Owning a cool guitar without knowing how to play it does not make you a professional musician. It makes you a “poser.”
I should know. I’ve been one for years. By definition, a poser is someone who tries to be something he or she is not. That was me. Because I had a Taylor and knew how to strum the steel strings, I told myself I was a guitar player.
The reality was that I played at playing a guitar. To get better — I convinced myself and my patient wife — I needed a better guitar. So I bought one…and then another one … and then … well, you get the picture. I’ve gone through three years and 12 guitars and I’m still a poser.
That is until last month when Elijah Melanson, a student from the Berklee College of Music entered my life. He forced me to focus on one guitar … an acoustic. It’s more difficult to master than an electric one, he told me.
Now, four weeks and four words later, I’m actually playing songs on my guitar that my wife recognizes. Why? Because I focused my efforts on one thing and because I heeded those four words he drilled into my head: Practice hard. Play well.
Once I started practicing, I was able to transform “poser” into “power.” I quit playing around and I started playing for real. Have you done that in your sales career or are you a poser?
Truth is that it isn’t what you possess that makes you a success. Forget the flashy car. The big house. The designer clothes. Even a Rolls and a Rolex won’t transform you into something you aren’t.
Just as owning a dozen guitars doesn’t make me a musician, having “the look” of a successful new-home salesperson doesn’t make you one. You need to actually sell homes. Consistently.
How do you do that? Four words: Practice hard. Sell well. Do it and, in a few months, you’ll be singing a different tune.
