Are You Consistently Building Skills?
Everyone agrees that personal growth is good. The books, blog posts, and conferences are legion. But personal growth is nothing without growing skills. Yet, how many of us are consistently seeking to grow our skills?
Sara was scared to death selling fax machines door-to-door. She knew she didn’t want to do this forever. Most days she wanted to quit. And she was actually good at it!
She made decent money being good at door knocking and sales but knew there was more for her. She was a dreamer. She was a creator.
Sara created a product she believed in and loved. She was ready. No manufacturer would make her product. Industry executives laughed at her. Friends told her, “If this was a good product it would have already been created.” Most days, deep down, she wanted to quit.
Then one day, after so many manufacturers said no, one called her and said, “I’ll make your product.” This was only after the manufacturer had told her no but then took the product home to his daughters and let them test the product. He became a “yes.”
Sara Blakely would soon become the youngest self-made billionaire and her product would be a household name. She was a dreamer. She was a creator. She also had skills.
Sara will tell you that her door-to-door fax machine sales experience made her a billionaire. You see, she had to approach dozens of textile manufacturers and receive rejection after rejection in order to get Spanx manufactured. That often miserable period of her life, knocking on doors hawking fax machines, was full of personal growth and skill building. She is now a firm believer that building new skills is the only way forward to new success. I agree.
