Finding the true voice of enthusiasm

In our last post, we looked at three (of four) obstacles we all encounter when trying to find our personal calling. Coehlo (The Alchemist) continues with the fourth obstacle, what he calls 'the most dangerous of the four':

"Having disinterred our dream, having used the power of love to nurture it and spent many years living with the scars, we suddenly notice that what we always wanted is there, waiting for us, perhaps the very next day. Then comes the fourth obstacle: the fear of realizing the dream for which we fought all our lives.

Oscar Wilde said: "Each man kills the thing he loves." And it's true. The mere possibility of getting what we want fills the soul of the ordinary person with guilt. We look around at all those who have failed to get what they want and feel that we do not deserve to get what we want either. We forget about all the obstacles we overcame, all the suffering we endured, all the things we had to give up in order to get this far. I have known a lot of people who, when their personal calling was within their grasp, went on to to commit a series of stupid mistakes and never reached their goal–when it was only a step away.

This is the most dangerous of the obstacles because it has a kind of saintly aura about it: renouncing joy and conquest. But if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World, and you understand why you are here."

Remember this series is titled, The Six Characteristics of the Champion Sales Professional. This is not the characteristics of the average sales person, or the bored sales person, or the sales person who-fakes-enthusiasm sales person. This is about what it takes to be at the very top of the sales world. My friend Jim Blanchard wrote to me and said, "Remember the key is selling with  enthusiasm, not only by enthusiasm. Not all buyers buy enthusiasm." And I think that makes the same point that Coelho so eloquently describes in his introduction. When we are living from our personal calling, we have contagious energy. We have enthusiasm that shows in all we do, all we say and all we are. It is too simple to say that we must be enthusiastic about what we sell. That is a given, and like saying a good quarterback must have excellent foot work or a good golfer must have a good grip.

We now understand that the champion sales professional knows how to manage their energy (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual) and also strives to find their personal calling, so that they can master the language of enthusiasm. These are the first two keys.

Next, we will move to the 'L's': likability and love. Remember, ELU to the power of two or ELU Squared.