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Managing Change, Part 3
May 25, 2005
So why did I choose
commissioned sales? Why did I choose the company I chose? What were my
goals? And what did I learn?
Commissioned sales
provided the opportunity
to tap into a system that worked and that I could learn from. I was
told that I ought to be able to make $1,000 per week and work
20 hours per week—after just six months of experience. Well, it didn't
work out that way, for various reasons. I spent months
grinding it out, to little or no avail. But I didn't quit right away.
I chose to take on that opportunity for a reason. I told my wife one
evening that I was ready to leave, but that I was doing that work
because I was supposed to learn something. And I didn't feel that I had
learned it yet. I said that I couldn't leave until I had.
Within a few days, I
learned it. It's a valuable lesson that many
before me have learned. Many of the best motivational and personal
development speakers and writers proclaim its importance. And it's a
lesson I didn't think I needed to learn, because I already knew it. I
already knew and had applied it over and over and over. Yet here I was,
having to learn it again. What was that all-important lesson?
What I learned is that in order to be fully effective, I need to be
doing something I'm passionate about. Put another way, I need to be
passionate about what I'm doing. I repeat this in these two different
ways because they indicate something very imporant about the nature of
passion as it applies to work. Saying that I need to be doing something
I'm passionate about implies that I need to look for something I'm
passionate about and do that. Saying that I need to be passionate about
what I'm doing implies that I need to have passion for that which I am
already doing.
This distinction is so important because it can help to guide us as we
make choices about our careers, our goals, and our activities. There
are times when we must choose what we will do. And sometimes, we have
to do things we don't like to do. If I can find or create the passion
for the thing I don't like to do, then I just might find a metaphorical
(or real) goldmine. I don't like doing paperwork, but if I know that
filling out the current contract is going to cement a new 12-month
lucrative consulting job, I can use that knowledge to fuel my passion.
If, on the other hand, I cannot get passionate about that contract,
regardless of how much money or other more valuable rewards it may
create for me, then perhaps I need to consider finding work that I'm
already passionate about.
Sometimes, however, I won't have the option of changing careers
available to me. Sometimes, I will simply have to gut it out. For
example, if I lived in a country in which tyranny and oppression were
the mainstay, I might not be able to simply follow my heart's desire.
If that were the case, then I would have to find or create the passion
for the work I'm already doing. Other times, as noted above, there are
so many opportunities available, that I won't have to look far for an
opportunity that I'm passionate about.
I was never passionate about selling health insurance, but I was
passionate about several related aspects of my work. First, there was
the long-term goal of growing my own writing consulting business. That
is part of my long-term vision, and I believe that I have the basic
model for a company that is unlike any other. I have not yet found any
company that offers the same services in the same way as the services
my company offers. I believe my company vision is superior to any
company offering related services. I have a whole new concept for
conducting business. It is a combination of synthetic vision and
creative vision. That is to say that some aspects of my concept are
combinations of ideas already in existence, but other aspects of my
concept are totally new, totally unheard-of yet.
Second, I was and am passionate about helping other people. Part of my
work was conducting business consultation through the National Association for the Self-Employed
(NASE - I have included a link so you can obtain additional
information, but I receive no compensation from you accessing the
website or joining the association). The NASE provided me a wonderful
opportunity to help people in a big way beyond providing them with
access to affordable health insurance. That organization is what first caught my attention when the
commissioned sales opportunity became available. I knew two of the
board members personally and considered them friends long before I ever
knew about the sales opportunity. The NASE is a fine organization that
provides outstanding benefits to its members. It is well worth the
price of membership. If you are self-employed and are not a member of
the NASE, then I strongly recommend that you consider joining the
association. You will be glad you did.
Third, I was passionate about learning to apply myself to a new
endeavor in a successful way. I wanted to prove to myself that I could
do it. I firmly believe that I can do anything I put my mind to. I also
believe that you can do anything you put your mind to, regardless of
your upbringing, your friends, your financial situation, your physical
limitations, etc. One of the amazing facts of life is that we have been
endowed with flexibility and versatility to adapt ourselves to many
widely varying situations. Here's another interesting fact: If you
doubt what I've said, remember that if you really are unable to do
something, you will not be able to put your mind to it. That may seem
like a truism, but it is not as self-evident as it may at first appear.
Check back next week to learn why.
With many blessings
and
wishes for successful positive change,
Courtney Huntington
Founder
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