There are many tricks you can use to mentally prepare for the big meeting. I have a pair of underwear that does it for me.
It’s Monday evening and you are lying awake in bed fretting over a very important meeting tomorrow with a future investor/customer/partner/new hire. Your venture is just getting off the ground and landing this deal could make or break you. So, you lie there in bed thinking about all of the different ways you will pitch tomorrow then craft the perfect wording that will win the deal. If only perfect words were all you needed.
A few weeks back I wrote about the fear factor and how it influences everything. I know that if we let fear become a significant part of our psyche that it then oozes out of our pores like too much garlic. Then others sense it. Then they judge us on the fear and not the words.
One of the ways I cope is to develop a trusted support system that can re-orient me away from a fear-based place to a positive, “I own this” position. A good friend and I used a call and response trick where he would ask me, “Who’s the King?” My answer: “I am the King!” This trick helped me relax and concentrate on my strengths. I would call him on the way to the meeting.
But what if that is not enough? That trick only lasts 15 seconds, maybe more if we do it a few times. What other options are there for creating that “I own this, I am the King” mentality?
I have another trick that I want to share that lasts a little longer. You can find out about my “lucky underwear” here at INC.COM. You can also check out all of my articles at INC here.