Why Are You Not Pushing Yourself (Or how I broke the floor at 4Networking!)

If you are a business owner you really should be pushing yourself. There are people that make things happen in this world and people that sit back and wonder 'what the hell happened?'. As business owners we need to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. If we don't then nobody else will do this for you.

Earlier this week I was the keynote speaker at The 4Networking Accelerate Conference. This is a conference for just Area Leaders and Regional Leaders at 4Networking. To be clear I am only a Group Leader at 4Networking so shouldn't have really been there. However as I was a keynote speaker at the event they allowed me to stay for the whole thing.

The first thing I can say is that the passion and ambition that the 4Networking Leadership team have is outstanding. The goals they have for their company are ambitious however I honestly believe they will hit them and then some! If you are a networker and want more business then 4Networking is absolutely the best place to be.

During the conference Brad Burton was keynoting as well. Anybody who has seen Brad talk will know he is motivational and inspirational. He was wanting to get the audience fired up after lunch so said he was going to walk into the room and he wanted everyone in the room to make some noise, cheer, clap and generally go crazy. He came in and everyone cheered like they were meant to.

However this was not good enough for Brad so he said he was going to walk off stage and enter the room again. This time whoever makes the most noise will receive 3 months membership to 4Networking for free. Now this is worth about £150 and would be a great prize for anyone in the room. Everyone in that room networks and spends money on their membership. 3 months free would be awesome especially as all you have to do is make some noise and act excited.

So Brad came in the room and I absolutely lost my mind! I jumped onto the table in front of me and took my jacket and threw it on the floor. I then started jumping up and down making as much noise as I possibly could. I was screaming and shouting and generally going crazy! I then jumped off the table onto the floor and carried out screaming and shouting.

A couple of things happened when I did this. Firstly I broke the floor - for real. As I jumped off the table onto the floor I broke the floor and almost went through the ceiling below. For the remainder of the conference they had to block off this area as it was a health and safety hazard. Secondly I won the competition and as a result got 3 months membership for free.

However what surprised me was that everyone else in the room was quite laid back when it came to 'going crazy'. Don't get me wrong everyone was clapping and cheering and a few people had stood up but considering there was a £150 prize available pretty much everyone was quite subdued. This really surprised me because of who was in the room. Everyone in attendance were successful business owners and high up in 4Networking. They understood the value of networking and as I said could really have benefited from 3 months networking for free.

I think the reason the people in the room didn't go 100% all in is because they didn't want to embarrass themselves in front of their fellow business owners. At least that is the only explanation I can come up with.

The reason I jumped up on the table and subsequently broke the floor is because I wanted the 3 months free. Yes, my business could have carried on without it however I was there and it made sense to try everything I could to win that prize.

Did I feel silly jumping on the table? Yes

Did I feel silly when I broke the floor? Yes

However I can honestly say that I don't care. It was a couple of seconds of feeling silly but the end result was three months added onto my 4Networking membership for free.

I think as business owners and entrepreneurs we have to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. As Brad Burton himself says if we aren't growing then we are dying. Yes you could argue that I am an entertainers and therefore used to acting an idiot on stage. That may be true however I am constantly pushing myself out my comfort zone.

For example I have only just started speaking professional professionally and just keynoting at Accelerate was pushing myself out my comfort zone. But I said yes because I knew it would be a good opportunity for me to get my name out as a speaker. However on the day I was nervous as hell.

There will be opportunities that arise every single day. Some of them will be small (like jumping off a table to win a membership to 4Networking). Some of them will be massive (like being given the opportunity to keynote alongside Brad Burton). As business owners we have to make the decision every single day if we take hold of these opportunities. It is very easy to say 'no' however you never know where these opportunities might lead. For example as a result of speaking at Accelerate I have already taken a booking for an even bigger event.

The bottom line is that if you say yes to every opportunity then you will be more successful. Sometimes you will need to do something you haven't done before. Sometimes you will need to move outside your comfort zone. Sometimes you might even need to jump on a table and break the floor! However if it wasn't hard then everyone would be doing it.

I have been told in the past that I am lucky. I am lucky that my business is successful. I am lucky that I have had so many opportunities. I am not lucky, you simply make your own luck. If you want to be 'lucky' then simply do the following. Say yes to every opportunity, break comfort zones and make things happen.

Simple really!

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