Harness your positive power

Self-motivation is the stuff of successful people everywhere.  These “winners” in our society don’t wait for permission to try the next bright idea, to put action behind vision, to start their lives.  These people dive in wholeheartedly and turn their work into adventure stories with themselves as the heroes and heroines whom bosses love and teammates respect. 

So what do these winners have that most of us struggle with?  They have self-confidence and drive.  I cannot, in the course of one article, build your self-confidence for you, but I can help with the drive.  One simple tool called the Affirmation can help you start your business day right and support the energy you need for successful teleprospecting.  Here’s what I mean:

What is a personal affirmation?

An affirmation is simply words you use to tell yourself you’re good at what you do.  The trick is in finding the right words that help your subconscious build the picture you want of the best you there can be, and use those words consistently so that your subconscious helps you make your vision a reality.

Why affirmations work

An affirmation is consciously writing a new script for the “self-talk” that goes on inside your head constantly.  How many times have you thought “I would do this, but . . . ” An affirmation can crowd out the “buts” that stop your own personal success. 

When I took up dancing, many people would say, “I’d love to dance, too, but I have no talent for it.” That’s their self-talk getting in the way of a lot of fun.  Affirmations work because you become your own best friend and feed your subconscious the thoughts and words necessary to build the successful person you know you are.  If you can write then read an affirmation often enough, your subconscious will help it come true.

As a teleprospecting professional, this means that you will build an image of yourself as the respected sales expert your company needs, and you have the skills, confidence, and energy to pick up that phone day after day.  You will tell yourself how much you enjoy your work and that enjoyment will result in better and better performance.

The elements of an affirmation

As with any good skill, affirmation building doesn’t just happen in a single effort or writing session.  That’s both the challenge and the fun.  You can write one affirmation, read it over and over and have little effect, or you can “own” your affirmation, tweak it to suit your needs, and truly make it part of who you are.  Which do you think is more effective?

Here are some elements to put into your affirmation:

1. Write in the first person – By using the word “I” instead of “you” your internal systems will remap the vision of you faster and more completely.  “I am a great teleprospector” resonates with your subconscious, whereas “You are a great teleprospector” asks your brain to find out who “you” is.  This is like cutting down the clicks to a purchase on a website.  The fewer the clicks, the quicker the sale.

1. Write in the present tense – We’ve all heard the phrase that “tomorrow never comes.”  This is true for affirmations as well.  You can choose to live in a constant state of “someday I’ll be great” or you can make yourself great by encouraging your subconscious to get you there NOW.

1. Be positive in your statements – Have you ever noticed that when you tell a little person, “Don’t do that!” they tend to do exactly what you asked them not to?  They don’t hear the “don’t” in the same way you or I might. Our subconscious works similarly. Use positive terms.  Instead of saying, “Rude callers won’t bother me,” try for something more along the lines of, “I tolerate rude callers, understanding their needs better.”

1. Be realistic – We all want to be super heroes, but making the leap (in a single bound) from teleprospector to president of the United States is simply dreaming. For your affirmation to be effective, make your statements sound “realistic” to you:
   1. I have the energy to smile
   2. I make the most of every dial
   3. I listen carefully and respond appropriately

Along similar lines, always write your affirmation within your own ability to make what you want, happen. You do not have control over your boss’s decision to promote you—that belongs to him or her. What you can control is building the skillsets for the job you aspire to, like great decision making, thinking beyond your current work, or training others in what you do.

1. Be goal specific – If you don’t know what you want, then anything you get will be okay.  If you don’t define success in your own mind, how will you know when you’ve achieved it?  How will you know to aim higher?

Sample for your files

By using the hints above, I’ve put together this teleprospector’s affirmation.  You are welcome to use it as a starting point for your own affirmation work, with my best wishes for your personal success:

I AM A TELEPROSPECTOR

I am proud of my ability to pick up the phone each work day with enthusiasm, hope, and joy.  I start my day building positive energy by deep breathing and smiling at that terrific person in the mirror.  I review my call list for the day and make sure I have specific goals for each call I make. 

When people are unavailable, I am prepared to hang-up and move on or leave a great message that makes my prospect feel good for having retrieved their voicemails.  When I connect with my target person, I make the most of the call by taking notes, asking open-ended questions, finding out more about their needs and how my business can help fulfill them.

I record the results of each call and build a list of successes each day.  When a rude person at the other end of the line challenges me, I understand that this bad energy belongs to them and I am free to let go of that call. At the end of the day, I am grateful for the opportunity to help so many people with their needs, and help my company achieve its financial success.  I am a valuable team asset, a good person and a success as a teleprospecting professional.