SELLING YOURSELF AND YOUR IDEAS
Updated: Apr 9, 2020
Whether your need to sell yourself to gain employment, or convince someone to buy into an idea that you have, you must first believe in yourself. Everyday it seems like I encounter people who are struggling with their self belief and their self confidence. We all know that our self confidence is both impacted by external influences and internal influences. When I was 12 years of age I got involved in raising and showing beef steers in 4H. We had to give presentations at 4H meetings and this had a massive impact on me. First of all, I was very afraid of making presentations at the club meetings. Then I learned that the more knowledge I had on the subject the more confidence I had to speak. This was a huge confidence builder. In high school my junior year speech class was very tough. I failed miserably at it. But by the end of high school I was doing the school radio program at the local radio station each Sunday night. People told me I was fun to listen to and they enjoyed the music that I played. This experience was again another huge confidence builder. One step after another, confidence and the ability to sell my ideas and sell my self was occurring. The key to this though was simply taking the risks, and sticking my neck out. (Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?) Many years of selling radio station advertising and marketing and promotional ideas helped to built my confidence. Then giving thousands of motivational talks and leading seminars and workshops has certainly had an impact on my confidence–especially since now hundreds of thousands of people have been in my meetings and I have worked with hundreds of companies and organizations. Yet, I have not arrived by any stretch of the imagination. I still struggle with my confidence. We all must consistently be working on our personal and professional growth. You may notice the key to selling yourself and selling your ideas is purely a confidence issue. The more confidence you have the more success you will have in winning people to your way of thinking. So, arm yourself with the knowledge you need, dare to venture outside of your comfort zone to do the things you fear to do, stand up straight and put a smile on your face and tell yourself “I can do this and I will!” As you continue to grow you will have the confidence you need to sell yourself and your ideas!