Wrapping up the week, and no one washes a hire car...
Jul 30, 2016Things are certainly getting pretty hectic as we prepare for the International Maxwell Certification event in a few weeks’ time in Orlando Florida. There will certainly be lots of great stories shared over the 5 days. No one is better at crafting stories than John Maxwell of course!
I hope you have enjoyed this week’s stories, I’ve tried to give you a bit of a mix, so that no matter who your target market is, hopefully you’ll find something that helps you dig out your own stories.
Yesterday’s story was Smile, you’re in training – this is really a basic personal development point that is universally applicable – it’s ok to make mistakes! In fact, you have to!
Wednesday’s story was specific to speaking – Get your kids speaking – but it was getting good at speaking through the process of growth – which is applicable to everyone, isn’t it? The process of growth is pretty much the same for everyone and for everything.
Tuesday’s story was a little different – Step forward into growth – it’s a story about taking little steps forward even though you don’t feel like it. And by gradually moving forward, you gradually change the way you feel. It’s also a story about a catalyst of change and making your mind up to do it.
Monday’s story is one of my favorites – Don’t forget to dream big – Les Brown, the master, showing us all that what people want and what they need are very often two different things entirely. It also shows that there is a difference between what sells and what doesn’t.
All these stories used indirect influence techniques so that it was never about you, the audience, it was always about me. We’ll come back to direct influence in the coming weeks. Indirect influence is a great technique to use with people you are meeting for the first time. Stories are THE best way to influence indirectly from platform.
If you want to catchup on this week’s stories, you can find them here.
Here’s our last story of the week, it’s an oldie but a goodie :)
No One Washes A Hire Car!
About five years ago, in early December, Susan came back to the family home with our son, Leon who was about three at the time. Everyone was out and she had forgotten her house keys. Standing outside in the cold she pondered how she could get in.
Our house had a large post box that you could fit a small package through and she thought that Leon just might be able to squeeze through it. So she said, “Leon, if I push you through the letter box, can you go into the kitchen, get a chair, stand on it, reach Mummy’s keys and pass them back to me through the letter box?”
‘I’d love to!’ Leon said.
And so in he went. He just squeezed through, and except for the two large Rhodesian ridgeback dogs on the other side furiously licking his head until he got through, he made it in unharmed.
Susan said, ‘Ok, Leon, now go and get the chair and bring it back.’
Leon went off, and Susan could hear a great deal of noise as the chair dragged across the floor. Then she could hear more noises and dragging as Leon struggled with the chair. Eventually he came back and said, ‘I can’t do it! It’s stuck.’
‘What’s it stuck on?’ Susan asked.
‘The door.’ Leon replied.
Okay, she knew an 18-inch wide chair could easily make it through a 30-inch wide doorway! So Susan said, ‘Leon it’s really important. Please try and have another go.’
So Leon went off for another try. There was more noise, and then it went quiet. Susan waited for a minute or two then started to panic a little bit. She shouted through the letter box for an update. None came.
After a few more minutes she ran around to the kitchen window and peered in. She could see Leon, and thankfully he was ok. He was sitting on the floor in the middle of the kitchen. As she looked she could see that he was eating. Then she saw the back of the chair. It was next to the sideboard in the kitchen.
Apparently, Leon had given up on his assignment and instead, dragged the chair back into the kitchen. He had put it up against the sideboard, climbed up onto it and stood on his tiptoes to unhook his sister’s Advent calendar off the wall. There he was, sitting on the floor eating all the chocolates out of it!
When Susan told me the story later that day we fell about laughing for some time. As I’ve thought about it since then, I’ve realized it highlights a really important aspect of human nature. When it comes to someone else’s goals, almost anything is too much trouble, or too difficult or inconvenient. But when it comes to our own goals, things that we really want, there is almost no limit to the risks we’ll take, the energy we will invest, and the creativity we can draw upon to satisfy our hearts’ desires.
There’s an old saying, ‘No one washes a rental car!’ It’s true, isn’t it? If you don’t own it, you just don’t feel the same way about it.
When we are locked onto a goal that’s important to us, everything in life is simpler. Decision making is easy. Priorities are sorted in a heartbeat. Distractions don’t stand a chance.
What is it that you want? What will stimulate your very best thinking today? What will cause you to launch and push onward, even if you haven’t had your coffee yet?
Until next time ..
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