"So, after completing CPT, NOW WHAT?" I remember asking myself. A Million other questions raced through my mind. Questions like, "Where do I go from here?", " What should I do?", "Who would engage my training services?", "What have I gotten myself into?", "Will I ever make the money those professional trainers are making?" (oh, btw, just for your info, professional trainers who are good at what they do can actually command a fee of up to RM 3,500 per day, sometimes even more!), "Will this even work?"...That's when I knew I had crossed the line. "STOP!!!!!" I remember telling myself. Will this even work? WILL THIS EVEN WORK? I was terribly ashamed of myself for doubting my abilities and worse, for not believing in myself and my life's true purpose. I quickly brought myself back to my senses. "This WILL work! This HAS to work! If it doesn't work, I WILL MAKE IT WORK!", that's what I thought to myself. So, I stopped coming up with reasons why it may not work, I stopped blaming circumstances and most importantly, I stopped over-analyzing. I realised I analyzed too much until I became Paralyzed, hence the term, Analysis-Paralysis.
So from that moment on, I decided I was going to do something about my training career. I once read from Tony Robbins' book 'Unlimited Power' that the fastest and most effective way to learn is to model someone. The reason why that someone is already successful is because that person has done / is doing certain things correctly. So I figured, if I were to learn all this on a 'trial & error' basis, it would take me ages just to be where my role models are. So, I started using 'modeling' to short-cut my learning process. I remember following my mentor, Madam Teoh Poh Yew, to all the places she did her workshops and talks. Wherever she went, I went! I wanted to learn as fast as I could. I remember a close friend of mine asking me, "uV, do you get paid for helping her during her trainings and workshops? I feel that it's only fair that she pays you for your time." "No, she doesn't pay me" I replied. "What? She doesn't pay you and you're still helping her? You're such a FOOL! Working for free!??!!I've never seen such a fool like you!! How stupid could you be?" he shouted at me. To which I replied, "Although she doesnt pay me in monetary form, she's paying me in a form that is much much more valuable than any amount of money you could ever imagine. She's passing me her skills, her knowledge and she's giving me an opportunity to gain experience. As the old Chinese saying goes, ' Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, you feed him for life.' Poh Yew was teaching me how to fish, instead of giving me the fish. The reason why I followed her around during her talks and workshops even though I was not paid in monetary form, was because I understood this simple, yet life changing idea. What Poh Yew was giving me was something that no amount of money could ever buy. And honestly, I never regretted following her around during her workshops and talks. I realised that everytime I watched her do her trainings, I was becoming more confident, and I was getting better. I learned so much in such a short period of time that after 2-3 months, I could roughly master all the things she was teaching. It was so fun and comfortable following Poh Yew around during those 2-3 months. In fact, I would say that it became too comfortable. Comfortable in the sense that I was hiding behind the excuse that "I'm still learning, I'm not ready to go out and do trainings or talks on my own yet."
Once again I found myself nicely and comfortably tucked in my comfort zone. When I first started following Poh Yew around, I didn't feel comfortable. I was challenging my comfort zone everyday, and because of that, my comfort zone grew and expanded. But after a while, I stopped challenging the boundaries of my comfort zone. I was very comfortable doing what I was doing. It was routine. It was then I realized that if I were to make it in the training industry, I would have to constantly challenge and expand my comfort zone. So there I was, asking myself this question again,"Where do I go from here?"
I searched and I asked around. Where do I go from here? What do I do now? I was told by my mentors and many of my other professional trainer friends that when they first started training, they gave a lot of 'no-fee' talks. They're not FREE talks, they're just No-Fee talks! (Just a slight change of words and perception to make ourselves feel better and that we're not so cheapskate, Haha). 'No-Fee' talks are very powerful marketing tools to help you market yourself and get yourself well-known. So, off I went, marketing myself...promoting myself by doing 'No-Fee' talks. It was difficult at first...The Fear of going out there into the wild...persuading people, convincing them to give you a slot to speak and to express your ideas. But I would have to say that Network Marketing really did help prepare me for this. Although the fear was still there, I understood that it was a normal process...to be fearful when you're doing something that's beyond your comfort zone.
Everytime I was offered a slot to speak for 'No-Fee' I would commit myself to it. I remember the first 'No-Fee' talk that I did. I was given a slot to speak at the 'Napoleon Hill Think & Grow Rich Success Club', and I was asked to speak on one of the 17 success principles of Dr. Napoleon Hill, which was 'Accurate Thinking'. I had just completed my Science of Success (SOS) program with Napoleon Hill Associates at the time, so I was actually very nervous. But even though I was fearful and uncertain, I committed myself to it. And the thing I learnt from this experience is, if you commit yourself to something even though you may not be entirely sure of how to do, or whether you can do it or not, sooner or later, you WILL definitely find a way to do it. But if you do not even dare to commit yourself to something, you will never ever find the strength and will power to do it. So, the next time you are fearful of committing yourself to something that you do not feel comfortable with, Go ahead and commit yourself to it. You WILL definitely find a way to do it. But of course, having said that, I'm not suggesting that you do something drastic in your life and over-commit yourself to something. That's not strength nor will-power, that's Stupidity. What I'm saying is, do commit yourself to something that, even though you're not comfortable with, you know that if you were to really put your mind into it, you would be able to achieve the results you want. Commit yourself to those sort of things, and I can assure you that it would definitely challenge and expand the boundaries of your comfort zone.
That's me speaking on How to apply Accurate Thinking.
That's me again.
The talk went well and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. But the more important thing is, my confidence level increased dramatically. I began to believe in my abilities, my passion, my vision, and most importantly, in myself.
