I bring up this scariness factor because I want to talk about fear in this week‘s newsletter. Last week I became an expert in dealing with fear. First let me say that my family and I enjoyed a wonderful vacation in Puerto Vallarta. During this wonderful week, my grown children thought that we should experience the Vallarta adventure. https://www.vallarta-adventures.com/tours
The short version of this excursion is that we rode an inflatable motor boat (fast) across the ocean, a bumpy open air army looking truck, up what might have been a road, then strapped ourselves into very unflattering zip line gear – that included a helmet (thank goodness), rode a mule even higher into the jungle – (I don‘t know how I didn‘t fall to my death as he lumbered up the cliffs – I‘m glad the mule knew what to do), and then finally hiked to the tops of the trees.
From this point on the story is all about getting down and down and down. Twice I tried to negotiate my way out of zip lining or repelling in a couple of spots. I knew there just had to be a way to walk – I can walk with a minimum amount of fear. No such luck. Our guides were far better sales people than I. “Lean back senorita – put your foot on the rock and go!”
Ok – I‘ll admit, zip lining is a kick. I‘d do it again. There‘s something pretty spectacular about flying through the jungle suspended on a clothesline rope (maybe it was better than that). There were moments when I yelled, “I‘m the queen of the jungle.” Truly, that was a way to mask my fear. After reviewing all the pictures I look scared out of my mind. After the first platform and not falling into the trees, I felt like I could handle the zip line portion of the trip.
The very scary part came after about 4 successful swings across the trees. As I gained confidence, they began to tell us how we would repel. At this point, I remembered there was an entire class in college to teach repelling. That‘s a full semester. I received a 2-minute description of how to repel 100 feet straight down the flat-faced rock of a waterfall. OK, I got 4 minutes of instruction because I was too scared to really lean back and go. I tried everything I knew to close the deal so that I could get down another way. I nodded yes as I said, “There must be a chicken way to manage this part of the excursion.” No. Then I said, “I‘m pretty sure I can‘t do this.” I gotta tell you I was super scared. Finally, I begin to offer money for some alternate way down. No go. “Senorita, lean back and put your feet on the rock. Keep them flat.” It was the longest 100 feet of my life. I was grateful to God when I landed in the water (No, I didn‘t fall). Then it dawned on me that my husband and my children also had to get down. When Jerry, my husband, finished this part of the excursion, we sat together on a rock. I was never more in love with him than I was in that moment, even after 30 years.
We followed this part of the 4 ½ hour adventure with a free fall down another waterfall, more zip lining, and hiking. I will say that once we passed the repelling, it was all downhill from there. (pun intended) The confidence and joy of making it through the journey begin to take hold. I won‘t say that I quit being afraid each time I zoomed off of one of the zip line platforms, but I did gain confidence. After almost a week of reflection, I‘m certain that many things used to cause me anxiety that are completely gone today! Everything is based on your point of reference. From last Monday till the end of my life, I always know that whatever may seem scary CAN‘T be as scary as repelling down the flat face of a waterfall.
How do you handle your fear? Are you in a job that scares you a little? Does it make you nervous to make a cold call? Keep doing it – even if you are afraid. It gets easier. When you have success, I promise your confidence will grow.
If you enjoyed this lesson please share it with your staff.
Happy selling!
Good luck with training your staff during 2010 and beyond. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at beth@trainertainment.net.
Beth contributes an article monthly for Replay Magazine titled The Party Professor. If you want access to the archive of “The Party Professor” articles (and much more), sign up for Xpress Training TODAY!
