, will never truly succeed in the sales profession. BABY STEPS You don't have to come out of your comfort zone all at once. In other words, you don't have to move right from the inner circle to the outer circle on your first effort. You can take baby steps to get you from where you are to where you want to go. HOW DO YOU DO -- IT? For example, if you make a cold call and say the following: You: Hi, my name is Joe Bonura and I would like to introduce you to my advertising agency. Prospect: I already have an advertising agency. You: Oh! Here's my business card. Will you call me if ever you need to look at a new agency? Prospect: Sure I will. That was not a sales call - that was a social visit. TRY, TRY AGAIN Let's try again, only this time you will come one step out of your inner circle comfort zone. You: Hi, my name is Joe Bonura and I would like to introduce you to my advertising agency. Prospect: I already have an advertising agency. You: I can appreciate that. We only speak with people who understand the value of working with an advertising agency. Do you have about fifteen minutes? Prospect: I'm happy with my present advertising agency. You: Here's my business card, and if ever you decide to take a look at us, will you give us a call? Prospect: Sure I will? DON'T STOP NOW Well, that was better than the first call, but still more of a social visit than a sales call. Make a greater effort this time: You: Hi, my name is Joe Bonura and I would like to introduce you to my advertising agency. Prospect: I already have an advertising agency. You: I can appreciate that. We only speak with people who understand the value of working with an advertising agency. Do you have about fifteen minutes? Prospect: I'm happy with my present advertising agency. You: Are you familiar with ABC Company, and XYZ Company? They said the exact same thing to me, and now they are very happy and successful clients. I only need fifteen minutes and you can make up your mind then. ONE MORE TIME Prospect: I am too busy right now. You: I didn't really expect to visit with you now. I'm just here to see if we can set an appointment at a time that would be more convenient for you. How does next Friday at 2:00 PM look on your calendar? Prospect: I guess that will work. You: See you then and thanks. SUCCESS AT LAST Each time you came back, you expanded your comfort zone, and you also learned to move forward and not backward. BUTTERFLIES CAN SLOW YOU DOWN How do you know when it is time to move out of the inner circle? You will know you are approaching the limit of your present comfort zone when you start to feel the butterflies take wing in your stomach -- you know – that queasy feeling. FLYING IN FORMATION Someone once told me that the secret to success is getting the butterflies to fly in formation. Getting them to fly in formation comes from improving your skills level. You are afraid to do something when you don’t know how to do it well. The more you practice your sales techniques, the more confident you will become and you will know how to call the butterflies into formation. BE A SALES HERO Even seasoned professionals, the good ones, get the butterflies. The difference in them and seasoned failures is that they face the fear and do it anyway. A hero has the same fear as a coward. The hero does not let the fear stop him or her from moving forward. READ THE CONSTITUTION We just saw the movie, "The Pursuit of HappYness" (correct spelling of the happiness in movie title) starring Will Smith and his real life son. The movie should be a must see for every person who is in the profession of selling. When you see the movie you will learn that no matter what the odds, you will eventually succeed if you keep your eye on the ball and keep moving forward. Rejection is nothing more than a stepping-stone to future success. TAKE A WALK ON THE SALES SIDE If you are not experiencing rejection and failure in selling, it is because you are not making enough sales calls. You can't stumble if you are not out going for a walk. However, you will never get anywhere either. STEP BY STEP Make a decision right now to take a first step to come out of your comfort zone. Just take one step beyond what you would normally take. And then next week take two steps, and then three. Make it a lifetime journey. Each step will lead you closer to the success that we are all seeking in the selling profession. STUCK ON YOU The only reason that you have for staying where you are in life is that you have chosen not to move forward. You are stuck where you are because you have chosen to be stuck. Go ahead, come out of your comfort zone now and feel the excitement, risk, and reward. © 2006-2008 Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc. |
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REPRINT info: Joe Bonura About Joe Bonura His background is unique. Joe owned and operated a highly successful advertising agency for 18 years. During that time, he found his advertising campaigns were more effective when he educated his clients in the areas of sales and service. He conducted training seminars for his clients as added value. Word spread that Joe was a quality speaker and more and more people asked him to speak. The demand became so high that he sold the agency to three of his associates to start his own speaking and consulting company, Joe Bonura & Associates, Inc. Joe is past President of the Kentucky Speakers Association and a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a prestigious designation earned by only 8% of the 3,600 member National Speakers Association. Joe presently serves on the board of directors of NSA. He is author of the audio learning systems "Three-Dimensional Selling®" and "Turning Customer Satisfaction Into Customer Excitement®." He is author of the book Throw the Rabbit—The Ultimate Approach to Three-Dimensional Selling. Click here TO ENGAGE JOE BONURA FOR A TRAINING SEMINAR AT YOUR COMPANY
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