Ep 212 Being Fearless in Sales

 

Episode Notes:

Join me today as I share some updates on my recent trip to Arizona.  I had the privilege to attend the Fearless Business Workshop and an important meeting to help build cancer pain programs across the US in memory of an amazing female doctor.  A main theme across both events was being fearless.  Where are you holding yourself back due to fear?  Listen today to learn what you can do immediately to live with less fear, and start achieving your highest goals.

In This Episode:

• Fearless business workshop
• When PTO goes awry
• Telling yourself both sides of the story
• Owning your time 
• Setting boundaries 
• Saying No
• Patrick Sweeney – Fear is Fuel
• Journal prompt questions to help: www.michellebourquecoaching.com/fearless 

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Episode Transcript:

(Transcribed by OtterAi with minimal edits)

Michelle Bourque 0:02 You are listening to the richer time podcast and I’m your host certified life coach Michelle Arnold Bourque, and today’s episode I’m discussing being fearless in sales. Welcome to the richer time Podcast, the podcast. We’re busy professionals like you get the practical solutions and support you need to gain control of your schedule. So you can strive to be the best in your career, but without the stress and overwhelm. If you’re looking to increase your energy and decrease your stress, you are in the right place.

Michelle Bourque 0:39 Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to the podcast. Friends. It has been quite a week and I have a few things that I want to talk to you about today. If you recall, last week, I talked about being out of town for meetings. And I want to share a bit of an update on what happened there. And if you recall last week, I said I was deciding in advance that the meetings are going to be great. I may have actually used the word amazing. So let me give you a little background. I started the week in Scottsdale with the fearless business coaching workshop. And this really was so much fun, it was an amazing opportunity to see multiple presenters, high powered, really empowering women discussing coaching tools and business ideas. And we had great opportunities for networking, and just having a really great time, especially with Rhonda, one of my coaching besties from training, and she has had a couple of episodes here. In fact, we’re planning to do another one soon. So stay tuned. And then I completed the week in Phoenix with my corporate job discussing ways for physicians to be fearless and treating cancer pain. That was pretty cool how it worked out, I could do both right, I did feel pretty lucky. So I want to start here with the idea of being fearless. And I also want to share some things that happened during the week that I did not, in fact decide in advance, and how I saw my mind dealing with it, and what you can do when this happens to you. So let’s start with the theme of fearless being an both of the events. And it really got me to thinking, Where can we all live with less fear? And what does that look like for you? Maybe especially in your sales career. And I’m not saying that you get rid of fear, because fear is normal. This is one area, my dear perfectionistic thinking friend that you do not need to be getting 100 on less fear, not zero fear. So think about it. Where is fear holding you back? Maybe it’s making that call, again? Where you’ve already been told no. Maybe it’s going for the promotion? Maybe in your personal life, it’s having a conversation that could be a little challenging, with a close loved one. Or maybe it’s having that conversation with a colleague who perhaps needs to take it up a notch. You know what it is for you? And I want you to ask yourself, Why have you not taken action? Take a couple of minutes and write down those reasons. Are they really true when you look at them? No, really? Are they really true? My guess is no. Most of the time, our reasons are not in fact true. And you’ll see what I’m talking about as we go through this podcast. Next question. Who are you without that thinking? So what are the fears? Are they really true? Who would you be? If you did not, in fact, have those thoughts? Write it down. And I know many of you are on the move listening. So I developed a download for you to get the questions in one easy space. Just go to Michellebouruqecoaching.com/fearless. And you can have them all organized in a super simple way. In fact, I would say make copies and use them for all of the goals that maybe you’re kind of feeling stuck in because you do have that fear holding you back and you aren’t taking action. It can really be powerful. Which reminds me before I go on a great book to check out around fear. Fear is fuel by Patrick Sweeney. And if you missed it, I actually had an opportunity to interview him for the podcast. I forget what the number is. But if you just search Patrick Sweeney at your time podcast, I am sure you can find it. And I interviewed him he had a lot of great information to share and that could be A quick way to kind of get an overview of the book. Okay, next question, what is the identity, you need to start embracing an order to take the actions and get that result? Here’s the thing you have to be, before you do, you have to be before you do so think of that identity that you will need to become in order to get the result. And start acting as if now. And let me share one little pro tip here with you, you don’t have to go from A to Z in one step, you can go from A to not a simply take one step away from where you are today. And then you do the same thing tomorrow, and the next day and the next day. And guess what, you start showing your brain, the small wins the evidence that what you want is possible. And from there, you start building momentum. And momentum is what keeps you going. And as you keep going, your life changes. I think about all of the strong women who are presenting at the first conference. And I know that if they remained in fear, if they believed their doubts, I would have missed out on the genius that they had to share. And I think of the doctors at the conference, who are looking to find new treatments for cancer pain patients. And they had family members, in fact that were speaking at that conference, and they were talking about how the different devices had helped their family members and loved ones, some amazing stories, you guys that is the ripple effect. And if the presenter didn’t show up at the Business Conference, I wouldn’t be sharing this information with you. Think about that ripple effect, right? Think about the ripple effect being held back when you don’t show up and do you who is missing out on your genius when you hold yourself back. Now remember, it is your brains job to doubt. But it is your job to decide. You decide what actions need to be taking. And you do it in a way that works for you. That was a huge theme and Scottsdale, show up as your unique self. This is what I love to work on with my clients, especially women and device sales. And an industry that is pretty male dominated. You can be successful without the stress and overwhelm in your own unique power. Believe that it does not have to be done like the guys around you. Okay, now I want to share the second part of the trip with you where I perhaps needed to work on my mind management skills. And I share it because I want you to know that this is all always a work in progress, right? Honestly, I think that’s a great thing. Because if you ask me at the core, we all want to evolve to achieve and to grow. And that’s part of it. Now, I had taken PTO for the conference. And I found myself working every single day in some capacity. And it was for sure. Not really PTO. I was out of the field. Yes, but that was not time off. Right. And I sometimes joke because our company says salespeople have unlimited vacation, which we all know might be in part code for close to none. But in all seriousness, sometimes I tell sales roles right? Before I started coaching, I would be so angry when I would get the calls on vacation. And this week, I had interactions with leadership, with teammates, with patients with doctors, pretty much every angle of the job was involved. And I could see my brain at first going to old thinking like this is for sure not PTO and is supposed to be and and I even question if my out of office was maybe not work, right? Why do they keep blowing up my phone? And I will tell you that all felt a bit resentful. But the beauty in knowing the coaching tools is that I also know that I do not have to always believe that I can have the initial thoughts and then I can on purpose, think thoughts that will help me feel better. And again, as a quick side note, you don’t always have to think thoughts that make you feel better, right? Sometimes we want to process emotions. But in this case, that wasn’t fully what it was. It was me really recognizing what was going on. So I had to have a little sit down with myself And I had my little pity party to begin. And then I took a look at what was really going on. And the truth is, when I left my team, I told them I would be within cell service range. Because sidenote last time, we ensured that we were in the middle of pretty much nowhere in New Hampshire, where cell service was totally sketch and I really did take vacation. The other truth is, I answered all of the messages. The other truth is,

