“Practise, the natural enemy of the moderately talented.” Magpie Girl
Do some things just come naturally and easily to you?
When you have been blessed with talent, of any kind, coming across something which takes a little time and effort to master, often seems just too much of a hassle.
Either that or you decide to rely on your natural ability (nothing has ever been beyond you before) and good enough is, well, just good enough!
Discipline, self-control, creativity, credibility, tenacity, self-respect, courage, determination, pride, happiness – all can be increased with practise of some form or another
By the way, if you are reading this and the very idea of pulling your life out of blissful anarchy fills you with dread, then you are not alone.
I have worked with and managed many people who would say things like “I don’t want to be too organised, it takes away my edge!” or “I’m better if I wing it, ad-libbing is my thing!” or how about “Off the top of my head is fresh, spontaneous!”
That might be so, but there is a difference between successful spontaneity (usually not spontaneous at all) and ‘winging it’.
Good comedy offers a couple of clues as to what I’m driving at.
Over the years, I have seen various comedians giving the same show, on different dates during a national tour and delivering the same hilarious lines in the same order, with identical timing, to spectacular effect.
These lines must have been spontaneous and ‘off the top of their heads’ at one time.
But they were collected, refined – they were distilled into the best of the best – then they were polished again, and finally they were practised in front of audiences until the pace and inflection were honed to perfection.
As an example, did you know Ken Dodd, the British comedian, toured the country with one of his friends watching every show, noting the audience’s reactions to each joke – marked them out of ten - and created the perfect set of jokes for each region of the country?
Eighty two years old, still touring, still packing the theatres and probably still telling the same jokes.
Making notes of what has worked in the past is a great way of ensuring success in the future.
When you deliver the perfect presentation or unbelievable sales pitch make a note, highlight the areas that made them outstanding, underline the response that answered the age old questions.
If you have spent a particularly successful day on the phone or in front of clients, write down what marked today as being exceptional from the rest.
Watch others who are successful, find individuals who you admire, take note of WHY.
Once you have discovered what is “best” disregard everything else and perfect the processes which work.
Make the pursuit of excellence within your field one of your personal targets and understand that excellence is the by-product of practise.
Do this now
Take another look at this list;
Discipline, self-control, creativity, credibility, tenacity, self-respect, courage, determination, pride, happiness – if you had a choice, which one would you like to see more of in your personality?
Write it down in the middle of an A4 page and put around it words and people names that you associate with this character trait.
Circle them
Draw lines out from the original word to connect the descriptions and names to it.
Take each of these sub-categories and connect further descriptive and meaningful words to them until your page is full.
You always knew what you had to do to improve.
All the things regarding that single character trait, that are important to you are now written down on that paper - which will you choose to practise first?
Do this from now on
Practise!
Author and consultant, Chris Murray is the founder of Varda Kreuz Training, one of the UK's most innovative training and development organisations.
With more than twenty years experience, creating and running two successful businesses and working with companies which have included, LVMH, Minolta and Jim Beam Brands, Chris has presented programmes to sales teams and managers whose portfolios have encompassed everything from water to Champagne.
If you wish to discuss this article or book your next training workshop with Chris Murray you can call him direct on 0161 935 8183 or email info@vardakreuztraining.com
www.vardakreuztraining.com
www.1st-sales-training-in-manchester.co.uk
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Chris Murray
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