There are three big ingredients that you need for success and those are passion, vision, and drive.
Let’s break those down one at a time. First of all, let’s talk about passion.
If I think back to when I first started in business, I can remember in the very early days going over to HSN – the big shopping channel in America that I work with. The very first time that I was presenting our products, the Enveloper, and our Top Score, I remember doing my presentation and getting really carried away. Everything that I’d learned in my training, in terms of articulating and speaking slowly, kind of went out of the window.
After the show, I went onto one of the forums and I read what they’d written about me. I remember one woman had written “who on earth is this new girl from England? I’ve just watched her presentation, I didn’t understand a word she said, but I bought the product anyway”.
I remember at the time thinking, oh my life. But actually, that was testament to the fact that it was my passion that she bought into so never underestimate the power of passion.
And it’s the same in other situations. I present a lot on TV shopping channels in Germany but I don’t speak any German. However, when I’m speaking, I’m so passionate and my passion shines through my product so that even though I’m not speaking the language, they still get that passion.
There’s a brilliant theory – Albert Mehrabian’s theory – and he developed this when he was at the University of California. His theory says that with the art of communication, only 7% of what someone hears are the physical words that come out of your mouth, 38% is the tone with which you deliver it, and the remaining 55% is your body language.
So don’t underestimate the power of communication.
Only 7% are the actual words that you use. You just think about now while I’m communicating with you, my intonation is all over, my body language is really positive, and that’s what you’ve got to remember. Passion is irresistible and passion most certainly sells.
Then we move on to vision. Now it is essential to have a really clear vision because if you don’t have a vision of where you’re going or your destination, chances are you’re going to end up in the wrong place.
Now, I remember when I first started out in business and I was a tiny little company turning over a few thousand pounds. I had my eyes set on this company in our industry that was turning over four million pounds and that’s where I wanted to get to and that’s what I was driving towards.
Then, once we were starting to get towards that I had the next vision of the next biggest company in our industry in the UK. They were a 23 million pound company and that’s what I was driving for. I think it’s a good technique to look at an existing business that is already achieving your vision because it’s basically proof that it’s possible and also how that business how is operating will give you clues on how to achieve that vision.
And, bear in mind that it doesn’t have to be in your industry, it could be in any industry and you’ll get there but tithout a clear destination you’re never going to achieve, you’re never going to get to where you set out to get.
Now, the last one and the most important ingredient for success is drive.
Now, I have drive in abundance, I’m very driven and I make an active choice every day to have really high energy levels. I meet loads of people who are really passionate and have great vision but without drive, they tend to fall short of whatever it is their dreams are.
The best way to think of drive is that it’s like momentum so when times are good, that momentum can really build but when times are tough it can really slow down.
Now, I’ve got five tips on how to maintain drive so number one is to create and maintain some really good habits. Secondly, either reduce or completely avoid negative energies, I’m talking about the energy vampires! Do not let them into your life#, there’s no place for them and it doesn’t help with your drive okay.
Number three – fill your cup with positivity. I have little things that I think of as filling my tank full of petrol and I always say they fill my cup up.
Number four – and additional point – take time.
Really take time to remind yourself what your vision is and keep going back to that vision because it will help keep you driven in the right place.
Number five, if the vision is just too big, okay, it can be a little bit overwhelming, it’s too far away and it’s hard to maintain drive. So you achieve that by defining some milestones and some steps in the process.
The key take home messages that I want you to have around drive is that you can make a conscious decision to be high energy. You choose how you show up to every situation. I choose to show up to every situation full of positivity and with loads of energy. That’s what helps achieve drive.
Then finally, you can maintain that drive by constantly visualising the future and continually reminding yourself the steps that you need to get there.