On more than one occasion we’ve watched a client talk themselves into “failure” and we’ll probably see it again and again because it’s easier to doubt yourself then it is to believe in yourself. We’re going to give you an example that we’ve experienced that stand out to us and hopefully to our client as the moment that changed their thought pattern!
Our client wasn’t overly confident in their ability and unsure of how to set a goal. Over the course of 30 minutes we were unable to find something that meant enough to warrant it being used as a goal. This is when we stepped in and suggested a couple of goals for them to try and target. The first goal was to run non stop for 1km. We have pride in the knowledge that we have of our clients and knew that this could be achieved right then and there. The second goal was to be able to run 2km non stop and we set that goal to be targeted the month after the first. We were met with very strong resistance, a lot of negativity and a defeatist attitude. It got to the point that they simply wouldn’t attempt either challenge in the fear of failure so we let it sit for a few weeks before changing our approach. Long story short, we took this client out for a casual “jog” without telling them that we were actually recording their distance. Over the course of the session, the client ran 0.95km and then ran 2.5km. We of course were over the moon for them but knew that it had little to do with hard work and more to do with their ability within. This may sound harsh but remember that up until this time they’d put the cue in the rack and had all but given up. So what does belief have to do with their success? Well more so their lack of belief had held them back from achieving greater things far earlier and we can only hope that this moment gave them a sneak peak into what they could achieve if they were able to get over the fear of failure and give it a red hot crack.
We write about this client not because they’ve been a one off, because like we mentioned at the beginning, “we work with clients like this all of the time” and that’s why you, a family member or a friend will most likely resonate with this blog and potentially change the way they view the world.
We hope you’ve enjoyed the read and encourage you to share with those that you feel may benefit from this. If this is something that you are personally struggling with, have a chat to discuss methods to work on this.
Justin Beard Pn1