Sometimes you gotta suck.
Think back to when you first learned how to drive.
Really, think about it. You just got your learner’s permit, and you’re about to go driving for the first time. How did you feel? Excited, nervous, carefree? Who was in the passenger seat? What was the first thing you did once you got behind the wheel?
Maybe it was like my experience.
I’m just about to get in the car, and I’m waving my learner’s permit in the air. I’m jumping up and down. I can’t believe I’m about to drive. I’ve been waiting for this moment for what seems like forever. This is really the beginning of my life. FREEEEEEEEDOM! It’s at my fingers tips. I’m deep in my thoughts of how liberation is coming my way.
Then my dad says impatiently, “Jessica, GET in the car.”
Nothing like a parent to jolt you back into reality.
I’m going slowly on the road, nervous of doing anything wrong, when my dad says, “Jessica, change lanes.”
I think for a moment, Hmm, what goes into changing lanes?!
I continue my thoughts, Oh, yeah, blinker.
I turn on the blinker, and my dad says again, “Jessica change lanes.”
I reply, “I am.”
“I don’t see you doing it.”
“I’m getting there.”
Hmm, what comes next in changing lanes?
Oh, yeah, look behind me.
I look back and quickly look forward realizing I forgot to look in the mirror first.
I glance in my rear view and side mirrors, and then my dad screams, “CHANGE LANES.”
I quickly jerk the steering wheel over and hear EEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!
My dad continues his unpleasantness, “NOT LIKE THAT!”
“Oops.”
Don’t worry, no one or nothing got hurt in the making of my driver’s license.
One and a half years. One and a half years is all it took for the five driving members of my house to be dropped by the car insurance company. I had three wrecks and three tickets in a year and a half.
My dad suggested to the insurance agent, “How about we just take her off the insurance?”
The agent said, “Done.”
For two years, I didn’t drive, and for a 17-year-old, that seems like a lifetime.
Think about when you first learned to drive. You weren’t perfect. You made mistakes. Maybe you changed lanes too slowly, cruised through a stop sign, or made a three-point parallel parking a 20-point turn instead.
Maybe you had three tickets and three wrecks in a short time. You weren’t good when you first drove, but you kept at it. Imagine your life if you would’ve stopped driving after the first time.
You probably wouldn’t have the job you have, making the money you’re making. You’d have to work close to home or find really good public transportation. You might not be married to the person you are now, if you met them at work, or have the kids you have.
What would your life look like?
You weren’t good when you first drove. Maybe you even sucked. The more you did it, the less sucky you became. Then you were bad, and less bad. Then you were good and soon became great.
As adults, we expect ourselves to be perfect out of the gates, and when we’re not, we quit. Or we don’t even try it, because we know we’re not going to be perfect.
You don’t pick up the phone, because what if they ask you something you don’t know the answer to. You don’t speak up at meetings, because what if someone doesn’t agree with what you say. You don’t introduce yourself to people, because what if they don’t like you. You don’t volunteer to lead the team, because you were once told you’re not really “leadership material.”
You expect yourself in every and all situations to be perfect. If things don’t work out the way you expect or want, you don’t do it again. If you fail, you refuse to risk again. If you make a mistake, you beat yourself up again and again.
In order to be great one day, you have to give yourself permission to suck today. You didn’t get where you are in business and in life by being perfect or by doing things perfectly. You got there by not being good (or sucking), adjusting, tweaking, asking for help, and keep doing things until you got better and better and better.
So give yourself permission to be bold, to risk, and to go after what you want. You may be bad, and that’s okay. Keep doing it. Keep doing it. Keep doing it. Because you’ll eventually get good until you get great.
Then use this strategy and apply it to your team members. How can your team adjust what they are doing to become stronger? When you implement this consistently, it will grow your business. Be bad in order to get good. Learn from things that don’t go well and get out there and do it again. That’s the only way to get better.
So get behind the wheel of the car you want to drive today, whether it’s asking for a promotion, cold calling more prospects, or sharing your ideas at meetings. Even if you get in a wreck or get a ticket…or two…you’ll find your freedom from all the things holding you back. What one thing will you do today to be in the driver’s seat and liberate yourself?
Jessica Rector’s mission is simple: transform lives. With a BBA, MBA and BS, Jessica started, hosted, and produced her own TV talk show in Los Angeles with just an idea to help others which launched jessICAREctor International. Through her own experiences, research, and strategies, she helps you turn inner communication into outer success through her proprietary process Tame Your Brain Game. As a thought leader, keynote speaker, and #1 best-selling author, Jessica consults with companies, trains teams, and speaks at conferences, conventions, and organizations helping you disrupt your status quo thinking. Jessica is a Contributor for The Huffington Post and has been seen on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, Business Journal, and Market Watch. Get Jessica’s new book, Tame Your Brain Game at jessicarector.com. Follow her on Facebook by CLICKING HERE.
