Fear and Peak Performance

October 21, 2010 By

Fear will stop you from performing at your peak.  Fear will paralyze you.  “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” FDR.   This is another incredibly powerful statement of the power that fear exerts over all of us.

So what is it about fear that makes it such a powerful emotion??  Its power lies in our instinct to survive.  That primal, basic part of the brain, the limbic system sounds the alarm and then a cascade of neurological activity follows.  The fear response is based upon our memories and experiences, our learned fears from the past.  However worries and anxieties are out in our future.  So obviously since it helps us to survive we need it, right?  Yes, we need fear as a call to action when something dangerous to our survival happens. However as FDR so succinctly stated, fear is something to be feared as well.  The problem lies in too much fear.  Unrelenting chronic fear that is based on the possibility of danger causes stress and is derogatory to our health and well-being. It creates high levels of stress hormones and that creates disease and other problems.  Also unrealistic fears or phobias are capable of taking control of our lives.

So what else can we learn about fear?  It is based on the past and we can trigger it by worrying about the future.  But right now there is no fear. If we stay in the present moment and we let go of old memories and fears from our past and stop focusing on the possibility of terrible things happening in our future the fear disappears.  In order to do this we need to change the way we think.  We need to take back some of the control because fear is an out of control emotion.

If you let circumstances control you when good things happen then you will also allow fear and negativity to rule your life when things are not going well. As reasonable people we need to be living in reality.  If things are really in a negative place in your life then thinking to yourself that your life is great is a delusion.  However when things are going well in life and we spend our free time worrying about what might happen to change our life for the negative, that is also deluded thinking.  People who tend to be on an “emotional rollercoaster” are an example of too much focus on momentary success and not enough on the process or the overall desired outcome.

When dealing with the concept of “peak performance” fear is the first thing that has to be addressed.  To perform the best you can entails getting you out of your way.  Whether it’s performing in sports, stage sales, academics or simply in life itself, fear stops clear focused action. Fear is the root cause of all negative emotions and behaviors.  Procrastination, limiting beliefs and self-sabotage are examples of mental thought processes  that are rooted in fear.   The two main fears are fear of failure and fear of success.  Most other fears like fear of public speaking, performance Anxiety or cold call reluctance can all be traced back to these two main performance fears.

I use hypnosis, and Neuro-linguistics(NLP) to take my clients past old fears and to create the ability to focus more on the present moment and the future that they desire.   When you get out of old fears and focus on the here and now you will be able to see the future more clearly.  This will move you to take action and the fear will truly be a thing of the past.

Filed Under: Academic performance, Hypnosis & Performance, Hypnosis FAQ, Sales & Hypnosis, Sports Performance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Improving Sales by Improving Yourself

August 19, 2010 By

Hi, my name is Inga Chamberlain and I am a salesperson.

Ever feel like you’re confessing to a terrible character flaw when you say what it is you do for a living?  Has anyone but me noticed that “sales” has become a dirty word?

I still remember in the 80′s when I worked as an executive recruiter. During sales cold phone calls,  I was routinely hung up on.  Obviously this is demoralizing to someone in sales.  I got really sick of feeling badly  and like I was bothering people by calling them.  I realized my self esteem was part of the problem and I had limiting beliefs about myself and salespeople in general.  This is how I found NLP.  I decided to change myself instead of changing careers and it worked! I not only continued in sales but started my own recruiting firm and for 10 years happily sold my service to a national market.

So how did NLP help me to change? First I worked on developing the self confidence that could stand up to those demoralizing phone calls.  During this time I also worked on increasing  my skill set to have better sales techniques . I used NLP to help me build rapport on the phone and close more effectively.  But the main changes came from changing me.  How I saw myself and my place in the world.  I also used NLP and hypnosis to overcome a strong fear of public speaking so that I could make presentations more effectively.  I then proceeded to change anything else that was holding me back and in the end also got rid of a fear of heights some general Anxiety and some left over trauma from childhood.

When I decided to leave the executive search industry to become a trainer , coach, speaker and hypnotherapist the transition was easy.  I had already done all the ground work necessary to be successful in any field I might choose because I had increased my emotional intelligence or EQ as Daniel Goleman calls it.  I had gotten rid of the things that hold most people back.

In my private practice in Atlanta , Georgia I work with many salespeople who want to improve their sales.  We always start by using NLP and hypnosis to remove negative conditioning, beliefs and behaviors.   Then we boost confidence levels and condition in new positive habits and behaviors.  One of the most common problems with low performing salespeople is that they don’t like being in sales(or their perception of sales).  By changing the way they see their career and themselves a salesperson can dramatically improve productivity and income.   But even more important, they will feel good about themselves and their choice of career.

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Filed Under: Hypnosis & Performance, Hypnosis FAQ, Sales & Hypnosis Tagged With: , , , , ,

Sales Call Reluctance and Mental Toughness

March 16, 2009 By

The idea of making prospecting calls can turn the toughest person to mush. Fear of the unknown is a powerful fear.  This coupled with fear of rejection and fear of failure will stop some sales people in their tracks.    What has to change?   1. Become mentally tough with increased levels of confidence. 2. Get rid of fears and procrastination. 3. Get more mental flexibility. 4. Get more behavioral flexibility, in other words if you are not getting the results you want CHANGE something. 5. Clear out limiting beliefs.   Now for those analyzers out there this may all sound hard to quantify.  So I am listing below HOW I help my clients become mentally tough.  These processes take less than an hour each to become proficient.     1. Install resource anchors by creating the ability to instantly feel more confident and strong any time and any place.   2. Mental exercises/NLP which create behavior changes in under an hour. 3. Install new behaviors using NLP and alleviate fears. 4. Change limiting beliefs using NLP and hypnosis. 5. Integrate all changes into your subconscious so that they become the new way of functioning. So let’s see, that’s 5 hours to change a major part of your mental functioning.  That’s 5 hours to make MAJOR CHANGE in your subconscious mind which will create MAJOR CHANGE in your life.  These techniques will create the mental toughness needed to thrive in this economy.

