This week I will be working at a competition again, sitting behind a display table laden with Ice Cool Confidence training products, planners and the Competition Ready™ USB programmes. To each side of the table I usually have 2m high pop up banners outlining what Ice Cool Confidence does. I’ve always thought it was fairly obvious what I do and what the business is about..  But at the last competition I attended, a lady strode purposefully up to me, and as I readied myself to answer the anticipated questions about how I could help her skater, she took me completely by surprise, by asking “do you do business cards?”.

“Excuse me?”

“Business cards. Do you do them?”

“You mean… your cards?”

“Yes”

At first I was slightly flummoxed. Why on earth would she think that I printed business cards? And what would I be doing at an ice rink if I did?

And then it dawned on me. She had seen the boxes which Competition Ready™ mini programme on a USB comes in and because she was looking for business cards – that’s what she ‘saw’.

You see when we are looking for something – we notice that thing everywhere. When you decide to buy a new car and settle on a bright blue Peugeot 205 – you start to see blue Peugeots everywhere you look. Because your mind is focusing hard on one particular thing.

So when this lady saw my lovely USB drive nestled in its lovely protective box which was just about the same size as a business card – she thought that’s what they were.  And she left me wondering just what other people might be seeing when they pass by and glance at the Competition Ready™ boxes.

Now if you head out onto the ice looking for ‘things that could go wrong’ – that’s just what you’ll find. So make sure you are focused on what you want – not what you don’t want.  When you’re training, look for the space to do that jump – instead of noticing how many people are ‘in your way’. Look for all the reasons your programme is good and what’s going well, instead of thinking about what’s not working. If you want to know a little more about why this works take a peek at what I wrote about our ‘Reticular Activating System‘.

I’ll be heading to Lee Valley next week. So come and look at the Competition Ready™ boxes for yourself and tell me what you ‘see’! Of course I know exactly what I do – and it seems perfectly obvious to me how I can help you – but it may not be so obvious to you, so come and have a chat and tell me what your skating challenges are!