Business Coach : Changing Mindset
-I started changing my mindset. I am going to work. Every single person who comes into the electronic section, I’m going to do it. Martin Luther King Jr said, “If I am a streetsweeper, I should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and the earth will pause and say, ‘Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.'” I started saying– if God’s watching, he’s going to clap for me, because I’m going to do such a good job if someone has a question.
And I’ll never forget. A guy named Todd Starkey, that’s how we got going to know each other. Todd Starkey comes in there– and he worked for you– and Todd says, “I’m looking for a camera for my wife.”
And I said, “What kind of camera?” It was for the holidays.
“Oh, a camera she can use to record things.”
And I said, “Which ones are you looking for?”
He said, “Well, this is the one I saw in the ad. I want this one.”
And I said, “Well, Todd, what are your goals? What are you looking for out of the camera? How much are you looking to spend? What’s your budget?” I asked him a lot of questions. I said, “Well, based upon what you told me, you should not buy this one. You should buy this one. It’s a little bit less money, and it’s easier for your wife to operate. It’s perfect.”
And he looks at me, and he’s like, “What are you doing here?”
And I was like, “What do you mean?”
He’s like, “What do you do? What’s your thing?”
And I’m like, “I have a business I’m starting, called DJ Connection. I really am trying to grow this company. And I’m working at Target because I believe that I need to provide until I can get there.”
And Todd was like “I’m head of the intern, whatever program at Tax and Accounting. We’re looking for guys who have an accounting major. Where do you go to college?”
And I’d just been kicked out of ORU. And I’m like, “ORU.”
He said, “You into accounting?”
I said, “Absolutely. Love accounting. It’s a passion area for me.” Or something like that. And I ended up getting my internship interview by, really, doing what Martin Luther King Jr was talking about. I was working at Target, just working the heck out of that electronics job. I’m just curious, because in your life, I’ve heard stories of how you’ve done this and how you’ve built that. Can you explain to me how, in your life, you’ve been able to pursue excellence and have some neat byproducts as a result of that? A business coach can help to explain.
-I was thinking about business here, but I’m going to go to the place of great pain in my life. With a speech impediment that I have and a handicap and people making fun of the way I spoke. It was a place of such pain that I realized that I needed to learn how to communicate to people. I wasn’t going to grow any business if I didn’t learn how to communicate freely.
And I remember speaking into tape recorders back then. At that time, we didn’t have all the electronic digital things we have. I would speak my favorite passages, maybe parts of the Bible, speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. I’m looking at Michelangelo– speeches by Michelangelo as he painted the Sistine Chapel. A business coach is always looking to grow from others.
And I remember speaking these in, and I would hear it back, and I’d go– Come on, Tim. Come on, Tim. Get better. Close this up. Make this better. Get more energy in this. And over and over and over and over again, striving for getting onto block 1. It was a pressing in toward that excellence.
CLAY CLARK: You actually practiced on a tape recorder?
-Hours and hours and hours. I’ve got over 100 hours, maybe 200 hours, of practicing in there. The entire book of Proverbs. The entire book of Genesis.
-Really? You actually did this?
-Yeah. Over and over and over again. And I would get up in front of people, and my knees would be visibly shaking, I was so intimidated by this process. But I’m walking through this difficult place, saying– I’m going to create excellence. This thing that’s trying to push me down and make me into nothing, I’m going to stare back at it– I’m standing up; I’m sorry– and I’m going to say I’m going to press through this thing, and I’m going to move towards excellence, where before I begin to master this thing that’s trying to define me and put me in a box.
I’m telling you– that’s what’s happening here. These things are trying to put you into a box. It’s time for you start laughing at that, but get off your blessed assurance and start leaning into this and do it 1,000 times as the warm-up– then start to do it. Advice from the best business coach.