Have Interest

Well, today I was getting sick of trying to sell and I hadn’t made any sales. Two days in a row without making sales? Yeah, that would hurt. So, I started thinking about quitting and how I just don’t know if I can sell a product that I don’t feel good about. Not even that I don’t feel good about selling the product, more that I just don’t feel good about selling it to the people I talk to. Anyway, I started talking to this one lady, and we just got a talking. We ended up having a great conversation, and I could tell she really liked me. She told me to never be a teacher because she hates her job, and I was telling her about the hard time I was having deciding what I want to do with my life.

To make a long story short, I ended up selling this lady, even though she wanted to wait. I remembered how this morning I had read a chapter in How to Win Friends that talked about how we should show a genuine interest in people. That’s what I did with her, and I ended up selling her. Although I don’t think selling her was the most important part, my spirits lifted considerably after that call. I remembered how sometimes when I got sick of knocking doors and selling pest control, I would just try to find somebody nice to talk to. I would just make a friend, and I would a lot of times sell that person. But, I liked that because it rejuvenated me. Rather than feeling like a selling machine that didn’t really care about people, I felt like I was making friends and still giving my friends something they could benefit from. Well, after my first phone sale, the next lady I called I used a similar approach. I just started joking with her and she thought I was “a riot”. Her words, not mine. Well, I ended up selling her as well. What started as a horrible selling day and where I thought I was going to just quit and hate my job, turned into a very rewarding and fun day. I need to use that approach more often when I sell. I need to have a more genuine interest in the people I sell and just make friends with them on the phone.

During the time that I was having a hard time selling, I was talking to my coworker David. He’s the one who went on the trip from California to Rome. We talked about how I’m planning on getting a job, but that I still have my nomadic trip as a backup option. Well, he invited me to read some of the journal entries from his trip that he has posted on facebook. He has the first 19 days of his trip posted, so I went and read them tonight after work. They were so fun and interesting to watch, and they got me laughing really hard on multiple occasions. The trip just sounds so much fun.

I think one of the biggest fears I have about going on a trip is that I’ll regret going on it. Although one side of me does want to go out and explore and experience more of what is around me, the other side of me wants to start learning a profession and to get good at something. I just don’t want to go on my trip and regret not getting a job and getting started on life. However, reading his journal entries has fueled some of my desire to go on a trip. I’m just not sure. I’m just realizing more and more that there are tons of different occupational options that sound like lots of fun to me.

I think consulting, Venture Capital, Private Equity, and sales all sound like careers I would join. However, that’s only based on my personal experience and my personal experience is very limited. Also, as I search for jobs, I just feel like it’s useless. I’d much rather get a job because I know somebody, not because I apply on some website or something. So, if I go out every day, meet and talk to people and see new places, I’ll gain more experiences that I can then utilize to make a more educated decision. If I make a decision based up on my limited experience, will I continue to wonder if it’s the best thing for me? Will I ever be content with what I do until I’ve explored other options? These are the questions I face.