Feel Like You’re Drinking from a Fire Hose?
Dear Persuaders,
While I’m thrilled that all my thirsty new students are so eager to learn that they’d work themselves into a frenzy to try to get it all at once, I don’t want that passion for persuasion to become stressful or overwhelming. As one person put it, “I kind of feel like I’m drinking from a fire hose.” I want you all to fear not.
Stop! Take a deep breath. . . now let it go.
Persuasion is a process, just as living is a process.
My programs are always intense with a tremendous amount of content. It’s perfectly natural to feel overwhelmed to some extent. However, keep in mind a few things that I think will help you.
The first thing I would suggest for those of you just starting out with my programs, those of you just opening your eyes to the vastness of the topics we explore, I would very much suggest you listen. Listen to each session and then do it again and again. Even if you don’t think you’re getting it at first, be assured, you’re getting it.
This learning is ongoing because A, there’s so much of it, and B it’s ever evolving.
If you don’t get the opportunity of hearing something the first go around, you’ll hear it again the next time you listen, you’ll keep hearing things. Get it at whatever level you can and then start applying it. Then as you apply it, I’ll show you how to refine it and make it even more powerful.
What we are really studying here is human behavior. This is something you will hear me say over and over. We are studying human behavior, and since human behavior is not now nor will ever be entirely predictable, we keep improving our strategies to be able to interact persuasively.
This learning keeps us on the leading edge all the time compared to those that have typical sales training as a background. People are individuals with different criteria, with different ways of interacting, and as such, the keys to unlocking their particular patterns are all going to be different as well.
Some of my students have been working with me for four or five years. Some have just started recently. There are always new people month to month, week to week, etc…
One expectation I’m finding many new students have is that there should be a level of mastery. But I’ll tell you what, I haven’t mastered this, none of my students have mastered this, and that’s because human nature is constantly evolving and with it we evolve and learn and reach and strive for more excellence, and that’s all that we need ask of ourselves.
Certainly, it wouldn’t hurt to do a lot of practicing either. I’m not suggesting in any way that you don’t need to practice, I’m just saying that learning is going to happen whether or not you pressure yourself. Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable not to pressure yourself?
This is what I explained to my new student who was worried that he wasn’t getting IT enough to satisfy his high degree of thirst. “If you step back and have perspective on this, imagine yourself able to catch the spray from the fire hose instead of having it aimed straight at your face.”
To your success,
Kenrick