with the warm response you’ll receive.
Many who have participated in speaking competitions or been guest speakers at our networking meetings have told me how surprised they were to find they actually enjoyed speaking and were thrilled to discover their own achievements were far greater than others in the audience. Jenni Roberts, a beautician in Sydney was very shy the first time she spoke at one of our dinner meetings; three years later she was earning a minimum of $1,000 for every speech.
Sophie, a 31 year old financial consultant, was a high achiever in her company and as she wanted to become a speaker, I organised for her to speak at a Sales Seminar for a large manufacturing company. She was paid $200 for her very first professional presentation.
Your knowledge and experience is valuable to others so don’t underestimate your earning potential. Some speakers are making as much as $5,000 a day in Australia and I’ve met international speakers who earn $10,000 an hour.
You can gain immense personal pleasure and satisfaction by writing your own autobiography that can be passed on to your children. It makes a valuable family heirloom. You may even decide after you’ve written it that it’s worth giving to a publisher as it could become a great help to others and a new rewarding career could open for you.
I’ll never forget the first Australian Executive Woman newsletter I prepared. I worked all night to cut and paste together my eight page publication. Having had no sleep I was on the steps of the Adelaide Post Office when they opened the next morning. The man who gave me an official publication number for it must have had difficulty keeping a straight face.
Today, 25 years on, I’ve written and published six books, five in Australia and one in Japan. My own publishing company assists other authors to publish their books. We are also publishing e-books, so call us if you would like us to help you publish your book. I believe we all have a book inside of us.
REWARD YOURSELF OFTEN
Do you reward yourself? I’ve found a simple inexpensive gift to myself, such as a new hairstyle, has been empowering. When I was single with large businesses to manage in three states, I had to keep my energy levels high and it was important for me to feel successful, always, even when the bank manager had just rung me saying, “Lucille your overdraft is too high.” On those days I used to take myself shopping for the future.
At these times I’d act as if I was already very wealthy. I’d telephone a Mercedes dealer and ask for a test drive in my favourite sports car. This soon cheered me up. Then I’d go to town and try on mink coats, diamond rings and expensive perfumes. Smelling and feeling like I’d already made my fortune, I’d sit at the cocktail bar in the Melbourne Hilton sipping one drink for hours, enjoying the music played on the grand piano and watching the people with money, spend it!
It’s easy to feel the way they do. Why should you deprive yourself of the experience? No one has to know your financial position. It’s the image you portray that will either make or break you.
I can remember the time I found a lovely ring in Sydney at a Coles store. It had 17 imitation diamonds set in a large, magnificent star shape and all who saw it were fascinated. When they admired it, I thanked them. I didn’t bother to disappoint anyone by announcing it wasn’t real. Why spoil their fun and mine?
SET PERSONAL GOALS
I had a personal goal to have a real diamond ring made as an exact copy of my $3 imitation, and I achieved this goal in my third year in business. The manufacturing jeweller who copied it for me was so impressed with it he asked me if he could include it in a jewellery exhibition the following month at Myer. What a joke!
Life can be so much fun if you do something very different and out of character, once in awhile. For people to believe you’re successful you must empower yourself from within because a facade is transparent. You have to picture yourself as having already achieved the goal you wrote for yourself and totally believe it will be yours and act confidently at all times.
CREATE A POSITIVE SELF-IMAGE
Carry yourself upright, look people in the eye and speak clearly and directly to the person you are asking to assist you fulfil your dreams. A strong handshake is important too, for both men and women. Most men have learnt to accept a woman’s hand if she offers it, especially when greeting them in a business situation, but remember to be firm without crushing the other person’s fingers.
EDUCATE YOURSELF
Read some good books on building self-esteem and confidence. There are hundreds of books today that can help you to change your outlook on life. I’ve made it a habit in the past 40 years to always have a book on my bedside table. My favourites are autobiographies written by successful people. I enjoy re-reading How to Think Like a Millionaire, a book that includes the life story of Ray Kroc, the founder of the McDonald’s hamburger chain. His story always inspires me, as he was 53 years old when he began building the McDonald’s empire. It proves you’re never too old to be successful, if you have the desire.
I love telling the story about my first trip to Las Vegas, partly because of my passion to be an entertainer. In 1975 I embarked alone on a world trip and met actor Telly Savalas in a Greek Tavern on the Broadway in San Francisco. He and his friends invited me to watch Telly making the television show KOJAK when I met them again in Los Angeles. I also went to the recording studios where Telly was recording records. He didn’t sing, but had a magnificent deep voice and would talk on his recordings. Then they arranged for me to join them in Palm Springs for a Golf and Tennis Tournament; an annual event for the Music and Film Industry of USA. What an exciting time I had in California and later in Las Vegas. Telly arranged for me to be picked up at the Las Vegas airport in a limousine, enjoy Casino rates at the Stardust Hotel (half the normal room rate) and attend the Frank Sinatra concert. I remember feeling very important on the night of the concert. Sitting in the front row wearing my long red evening gown with red feathers at the neck, I imagined myself on stage one day.
That evening Frank Sinatra’s support act encouraged me to believe I can achieve anything I want to. At the end of his magnificent performance he announced he’d been singing professionally for 20 years. He told us he was celebrating his 80th birthday that week and the audience applauded loudly and gave him a standing ovation. How sad I thought, to have waited 60 years to do the thing he loved and wanted so much, all his life. But it’s never too late.
The same evening while enjoying a coffee with an American woman I’d met at the concert, a young man came over to our table and asked for my autograph. He thought I was a star! That really topped off a perfect night for me. I never did ask him who he thought I was and in hindsight I feel sorry I disappointed him by telling him the truth.
DO THIS EXERCISE TO EMPOWER YOURSELF
Close your eyes and picture yourself experiencing again, the most successful moment in your life to date. How did you feel? Can you re-live it? Wasn’t it a powerful feeling being successful and achieving your goal? Let yourself recall that feeling every time you’re tempted by self-doubt in future. You’ve been a success and you’ll win again. It’s all up to you. Ask yourself this question, “What would I like to be or have before my life is over?” If you don’t know now, your life will be wasted!
CHAPTER THREE
How to Meet the Right Partner
“The
