This post seems so appropriate since Rodeo Week is just around the corner. In a recent a late night phone conversation with a friend of mine, I was asking her if she checked out some of the things that others were doing in her industry. She mentioned she did not. I am quite a curious cat so I asked “Why?” “Well” she said, ” If I look at what others are doing, I may have the tendency to compare what they are doing to what I am doing.” How many of you can relate? Sometimes this comparison can downright pull you down if you are coming from a place of “She is so much better than me.” or “I do not have what she has.: or even “She’s been a this longer than I have.” I have also noticed that sometimes people can start copying the person they are comparing themselves to without even realizing it. Whoa there!
First of all, if you are looking at the others in the industry, look for what appeals to you and what seems to be working for them. Huge warning…you do not want to adopt or align with beliefs or ideas that do not resonate with you. Be YOU! People want to work with people who are true to who they are. Secondly, you are already enough and you have what it takes. Do not downplay what you have accomplished. You need to do it your way! People are attracted to doing business and forming relationships with others based on synergy and a feeling of connection. Thirdly, do not forget – you are brilliant and you have tons of ideas that need to be put into action. You may feel uncomfortable when you put the ideas into action. I even get nervous when I am trying new things. No I am not kidding depending on what it is. It is a mix of nervousness and excitement and then a sense of, “I can do this. I have stretched before and I can do it again.” The results I have gotten better and better every time. As my motto goes, “Do not let your greatest regret in life be that you never took action.”
Be strategic. Learn from others but remember to value the talents and skills you bring forth. After all, there is only one you and no one can do things your way!
Put your blinders on. Focus on how your ideas are going to make a difference in the world and say, “Giddy Up! I am on the track. I am going to win this one!”
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE is an award-winning speaker, author, sales trainer and in-demand speech coach. Her speech-coaching clients include corporate leaders, celebrity speakers, well-known sports and media personalities, ministers and sales teams. Meetings and Conventions magazine named her “One of the 10 most electrifying speakers in North America.” She delivers high-energy, high-content, and dramatically memorable presentations. Steven Covey’s Executive Excellence magazine named her “One of the top 50 consultants, trainers, speakers, authors and professors who cover the Seven Dimensions of Excellence.” Kiplinger’s Personal Finance November 2002 issue claimed, “Patricia Fripp’s speaking skills class is the sixth best investment to make with $1,000.” 
Skillfully blending her 11 years of “corporate world” with 20 years of professional sales experience, Lori Raudnask is able to connect with audiences immediately. Through an interactive process, participants are driven to look at their own professional and personal lives and identify what they can do to achieve desired results. She is the author of Persistence Pays – How Getting What You Want is Easier Than You Think.
Recently honored as one of America’s Top Women Mentoring Leaders by WoW Magazine, Lisa Sasevich, “The Queen of Sales Conversion,” teaches experts who are making a difference how to get their message out and enjoy massive results, without being “sales-y.” 
She’s an unconventional, sassy and savvy sales expert that shows women small biz owners and entrepreneurs sizzling sales tips on how to increase sales in a fun, easy, stress-free way!