Finding your Route Guidance.
An autobiography generally fills far more pages than the following Autobiography in Five Short Chapters by Portia Nelson:
Chapter One
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to get out.
Chapter Two
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter Three
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter Four
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter Five
I walk down another street.
Is it time to walk down a different street?
In the fluctuating modern day workplace, the role of salesperson has changed radically and yet, remains the same. In sales as in life, we often choose to walk down the same familiar old street, even when the usual outcomes lie in wait. Is it the certainty of misery or the misery of uncertainty that guides us there? Taking a different path can be various parts terrifying experience and exhilarating ride. We’re desperate to know that things will work out and yet all we can see is the unknown. Change, both big and small often requires an immense leap of faith; in our teachers, our internal guides, and ourselves. To travel to the end of an unknown street and peek around the dark corner to find an amazing new outcome adds so much to one’s sense of adventure and accomplishment in life.
And in the end, what are we waiting for? In the immortal words of David Bowie;
“Ch-ch-Changes…”