A few weeks ago a friend and I were talking about all things motivational. We discussed people we knew who needed motivation, including ourselves. Soon we were throwing out names of famous motivational speakers and their speeches, which was interesting since we both mentioned a few that the other had not heard of previously.
Being an NC State graduate, of course my favorite motivational speech is the "Never Give Up" talk given by Jim Valvano at the ESPY awards. At the time, Valvano was in the middle of a battle with cancer and anyone could see that he was physically in bad shape. I learned many years later that he had been violently ill that day and had even considered not attending to accept the Arthur Ashe Award, which was why he was there.
As he said in his presentation, his mind was still working. He was on point as he moved the audience to tears and laughter, all the while giving one of the most memorable talks I have ever heard. To this day, I still watch it on YouTube every few months.
As my friend and I continued the discussion I mentioned that for many people motivational talks just don't work. Or at least, not the traditional talks that we see and hear as sales professionals. Over the years I have attended many sales conferences with great speakers who get the crowd fired up. You can see the faces of the other attendees as they look at each other, excited and ready to go out and sell their hearts out. The energy is palpable.
Unfortunately, that energy wanes over the next 48 to 72 hours later. Getting smacked in the face with rejection or dealing with rude clients gives these people a dose of reality they all but forgot during the euphoria of the speech. What went wrong? Did the organizers of the event hire a bad motivational speaker? Not at all.
About a dozen years ago I attended a sales conference with great speakers who had written some amazing books. In total, there were probably six or seven presenters who all gave good talks. And to be honest, a couple of days later I didn't know what they spoke about. How do I know they were good speakers if I can't remember the topics? Herein lies the rub.
There's as saying that goes something like "People won't remember what you said, but they will remember how they felt when you said it." It's absolutely true. All I remember was listening to the speaker and getting fired up. After that it was a blur.
In my book I mention that one should get motivated and do it often. Motivation does not stick to you like super glue. It's like taking a shower. You smell good until the next time you work hard, then you need another shower. Staying motivated means reading books or listening to talks over and over again.
That is just half of the equation, of course. One can listen to every great speech ever given and still not move the needle of success. I mentioned this to my friend as our discussion continued and he said, "That's because people don't do the next part of the process. They have to take action." If you do not take action you make it harder to succeed, and all of the inspiration in the world will be useless.
As you do what you need to do to rev up your mind and spirit, remember that unless you do something about it and take action, it will be a waste of your time. Make that call, send that email, go to the networking event - just do something! Think of it as a ball at the top of a hill. Talking to it won't move it, but a good push will get it rolling.
I wish you great success in the upcoming year and please stay healthy!
Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. He's also the author of "You're Going To Be Great At This!", a humorous look at sales. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.
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