If you are lucky enough to get a second chance at something, don’t waste it!
Posted on November 21, 2019 by Reva Banka, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
Giving up is easy and keep trying is hard. In this story I have tried to explain this from a real life example. Have a read!
My 9 yr. old boy is a cub scout. He gets his fund raising packet this Summer to sell nuts and popcorn to raise funds for his scouting pack. As it was vacation time, he thought he can get a head start. Very excitedly he starts going from one house to another, ringing door bell, reciting his sales pitch in his mind with an eager smile on his face. He went to about 15 houses, the same morning. Most of those did not answer the door. A couple who answered were not interested in knowing what he was doing, said plain “no”.
It took him about an hour running back and forth from one house to another, eager to hear some “yes” and make some sale. He comes back home very disappointed. With tears in his eyes,he told me," there is no point. This year I do not think if I can even meet my minimum goal. No one wants our nuts and popcorn. Not even a military donation. I can not do anything. I hope at least you will buy some, will you?"
I said, " yes, I will buy some for sure." I could not resist my sympathetic rescue act, I offered ," may be I can share your brochure with my friends. I am sure you can make some sales there."
This made him further upset, " no, I do not want you to do any such things. I know no one will buy. If you want to buy, do that now. I do not need any other help from you."
I realized my rush for sympathetic rescue was wrong call. I paused, let him get sad for sometime. Then I said," you know panic and distress reactions may not be in your benefit. How about you look into this later, if anything can be done or not." He said, “OK. This is not working anyway. So I do not have to do anything with it. I can pay the fine from my piggy bank.”
That evening, I asked him," hey do you want to sign up for show and sell for your fundraising?" He said, yes. I said, " that is wonderful. You might be able to meet your minimum goal that way. Also do you want to give your door to door sale one more try?"
He goes, " but what if no one buys again?" I said," that is a possibility. May be someone will buy, that can give you some start. Because all you can do is try and hope." He agreed and went again door-to-door. This time he had 3 doors answered and 1 sale out of 7 houses. He could not be happier. Came home running," Mamma, someone bought, yes someone bought!" :-)
He was super excited. Said," can I go again to some other houses. May be some more people will buy." I said, OK. In two days and three trips he made $168 out of $200[his minimum goal]. Now there was no stopping. He realized the value of keep working towards the goal. After second day, he asked,“Mamma, can you still share my brochure with your friends. May be someone will buy something. Everything counts, you know. Also can you make my video for online sales?” I said," of course I can do that to support your efforts ."
I am amazed to see how he learnt so many important lessons with his failure-
Now he is not hurt with not answered doors[not attaching emotions].
Any sale big or small is very important[keeping eye on big goal].
Very thankful for each sale and donation [being kind to self for efforts and grateful to others for business]
Utilizing this new positive energy to grow his sales[ asking me to share his brochure with my friends].
Life will be kind to you, if you are kind to yourself! -Can&Did
