Looking In the Mirror For Self-Esteem
Posted 27th February 2012 at 03:52 PM by PattC
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if your business is tanking, your self-esteem will not be far behind. Business is too slow, and you’re not able to create a good income. Maybe going into business for yourself was a bad idea, and you should have waited for the economy to recover, enrolled in some business courses, or had a nice savings account balance to tide you over until your business took off. Broke and discouraged, you ponder the idea of giving up, and returning to the corporate world.
As I mentioned before, I am reading the “Success Principles” by Jack Canfield. I was particularly interested in the story of 20 year old Ruben Gonzalez, who had a dream of competing at the Olympics in the luge. For those of you who are not familiar with the luge, competitors race downhill at 90 miles an hour, on an enclosed track of concrete and ice. Before mastering the course, most people end up with at least broken bone. However, Ruben was young and full of confidence, and had the support of his friend Craig.
Training at the U.S Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York, Ruben’s self-esteem took a nosedive after the first day of training. When he returned to his room, he had the following conversation with his friend Craig:
“Craig, this is crazy. My side hurts, and I think my foot is broken. That’s it for me. I’m going back to soccer.”
“Ruben, get in front of a mirror.”
“What?’
“Get in front of a mirror and repeat after me, I will not quit no matter how hard it gets.”
Feeling silly as he stared at his reflection, Ruben halfheartedly repeated the words.
“You said you wanted to be an Olympic champ, are you going to do it or not?”
“I will not quit no matter how hard it gets.”
Ruben repeated the words over and over, and by the tenth time, he was jumping up in the air with excitement.
Ruben Gonzalez went on to compete in three different winter games of the luge, and at 43 years of age, he trained for the 2006 winter games in Torino, where he would compete against men half his age.
It would be nice to be successful in your business from the start, but it doesn’t usually happen that quickly. You may go months making hardly anything, and that’s when you have to believe in yourself, even if no one else believes in you.
As I mentioned before, I am reading the “Success Principles” by Jack Canfield. I was particularly interested in the story of 20 year old Ruben Gonzalez, who had a dream of competing at the Olympics in the luge. For those of you who are not familiar with the luge, competitors race downhill at 90 miles an hour, on an enclosed track of concrete and ice. Before mastering the course, most people end up with at least broken bone. However, Ruben was young and full of confidence, and had the support of his friend Craig.
Training at the U.S Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York, Ruben’s self-esteem took a nosedive after the first day of training. When he returned to his room, he had the following conversation with his friend Craig:
“Craig, this is crazy. My side hurts, and I think my foot is broken. That’s it for me. I’m going back to soccer.”
“Ruben, get in front of a mirror.”
“What?’
“Get in front of a mirror and repeat after me, I will not quit no matter how hard it gets.”
Feeling silly as he stared at his reflection, Ruben halfheartedly repeated the words.
“You said you wanted to be an Olympic champ, are you going to do it or not?”
“I will not quit no matter how hard it gets.”
Ruben repeated the words over and over, and by the tenth time, he was jumping up in the air with excitement.
Ruben Gonzalez went on to compete in three different winter games of the luge, and at 43 years of age, he trained for the 2006 winter games in Torino, where he would compete against men half his age.
It would be nice to be successful in your business from the start, but it doesn’t usually happen that quickly. You may go months making hardly anything, and that’s when you have to believe in yourself, even if no one else believes in you.
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