Michelle Bourque 10:30 we had a really important call with a big account. And as long as it was not in conflict with my presenters, I wanted to be on that. And the other truth is, I wanted to make sure that I helped the patients who were looking for help to feel better. And the truth is, again, right, there are many sides to this story. The truth is, two of the doctors were brand new doctors, and I wanted to make sure that I could help set them up for success. I, in fact, could have set better boundaries, if I really didn’t want to take these calls, right? The truth is that I could have also trusted that even if I didn’t respond, people would figure it out. This is so important to know, my friend, because I work with clients. And it’s so funny, because I have been there, I get it that we will say things like, I can’t take vacation, I need to control everything. And then we get to a place where we are like, I gotta leave this job. It’s driving me crazy. So there are a couple of steps in between, right? That is what I want to help teach you. Because we tell these stories that aren’t really true all of the time. And you have to give equal airtime to both sides of the story. You have to hear the quote unquote, other truth, right, the second version, and that is the version that will often make you feel way more empowered. The first one is the victim story. And when you’re in that mindset, you’re way less likely to make changes, it is so much more powerful to know that you are always choosing how you show up how you utilize your paid time off. But here’s the thing, you have to stop telling yourself that you need to control everything. When you’re thinking that what happens, it’s really hard to release that grip that you have on territory, right? It’s so much easier for many of you to just swoop in and save the day, versus having to say no, or setting boundaries, or not people pleasing that often feels way more uncomfortable. You think? And I say you think because I’m curious how often you even allow yourself to feel it? How often do you actually say no, or set boundaries. And when you are willing to feel that whatever that is for you. That’s when things really start changing. That’s when you become even more successful. And without the stress and overwhelm because you are making changes that you most want. That is when everything becomes like, well, kind of like magical. I know it sounds like a stretch, but I am telling you it is life changing when you’re able to learn those skills and start implementing them in your life. And remember, I want you to be sure to go back and check out the questions Michellebouruqecoaching.com/fearless. Here’s the beautiful part of that once you grab that you also get on my list and receive ma be mindful moment every Sunday morning and that is where I share tips and tools and inspirational ideas to keep you going each week. Okay friends, less fear. Let’s do this. That’s what I have for you today. Let’s circle back next week but for now make it a great day. Take care

Michelle Bourque 14:18 Did you know you can take this work to a deeper level with me one on one. Go to Michellebouruqecoaching.com and click on get started to begin