As I was preparing to speak to a sales conference last week something happened that could have easily taken me off my game and shattered my confidence. A lady came up to me minutes before I was to go on stage and said she had seen me speak before. Though she thought I was very entertaining or so she said, she found very little value in the concept of Rippling. So much so she felt compelled to say, "It sounds great in theory but serious business professionals don't have time to wait to get to know someone and connect like you propose. Time is money ya know and we have business to earn."
We offered a polite rebuttal but realized that it was somewhat falling on deaf ears. Her mind was made up. She wished me good luck and the said something that absolutely blew my mind but made me smile big time. She said she was amazed at how many people were talking about my concept and how many different areas around town she had heard my name. She told me that as if she were truly impressed and even said how glad she was to come up and shake my hand again. She may not have meant her first comment the way it sounded but clearly she was so missing the point by revealing what she shared. Rippling obviously does so work....maybe for her she just needs to find some bigger stones to throw...who knows.
The point is I was there to speak about Rippling. I could have easily mentally rewritten what I was about to speak on to validate and defend my core message and show exactly why it does so work for serious business professionals. I could have taken away my quirky stories and focused on hard nosed facts and figures about why traditional networking will never get these people the results they want because the sheer process is fundamentally flawed. I could have changed my entire message to make the Ripple appear more worthy of their time and attention and thus try and force feed the message to each of them.
But that's not my style.
A couple of years ago, a comment like that would have seriously compromised my mojo. It would have shaken me to the core and left me quivering and exceptionally nervous before getting up on stage before an audience of any size.
Not any more. Why?
Because, like you, I am in complete control of my mojo. No one controls my mojo but me. The only way I could let someone take my mojo away or alter it in any way would be if I give them permission to do so....and I don't. You shouldn't either.
Everyone is going to have critics. Sometimes people will say things to you that if you let it, will absolutely cut you to the core. Notice I said if you let it. It's very important for you to not let those things cut you so. I know, I know its hard when it happens but like with everything, it comes with practice.
For me I end up finding that I use a little mental affirmation when faced with negative feedback or a critical opinion. I simply smile and say to myself, this person's words and opinions do not control you. Stay your course and you'll be fine.
Incidentally the lady came up to me after my presentation was over. I had a line of people waiting to meet me and after patiently waiting her turn handed me a book to sign and said, "I still don't get it but you sure were funny. This is for my boss, he likes this kind of stuff."
I smiled and simply said, "Thank you. What's your boss' name?"
Ripple On!!!
