OH! Magazine - Australian Version June 2017 | Page 29

( Health )
MARGIE
WARRELL
STOP SELLING
YOURSELF SHORT!
Margie Warrell shares these tips to help you seize your courage.
f you’re like a lot of people I
know, you can easily recall times
where you’ve held back from putting
yourself forward, negotiating for a better
deal or settled for less than what you
really wanted because you were afraid
you mightn’t get it, or not even deserve
it.
I
When it comes to owning our worth and
not selling ourselves short, experience
has taught me that most of us
(particularly women) need to be
reminded of this again and again and
again.
As I wrote in my latest book Make Your
Mark: A Guidebook for the Brave
Hearted, too often we underestimate our
abilities and hold back from putting
ourselves forward for new opportunities
or saying yes when they come our way.
It keeps us from the very experiences
that build both our competence and
confidence.
My friend Sara James, an Emmy Award
winning journalist, shared with me how,
on landing her first war correspondent
assignment in Somalia, she was
completely terrified of messing it up.
On her first day in Mogadishu she
thought to herself, ‘What the heck am I
doing?’ She asked a veteran journalist
for advice. ‘Just get outside,’ he said,
‘every person you meet is a story.’ Sara
counts it as the best advice she ever
received. And you don’t have to go to a
war zone to apply it! So let me ask you
three questions:
letters before my first book Find Your
Courage was picked up by McGraw-Hill)!
You may even mess up, on occasion.
Almost certainly, you will look back and
see how you might have done it better;
however, one thing is certain – you’ll
learn far more and go way further when
you quit playing it safe, and stick your
neck out.
My challenge to you: Be courageous
1. Where is fear of not having what it
takes, of being rejected, or falling flat on
your face, keeping you from going after
what you really want (and at full tilt)?
2. Where are you selling yourself short,
or failing to ask for what you want?
I want to present you with a simple
challenge. For the next seven days, I
challenge you to hang up your timidity
hat, and put yourself ‘out there’ at least
once every day. For example:
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3. What opportunities are you missing
out on because you aren’t putting
yourself in front of the very people who
could open doors for you?
Of course, you won’t always get the
response you want. Sometimes people
will say ‘no’. Other times you’ll get a
closed door (I had over 40 rejection
•
•
•
•
•
Introduce yourself to someone
you’ve been wanting to meet.
Make a call you’ve been putting off.
Invite someone out for lunch.
Ask someone to be your mentor at
work.
Enlist support from friends toward a
big brave goal.
Put your hand up for an opportunity
you’re not quite ready for.
I have no idea what relationships may
grow from this, or what doors might
open for you, but I can tell you this –
things will happen that would not
otherwise occur. Why?
Because
although courage doesn’t guarantee
success, it always precedes it!
Margie Warrell is an international
speaker, coach, bestselling author and
the mum of four rowdy teens. You can
check out her latest book at
www.MakeYourMarkGuidebook.com
OH! MAGAZINE ( JUNE 2017 )
29