Are You An Eeyore?
This was copied from an email of Kevin Riley's. After seeing a piece somewhat similar to this on TV last night, I went hunting on my hard drive for this terrific piece.
The one character trait that I believe is most destructive to your business success is the Eeyore Attitude. You know it: There's always something to blame. "Nothing goes right. Why even try."
Unfortunately, I see many struggling entrepreneurs displaying this crippling trait. There's always something outside to blame. "The kids make too much noise." "I haven't got enough time." "Making videos is too difficult." "I'm not a writer."
CAN DO SPIRIT
Tigger - although a wee bit too rambunctious - has the Can Do spirit. "Tiggers can do anything." If you find yourself attacked by Eeyoreness, grab a little Tigger. Realize that the limitations are not out there - they are inside you. With a little more Tigger Attitude, you'll overcome any problem. You'll find that the mountain truly is just a molehill.WE ALL SUFFER IT Don't think that some of us are immune from Eeyoreness. I often get the Eeyore feeling _ especially when it involves technical difficulties. I go for tea. I check e-mail. I go shopping. Anything to avoid facing the "insurmountable" problem.
Then, when I finally kick Eeyore out and start attacking the problem... I'm always surprised how small that hill was. So... push Eeyore aside and start overcoming your limitations.
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4 Responses to “Are You An Eeyore?”
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It must be late… can you tell me how to pronounce Eeyore? And what exactly it means? Is it a play on words?
Chris
A very inspirational message Carol… Yes I agree we do sometimes need to “Pull Ourselves Together” regain focus, regain our positive attitude and “get on with it” but I also think we mustn’t overlook the fact that Eeyore is a mule and mules are famous for their stubbornness! Often when we hit problems we can develop the “I am going to get the better of this” attitude and it seems to become a real deeply personal battle of wills of man against machine as we wrestle with problems on our own. Finding ourselves lost deep in all the frustration we can forget that we are not alone. Out there in the big wide world of Internet Marketing it is a real battlefield with gurus jealously and violently battling each other for supremacy of their niches but here, in the relative peace and calm of newbie students learning the basics together, we can afford to relax a little and realise that we are not alone but in a classroom of other students willing to help and each with different areas of knowledge and skills, and can take time to encourage and strengthen each other along our pathway. As students on your course we have the wonderful privilege of being part of a community; we are not just individuals battling along alone. Yes, I agree we should strive to maintain a positive attitude and try to solve our problems ourselves; but also we should also learn to be willing to ask for, and be willing to accept, help from others. We are in a very privileged position. We are still learning and there is a calm and tranquil atmosphere as we study together and begin to form ideas about how we can see our future individual careers developing when we eventually leave the nest and begin launching our own products. Let’s all learn to encourage and help each other now, while we still have the opportunity, before the battle commences!
Hi Chris – Although it has been many years since I read this to my son (and he really preferred Dr. Seuss even then), I am fairly sure it is pronounced e-ore. I believe it is a play on sounds rather than words as that closely resembles the sound a mule makes.
I believe to a certain extent you can always exist in a calmer, more tranquil atmosphere even after the “battle commences”. The entire things hinges on our willingness to encourage and help each other.
Just think how great the world would be if this attitude prevailed throughout. Ok, I will take off my rose-colored glasses, put away my Polyanna shoes and get to work. But I will spend the rest of my life being an optimist and believing that this spirit is in most people even if it has been buried under the mountain of doubts in the daily world.
Carol
Hi Carol,
Thanks for the information and reply. It’s a real challenge to remain optimistic these days with everything that is happening around us, however we’ll keep moving in that positive direction. The outlook may sometimes be dark, but the uplook is bright.
Chris