Business-Building Action from Terry Brock
“The best weapon against prejudice is excellence.” – David Oyelowo
I have talked and written about achieving success for many years now. I had the chance to study some of the greats up close and personal. Like many people, I was not born into wealth. My parents were in an environment where they felt out of place for much of my childhood. They worked hard and never achieved great wealth.
People in Michigan often looked down on them because of their accent. I remember Mom speaking in church once and as she was sharing, the audience broke out in laughter because of her accent. She was terribly embarrassed and didn’t understand why people were laughing at her.
We all go through periods of prejudice from others because of a variety of topics. It might be your skin color. It might be your sex. It might be your sexual orientation. It might be your height. It might be your weight. There are a host of ways that people can feel justified in ugly prejudice against another. This is a fact of life and it has existed throughout the centuries all around the world.
Some people want to pass laws that can prohibit or make prejudice illegal. While these usually start with noble ideals, they fall flat in the real world. Legislation written by a body of pious legislators from a distant city seldom changes the core beliefs and feelings that people have. You are not likely to change the prejudice of someone who looks down upon you for whatever reason their twisted mind believes you are inferior.
However, there is very good news. You have within you the ability to overcome prejudice from anyone, anywhere, anytime. You don’t have to get their permission to succeed. However you have to roll up your sleeves and get to work at something very important.
I think the quote from David Oyelowo sums it up. He is the actor that portrayed Martin Luther King, Junior, in the movie Selma. He also has been riveting audiences in many of his works as an actor. He grew up in Britain and Nigeria. This brilliant actor with a British accent has now earned his United States citizenship. He knows prejudice. He has seen it himself, and talked with others who have experienced some of the most brutal and cruel prejudice anywhere.
I love his quote on how to overcome it: “The best weapon against prejudice is excellence.” When you become so good that people can’t ignore you, you outshine and silence your critics. That quote, from Steve Martin, is the title of the book from Cal Newport.
This is the key to overcome any ugly prejudice that you experience for whatever reason: become so good at your craft that they cannot ignore you or acknowledge your expertise.
Think about how freeing that is to you. The haters are not in charge of your life. You are! The bigoted Neanderthals cannot determine your destiny. You can buy the amount of expertise and market-valuable skills that you acquire.
I think of the late professor Randy Pausch who was a professor at Carnegie Melon University a few years ago. He had been diagnosed with incurable cancer and yet still forged ahead continuing to work. The work itself gave him a zest to continue going far beyond what the doctors thought he could do.
In the video that accompanies this article I have a short clip of his last lecture where he amazes and dazzles the crowd with his physical ability. Eventually his body succumbed to the cancer, but not before he left the world a profound message. You are in control of your destiny. Your skills and level of expertise will be what determines how far you rise.
Randy Pausch once said that if people want to know how he was able to achieve such great accomplishments in his life they should call him at his office some Friday evening at 10 o’clock to find out.
Discipline is the key. You don’t achieve greatness by seeking comfort. Laziness does not achieve greatness. Yes, you do need to relax and rejuvenate as an essential part of living. Let your focus remain on being productive and rendering contribution to the world and you will succeed.
This applies in relationship marketing. You have to be very good and desirable for people to be around you. That means you want to focus on creating value for them because they are with you. Nobody owes you a living. You have to create value in the marketplace so that people will want to work with and be with you.
Recently I had the high honor of introducing George Foreman, a former heavyweight boxing champion of the world to an audience of 2100 people and an online audience of 50,000 people at FreedomFest. In the resonating and powerful speech that he gave to this group, The Champ said something that stuck with me: If you learn how to sell, you’ll never go hungry in your life.
Learn how to sell and learn how to achieve greatness. Develop skills that the market considers valuable. Don’t just learn some esoteric topic that you think is nifty and groovy. Make sure it’s something that the market wants and is willing, ready, and able to pay for.
Yes, you can overcome any prejudice that is thrown at you in life. You overcome adversity and obstacles by being the very best. You become the very best by being willing to pay the price and discipline yourself. This is how you achieve your success.
All the best,
Terry
Terry Brock, MBA, CSP, CPAE
Member, Professional Speaker Hall of Fame
Certified Speaking Professional
www.TerryBrock.com
Terry@TerryBrock.com
+1-407-363-0505
@TerryBrock
Facebook.com/MarketerTerryBrock
