Thursday, July 03, 2008

Ex Loser

Earlier this week I went back on a sale of mine to see how the install went. She wasn't home but her boyfriend was in the garage. He owns a clothing business that he has started in the garage of this home. It's called Ex Loser. It's a pretty cool concept and he was pretty passionate telling me about it. It was based off the idea of a loser getting tired of losing and doing something about it. He explained to me how it's applicable in any situation in life, be it sports, family, career, etc.

So I'm not doing a great job conveying his thoughts and ideas as well as he did; but it was enough to cause me to think about my pursuits and goals of late. I thought about this job and how glad I am to come back this summer. Last summer I didn't do as great as I'd hoped. I think the ultimate reason I came back was to prove to myself that I can and will succeed at this job. I thought about my studies at college, and how I'm doing everything it takes to get my accounting degree, even if I have to retake my classes or go another route. I thought about a few other aspects of my life where I've been beaten once or more, and grateful that I have the motivation (pride?) to improve so that I come out on top, even if it takes longer than it normally does.

I was glad I ran into Sevrille that day. He re-ignited in me the motivation I've been looking for. I hit a slump at work these past couple of weeks and that helped pull me out. He reminded of why I was out here.

Today in our training meeting we had a motivational part of the meeting, where we watched the video of the father who did the triathlon with his handicapped son. Afterward, we wrote down what our 5 motivators were for being out here. My top one was to prove to myself that I could succeed; to prove to myself that I can sell, and that I can come out on top. That helped me out throughout the day, because after a few hours of walking around, there was a lot of negative self-talk in my head about the area I was in (everyone was pretty rude). Finally, it came to a point where I told myself to suck it up and get to work. I pushed past the jerks and sold 3 after 7pm! It was a good feeling, and I realize that I would not have gotten those 3 sales had I not changed my mindset.

There's a song I often used to sing to myself on the doors to remind me of why I was working out here in Philly. It's "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon. I would just repeat the chorus over and over again. One line kept me motivated: "I've forgotten what I started fighting for!" Perhaps I should start singing that song to myself again.

If there's anything I'm super passionate about, it's that we can accomplish anything we want to. If we are not achieving our goals and/or dreams, it's only because we hide behind empty excuses and lack the character to do so. I have gained a very strong conviction that choice is behind 99.9% of our current situations in life, and 100% of our level of happiness.

Like Sevrille's motto for his business is: "Exlosers are simply Winners who got mad;" the Winners finally got tired of losing and made the decision to change and win.