My Life to Date

  I've heard it said that life has it ups and downs that it can be like a roller coaster ride, and old friend of mine used to say "hang on to your hat on the way down", as she would laugh. I have always loved that analogy as life can be very much like that.

In my corporate career as a sales person I was once the best sales person a company ever had, in fact 10 years after I left that company, no one had beaten my record. At another company I was fired for not meeting my target, in fact I got nowhere near my target that  year, it was like I had fired my arrow in the opposite direction. So, was I a good sales person or a horrible one, and more importantly what did those experiences teach me.

Each one was a great teacher. To be the best carries a burden, trying to stay there is hard and the praise that comes with being on the top can be giddy at times, at times you wonder how you got there, can you stay there, will they see through you, do you deserve this success. When on top I learned to stay calm, not to take myself to serioulsy and most of all, to enjoy the brief time in the limelight with grace and humilty. To be the top salesperson means you have a seriously good team behind you, you don't get to the top on your own.

Ah. but to be on the bottom that's a whole different feel, constant pressure from sales managers, unreturned phone class from clients, loss of income, with this comes a whole different kind of pressure. Can you be in this situation and still truly believe that you are doing your best, that you are good enough, that things will (and they will) turn around. Can you stand tall when everyone knows you are on the edge of losing your job ? Can you feel equal too the people around you who are on the top

My career in sales was such a great teacher for me, I am so glad I had that experience, often today when things are happening in my business I can look back to a past experience and know where I am. On the way up or on the way down, or even just coasting for awhile.

My career in sales taught me the following about myself, I am tenacious, hardworking, generous, persistent to a fault, I care about my clients, and need to love what I do and the team to perform well, I can't fake it. It also taught me I am horrible at conflict resolution, I avoid conflict like a turtle, and only deal with it when someones rips the shell off me, I can be impatient and impulsive and need to slow down a bit. I can also not appear gratetful to the team because I am already on to the next project, it can be hard to keep up with my fast mind.

But what a blessing to know myself so well as  it is the truth that sets you free and until you know who you are you are still imprisoned. So off into the world  I go generous, impatient, loving, impulsive, passive, tenacious, hopefully you will meet me when one of my good qualities is shining but if you don't come back tomorrow as I could be a totally different person.