The power of positivity

As a TEC chair I have the opportunity of hearing some great speakers.

Recently I was privileged to hear the high energy Marcus Childs present on the value of challenge.

As entrepreneurs, life is an ongoing challenge – so here are some of his powerful thoughts.

• Complacency is the enemy. The brain answers the questions we ask it – the bigger the questions we ask the bigger responses we get.
• Mind the gap. I really liked this thought, as Marcus said, in the gap between stimulus and response choose hope, optimism, the belief that we can make a big difference or contribution. As Churchill said, “I suppose I am an optimist. There is little point in being anything else. Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Leaders are the merchants of hope”.
• Nobody can make you feel anything. Bill Gates said life is not fair – get used to it.
• Use painful learning and times of greatest challenge as proof and positive triggers for future high performance.
• Challenge is most valuable when we are excited by the outcomes.
• The size of the prize needs to be bigger than the pain of the journey.
• Try the use of single simple truths. Have a crisp and compelling statement of purpose for yourself, your team and for your family.
• Recognise, reward and describe what great looks like.
• Team up. Nobody achieves anything in isolation. Try the sponsorship of a close friend, mentor, guide, coach, confidant.
• And I loved this one—the Wright brothers did not have a pilots licence. He also used the example of a personal contact who attained a world sailing record for sailing into Antarctica having failed his Yacht Master certificate.
• You can if you think you can!

Marcia Griffin’s latest book, High Heeled Success (pictured left), is a frank account of building a business from a solitary sales person to a multi-million dollar business with 4,700 sales consultants around Australia and New Zealand. Contact Marcia to purchase. Marcia’s latest venture is skin care company griffin+row.