TACTIC 2 AVOIDING SITUATIONS AND TASKS[1]

Pure avoidance isn’t always possible, and that’s why people sometimes opt to do the task , but only partway . For example , instead of going to a business dinner to meet key potential clients, you post details of your business on social media . Rather than giving a motivational speech to employees , you decide to send an inspirational message via Facebook . Or instead of meeting new people at a networking event, you sit at the bat with the people you came with, or you spend lots of time in the drink line or in the bathroom-anything to kill time and avoid the possibility of having to talk with a stranger.

When you go back to the office you can ‘check the box’ that says you attended a networking event, but you didn’t speak to a single person you didn’t know.

Someone I spoke with who engaged in this avoidance tactic was Dan Gold, a car wash entrepreneur whose real claim to fame was a unique system of software he had developed to run car washes more efficiently . Dan loved developing the software and didn’t avoid that at all. But when it came down to sales – actually asking a potential customer to purchase the product-his real avoidance behaviour kicked in.

Dan truly believed in the product-and from running it in his own car wash, he knew it worked. But he hated to impose. He dreaded the idea of actually looking someone in the eye and asking them for thousands of dollars.

I will complete in article 2 soon.