When the legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk first started skating, he and his crew had to skate in empty swimming pools because the city shut down the skate parks due to insurance liabilities. Not to be dissuaded, he and his cronies jumped fences and continued skating in the concrete fishbowls. Conditions to skate at the competitions weren't much better-patchwork at best. With little to no sponsorship, the competitions were bootlegged strapped together-there was no real structure-figuratively and literally. The ramps were poorly built, so when it came your time to skate, you could feel the weak structure swaying underneath your feet-you had no idea if you were going to be the losing Jenga piece. Because of the poorly built structures most fearfully turned back, but Hawk skated anyway.
Most turned back because they're amateur in thought and Hawk was a pro in action.
Pro's see their current situation for what it is-yes they see the abysmal structures, the shaky conditions...they feel all of the pressures that everyone else feels, but pro's embrace the suck and "skate" anyway. Where amateurs look for excuses, pro's just seize the opportunity...they'll drop in, attempt, fall, fail, and face embarrassment...they'll embrace the imperfection and say, "Move, I'll do it."
I had a friend who had to play at a wedding-everything was arranged-the date, time, venue, it was all ready except for one thing. It was an outdoor wedding, and the coordinator had forgotten about the sound...no mic..no amp..no power..oh shit! With the bride standing at the entrance of her perfect day and with dozens of friends and family in attendance, my saxophonist friend did the only thing he knew to do. He played..and he played his ass off. That's what pros do-they take "it is what it is" and show you the magic that they can make out of it.
Pros and amateurs do have something in common...they both want...but amateurs stop at want and pros push on because they are willing. No they don't want to feel the acidic feelings of failing...Tony Hawk didn't want to keep breaking his bones and losing his teeth...athletes don't want to take the game winning shot ...and miss...salespeople don't want to work with customer after customer and be told, no; bought elsewhere; your price was too high; your trade value was too low...salespeople don't want customers to drive off, walk out, and hang up on them-no one wants to be left standing alone in the ashes of rejection, but pros are willing to..they're willing to look stupid, dust off, get back up, and if they if they only have a half-pint of strength left in their body, if they have pull up and lean up against something just to be able to throw themselves back in the fires of attempt, they'll do it with no hesitation.
So which are you? You can start right now..because many want, but few are willing.
Amateurs want and wait for optimal conditions, but pros are willing to just seize an opportunity.
Catch my podcast The Sales Life w/ Marsh Buice on iTunes or your favorite podcast platform.