Before any meeting with new prospect, too often do I think:
– What if I fumble my words?
– What if I forgot to ask him/her about something important?
– Will I be pushed and or intimidated into lowering my price?
– Will there be any misunderstanding that will leads to altercation down the line?
– If this deal doesn’t go through, how can I find another client? Will I have enough money to stay in business, keep the light on for this month?

The meeting hasn’t even happened yet and I have already think about all these negative things.
All this will leads me into fight or flight survival mode, stress, depresssion and affect other area of my life right to the meeting and more oftern than not, when the meeting is over and a huge wave of relief and freedom washed over and I think to myself:

“Well, that wasn’t as bad as I thought It would”

Now ,I have learnt a new kind of mental rehearsal before meeting or any event that might leads me to overthink like: talking with clients, meeting my girlfriend’s parents, talking with peers that are better than me,…

Try to think about all the positive things that could happened such as:
– You will smoothly go through the pitch with impecable tone and confidence.
– You will ask the client the important questions, even if you forgot something, you can follow up and ask them later.
– You will stand firm on your price and value and will determine if the client is the best fit for you and your business at the moment.
– Even if the deal isn’t go through, keep in mind that you can always find another client, even a better one, you will manage depends on the situation.

These mental rehearsal will paint out the image as a form of practice that scenario and when that time eventually comes, your brain will automatically pull that out of your mental library and give you more confident.

Whether you think you can or can’t, you are right!