Persuading Crowds Part 2: A Crowd of Self

Hey everyone, Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications.

Welcome to part two of Crowd Persuasion, brought to you by T.S. Eliot's quote, "business today consists in persuading crowds.”

There are three types of crowds I want to focus on in the following weeks and this crowd is by far the most unruly, the most obnoxious, the most critical, and the most important.

The Crowd of Self

This is the crowd that shuts us down again and again before we even have the opportunity to persuade others. This crowd has been growing inside of us for decades and reminds us constantly of perceived failures, humiliation, shame, regret, harsh criticism all in an effort to emphasize we are not enough. Not smart enough. Not talented enough. Not attractive enough. Not--insert your own limiting belief here--enough.

And we are never going to be able to present the best version of ourselves and persuade others if we can't persuade ourselves.

There is no fake it till you make it if you don't believe you can make it.

So let's persuade ourselves.

Great performers commit to three principles: Being Present. Being Transparent. And Being Consistent.

Being Present with ourselves means being honest, vulnerable, and authentic. Asking ourselves tough questions. What do we want in life and what are the limiting beliefs holding us back? What do we get from those limiting beliefs? How would our lives change if we let go of those limiting beliefs? What are we prepared to do to live out best lives?

Being transparent means, in the immortal words of Shakespeare, "Suit the action to the word, the word to the action." Once you get present, honest, and vulnerable with yourself, and put your limiting beliefs into words, you now have to suit your actions to your words. What are you going to do about it? What actions will you put into place to persuade yourself you are capable of persuading others?

Finally being consistent means building a repeatable process for self-help and self-motivation. If daily affirmations are a part of your process, you have to do it daily. If learning and development is a part of your process, you have to do it regularly. Make being the best version of yourself a habit.

Because, again, we cannot persuade others until we persuade ourselves.

Have you persuaded your Crowd of Self? If the answer is no, be present, be transparent, be consistent.

What are you waiting for?

Thanks for reading everyone, this is Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications: helping businesses perform better by training better performers.

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