I’m probably banging on a bit about this – no, better to say I’m passionate about it… that is, the one ingredient I believe is the single biggest reason for success in business and your personal life; and most certainly in networking.
It’s no great revelation. But I don’t believe it enjoys the prominence it should and I don’t believe we do enough to cultivate it. I would suggest it is one of the primary reasons why some people succeed and others do not. Sure there are other things, but they pale in comparison to this ingredient…
What do people like Richard Branson and Zig Ziglar have that you perhaps do not?
The answer is ENTHUSIASM.
I’m not talking about bounding out of bed like a puppy. Nor do I mean constantly laughing, smiling and breaking into song while the proverbial Titanic sinks.
I mean being somebody that other people want to be around. Demonstrating enthusiasm and passion for whatever it is you’re doing. If you’re dour, half-asleep, in a rut or in ‘another day another dollar’ mode you’re handicapping your ability to succeed.
There’s a great advertisement on television about smiles being contagious. A man walks out of a door smiling, a women sitting in a passing bus sees him and smiles to herself, the person across the aisle picks up on her smile and so it goes… It begins a chain reaction – and it works!
Enthusiasm and passion accomplish the same thing. People follow passion! They want to be around enthusiastic people. They want to be fired up.
Don’t take this as ‘oh, here we go again… more fluffy nonsense’. Actually make a point of practising it.
When you stand up at your BNI, or attend a networking meeting, or go into a sales interview, a business meeting or even when you go home to your family… be excited, demonstrate enthusiasm.
It requires preparation and mental effort, but if you’re not enthusiastic about what you do or sell, how can you expect anybody else to be?
To put my money where my mouth is, I intend to be enthusiastic everyday for a month starting now (and yes, I expect it to be a challenge). I’ll report back to you on my findings…
