I remember it still, clearly to this day. I was 6 years old and Dad had just picked me up from after-school care. As I hopped into the back seat of his old HK Torana, I was in the middle of thinking about what I’d seen- in magazines, at exhibitions, under the glass at Hobbyco in Sydney’s George St (back when it was in George Street). I was a sucker for the elaborate workings of these layouts, all the small details that had been considered in order to make these miniature scenes as life-like as possible. Playing around with trains was something I loved doing, but the fact that these layouts were designed, built and operated by adults? That made me think perhaps (unlike getting heaps of presents on Christmas Day or thinking going to McDonalds’ was ‘special’) the fun of playing with trains was something that didn’t mysteriously vanish once you became a grown-up?

Yet as much as I would’ve loved to have a big layout like the ones I’d seen in my long life-time up to that point, I also knew it was beyond my reach. I was too young, I didn’t have enough space and I also knew that to build a big layout with lots of trains running on it required something I didn’t have- money.

Just thinking of that felt unusually bittersweet. I had the best ideas for how I’d design my layout- the landscape features I’d craft, the impressive structures I’d build, the tracks I’d nail down, the intricate little details I’d include. But that vision was out of my reach. I wouldn’t get it for my birthday and it wouldn’t be under the Christmas tree. Nether did I expect Mum and Dad to give it to me- not for one moment did I think that.

But then, sitting in the back seat of Dad’s car, it occurred to me:

There was nothing anybody had ever said or I had ever read, seen, heard or experienced that had told me I could never have what I wanted.  

Like the sun peeping up from the edge of the horizon as day breaks, the shadow of unmet desire vanished from this new dawning of revelation. Nothing suggested my current situation would always be the case. So with that in mind….why not decide? Decide that one day, I would have what I needed- be it space, money or maturity- to design, build and take pride in this awesome layout I dreamed of!
 
So I decided then and there, that although I didn’t know when it would happen, that it would happen. I suddenly couldn’t wait to get home, and when I did, I sat down by the coffee table in our living room, scrapbook in front of me, and drew scenes of grand bridges, trains disappearing into tunnels through mountains, big multi-platform stations- all the things I wanted to feature on my big layout one day.
 
25 years later and I’ve got engines and books on model layout construction and scenery and project plans for my grand layout from buying the required timber and nails for the table, to cracking open that first beer and admiring my creation once the entire thing is complete. I’ve drawn and revised/ updated the layout plan more times over the years than I can count! However that ultimate goal still hasn’t been reached- yet.
 
But there is another decision I made, much more recently, and the results of it have already begun to manifest in my life in so many ways. Although you’ll have to wait until next time for me to share it with you. Hopefully, just from sharing this story something new will become apparent. Or maybe something you’d forgotten has been awakened in you? Just wait until my next post, and all will be revealed…

‘How I Met Your Mother’ was a cult series, cleverly produced to ensure a second wave of popularity about 15 years from now when we get swept up in the tidal wave of nostalgia for everything to do with the first decade of the 21st century. Although I enjoyed watching it when it was on, I was never a devoted fan. But the other night while eating dinner, I had the TV on, and an episode came on that caused me to have a revelation. It wasn’t a tear-jerker or an episode that made me think “Woah- story of my life!”. But the basic message behind it was how an unstoppable conviction that we will succeed can have a massive flow-on effect to our fortunes…

So in this episode, Ted (the main character) goes out to dinner at the restaurant of a fancy hotel with his friend Barney and also Robyn- an ex flame he still has undeniable feelings for. She is tall, dark and beautiful- and a newsreader on New York City’s biggest TV network. This would be an enjoyable evening for Ted, but for one fact- Robyn is bringing a date- a handsome news reporter that Ted would normally love taking the piss out of. To ease the awkwardness of the situation, Barney sets Ted up with a date for the night- and then informs Ted that the girl in question is an escort. Ted is reluctant to go through with it and mad at Barney for setting him up with a prostitute- because Ted “isn’t that kind of guy”. But Barney calms Ted down and convinces him to look on the bright side- it’ll put Robyn on guard and for Ted, what’s the worst that could happen? If he wants to sleep with this girl, it’s a sure thing! Then Ted meets his ‘date’ for the night- a gorgeous blonde- and decides he’ll go through with it, go to dinner with her and make fun out of it. Barney is right- what’s to lose?

As the night goes on, Ted soon discovers that he really ‘clicks’ with this girl. He openly flirts with her and pulls out all stops in charming his beautiful companion, knowing that he won’t get knocked back. He can’t believe how much he actually likes her, even without the intention of sleeping with her. Yet sure enough, it turns out there’s real chemistry between them. Not only that- she also has a swipe card for one of the rooms upstairs. This is at the same time that Ted’s open flirting with her finally gets to Robyn. She makes a scene by leaving with her date, saying she’s keen to go back to his apartment. Ted battles with his conscience, the unexpected feelings he has for his new acquaintance and the alcohol he’s drunk, but he ends up walking her upstairs, lingering just outside the door to her room… 

It then cuts back downstairs. Barney sits at the deserted table, laughing at the chaos he’s created. Then suddenly, Robyn re-appears. She tells Barney she wasn’t really interested in sleeping with the handsome news anchor and that "she just wanted to make Ted jealous”. Ted then re-appears also, traipsing down the stairs. He says he “couldn’t do it”- he couldn’t sleep with a woman who was paid for. That “he only did it to make Robyn jealous”.

Then Barney drops the bombshell: that girl Ted just turned down, after charming her all night? She was not a prostitute!

She was a girl Barney knew from the apartment block he lived in, who works as a paralegal. He set her up with Ted and told him she was an escort to prove a point- that when Ted fully believed he was a sure thing with a girl- and acted on that belief- he won her over in a single night!
 
Watching this, I reflected on how differently girls responded to me once I’d stopped worrying and changed my attitude- then it hit me like a white hot flash of lightening:

The starting block, the foundation to making the sale, delivering that knockout presentation that leaves them hanging on, to converting that potential customer from “Show me your credentials” to “Shut up and take my money!”- it’s the belief, the conviction- that we’ve got what it takes. It won’t just reflect in the words that you say- it’ll manifest in how you talk, how you hold yourself, how you express yourself, how you look at them. You will still get lukewarm responses and outright rejection, but instead of worrying about how you blew it, you know- it’s their loss. Onto the next one.

If you want an army of potential clients to back you, first of all you must back yourself. That alone will make a huge impact on your ratio of ‘Fail’ to ‘SALE!’