What's Holding You Back?

During my sales leadership class, we had the assignment to do a ten to fifteen-minute inspirational presentation. That was the extent of the rules, ten to fifteen minutes about something that would inspire. I thought about this project for a long time. It caused me to do a lot of self-reflection, and I realized that I constantly doubted myself based on thoughts others put into my head.??

I came across this story about an elephant camp. A man was walking through the camp and noticed all the elephants tied to a small, short rope. It was the only thing keeping them inside the camp. When he asked the trainer why the elephants didn't just run away, the trainer explained that from a very young age, the elephants were tied to the same size rope. At that age, the rope is big enough to restrain them. They are conditioned to think they can't break away as they grow up. The moral of the story is that something will always try to hold us back. It is up to us to believe that we can be successful and break past it.

We are victims of this every day. We constantly say 'I can't, 'I wish', 'In another lifetime', 'Not possible'. We restrain ourselves, tying ourselves down with all these ropes. This can source from friends, family, mental blocks, excuses, predetermined paths, fear, etc. There are so many things in life that we never try simply because we think we can't but so many times, our limitations are completely self-imposed. We believe something is holding us back when it's our choice to let it. Because I was speaking to a sales class, I related this in a business and a personal setting.

Only?2% of sales occur within the first meeting. 80% only occur after at least five follow-up calls. What's so interesting about this is that 92% of people give up after the 4th call.

44% give up after one "no"

22% give up after two "nos"

14% give up after three "nos"

12% give up after four "nos"

One of the first things we are taught is that no means no. While at a young age, that may be true, this is not always the case when we are older. I challenged my class to push past the no. You have to believe in your solution, and never give up on someone that you believe you can help. As individuals moving into the business world, we will be shut down a lot, and if we stop ourselves after every no we encounter, we will never move forward.?

Reflecting on myself, I realized how often I let myself be held back in life. For the longest time, I wanted to study abroad, but because people told me it was unnecessary, too expensive, too dangerous, etc., I found reasons to put it off for three years. I told myself I could never afford it. When I finally broke the rope and believed in myself, my passion and drive took over. I put in the work and ended up getting the entire trip funded through scholarships. It was single handily one of the most incredible experiences I've had and yet I almost gave up on it! I've done this with competitions, job choices, and personal decisions. I finally realized that the only thing ultimately holding me back was myself because I was choosing to let these doubts affect my choices. We are all guilty of this. The first step is acknowledging these ropes that tie us down and actively choose not let them limit us. We are capable of much more than we think. That's why I challenged my classmates, and now I challenge you to self-reflect, see what ropes are holding you back, then break them!?