Filed Under: Hypnosis & Performance Tagged With: , , ,

Psychology and the Stock Market

March 4, 2009 By

The stock market and its downward motion are at the top of the news today.   Market strategists know that when the market drops it creates a psychology of fear and results in the market dropping further and creating even more fear.    Since most Americans have their savings and retirement disappearing at record rates is it any wonder that fear runs rampant today?  The problem with all this is that at some point someone or something needs to create confidence in the markets ability to grow.  The downward momentum needs to be stopped and turned around.   The stock market is a great analogy for the human mind.  When we perceive a threat we go into the "fight or flight" response.   This response is no longer needed in the same way as it was thousands of years ago. Consistently triggering this response is not only physically unhealthy but also creates Anxiety, panic attacks and sometimes even phobic reactions.  This increase in fear, increases stress hormones.  This increase in stress hormones triggers more feelings of Anxiety and fear.  Not only that but excess cortisol actually shrinks the brain.   It becomes an unhealthy downward spiral. Most readers of this article will now be ruminating on the stock market and their brains destruction. But all is not lost.  We may not be able to control the stock markets, or the world at large.  But we can control our perception of reality.  Because it is that perception that creates our world.  Every person has a different perception of reality.  One person might see the market swings as opportunity for personal growth.  While another simply gets so freaked out that they make bad decisions and make their situation even worse. Some great ways to stop the mental spiral are:

  • Take a break from the news. Unless you are going to do something with the information watching things seem to worsen only makes you feel worse.
  • Change the way you think.  By shifting negative, fearful thoughts and consciously changing them to positive you can have a huge impact on your mind set.
  • Get perspective by feeling grateful for what you have.
  • Take some action.  Well considered action will give you heightened feelings of control.
  • Laugh more.  Take the time to read or watch something funny or inspirational. 
  • Get some exercise. It’s a great way to burn off extra cortisol and you might even lose some weight.

And remember, the only thing we can control is our perception of reality.  So choose a better way of seeing things, change your thinking and you change your life.

Filed Under: Hypnosis & Performance Tagged With: , , ,

What Makes a Better Salesperson?

February 11, 2009 By

There are many traits that make up someone who is the consummate salesperson.  Things like confidence, elegant communication, empathy, the closing instinct and the ability to motivate oneself without instant gratification.

So you are not a “salesperson”.  Why should you keep reading? Because anyone who is an entrepreneur or just wants to be more successful in personal relationships can benefit by being better at influencing others.  I could go into the details at length of how to be better at selling.  In fact I will go into some of those details next time.  But today I am going to tell you the one thing that sets the average sales person, entrepreneur or business person apart from those who really succeed.  That thing is the desire to constantly improve. 

Whether it’s improving your close ratio or your attitude.  The best sales people are the ones who constantly learn the techniques that will set them apart from the rest.  They don’t “try” anything.  What they do is take committed action.

 I recently conducted a sales training for a large bank.  I taught them techniques from NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) which they could use to up there close ratio and also tools to keep a consistent positive attitude. Afterwards I had several account executives come to me for more info on my sales performance program. When I spoke to their national sales manager at the close of the seminar, she mentioned how it was the top reps who were interested in the program.  She wondered how to get the average reps to be more motivated.  This is a common dilemma, without the desire to learn and improve those sales reps will remain average.

So the question is do you want to be average?  If not then get up, get out and learn or do something new.  Because if you do what you have always done you will get the same results you have always gotten.

Filed Under: Hypnosis FAQ Tagged With: , , , , ,

How to Build a Dynamite Sales Team

July 9, 2008 By

 

Training a Dynamite Sales Team!

Salespeople are my favorite clients.  Not only are they generally personable and empathetic, but the best ones are also constantly working to improve themselves.  What other career gives you the ability to make an income directly commensurate to your skills and abilities??  As with any other aspect of business or life, what goes up will generally come down.  So it is in the art of selling. 

In order to train a sales pro or team there are several key psychological aspects to consider. The very personality traits that make a great sales person are the same ones that can bring them done and put them into a major slump.

It is vitally important for the sales professional to have a strong level of EQ or Emotional Intelligence.  As Daniel Goleman points out in his book “Emotional Intelligence” the EQ is usually more important than IQ when determining how successful someone will be in life and business. 

EQ training is helpful in 3 ways.

1. Becoming conscious of negative emotional states.

2. Getting control over unhelpful emotions and increasing emotional resilience.

3. Recognizing others’ emotional states in order to improve communication and build relationships.

A positive mental attitude for the sales professional can make all the difference between average performance and someone who breaks all the records. The best and fastest way to change your emotional intelligence is by connecting to the subconscious. The subconscious mind is the seat of the emotions and that’s where great selling comes from, but its’ also where fear’s reside. Fears of failure, rejection and the inability to present to a group are crippling to the sales person, The best sales people are the ones who are working on themselves through focused visualization, positive goal setting and finding ways to alleviate fears/emotional blocks and build unstoppable self confidence.

A sales training that only includes sales techniques falls well below the mark.  By including EQ training and self improvement techniques you can build not only a dynamite sales team but a happy, well adjusted peak performing sales person as well.

Filed Under: Hypnosis & Performance Tagged With: , , ,