Confucius said: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
I think the job you love should also be one in which you are well paid and at which you excel. Even as a rookie, that’s the key. Find that one thing you like to do, can do well and that pays well. You need all three to be successful.
Success will find you when you make yourself an authority in something that prospects want. Which prospects? The ones with whom you naturally have influence. Be honest. We all have our best audience.
Working with the right audience is the most important decision you can make. Find where you have the most influence and go there. Just don’t try to do too much for too many. You can’t do everything for everyone. Choose one authority and one audience.
Then, create a simple package of products that suits your audience. Keep the package simple and easy for clients to understand what you do and how they benefit. This is all about them, not you. Get all the facts to customize the package to suit them. Present like your audience thinks.
Be an “authority.” Know everything you can about the package you offer and the people you offer it to. Success is the natural consequence of offering your program to large numbers of prospects.
This approach is self-managing, self-motivating and almost self-prospecting. When you are doing what you love to do, you don’t have to make yourself do it. And, when the word gets out that you’re the person to call, they will.
How long will this take?
After I started as a performance counselor, I asked this same question of a very successful expert. He asked me how long I had been at it so far. Three years, I said. He told me it would take at least five years before I would figure it out. Some people take ten.
This is not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear “tomorrow”. Maybe you do too. Another seven years sounded crazy. But, he was right. It’s been about eight years now and I know what he meant.
We used to say that if you could last five years in the business you’d have it made. It’s still true. This isn’t to say that you’ll be broke until then. It’s just that “you’ll be in the business” for five years or so before “the business will be in you”.
It’s a great business and a wonderful journey. Enjoy.