Hi, welcome to Lifebuilder!

This week, I leave for London to speak at my first international conference. I am reminded of the last time I worked in the city. I had just left university to backpack around the world. For six months, I worked in London. At first, I was a waiter, but getting paid £3.50 an hour at Pizza Hut didn’t last long. I had a an acting background, so I decided to take to the streets as a busker. In those days, there was a great little busking technique called ‘Statue’. The busker would paint himself white and stand dead still like a statue. If a passer-by was suitably impressed, they would drop a coin in his hat.

I decided to dress up as Charlie Chaplain. As a quintessential British icon, I thought this would work well on the tourists. In my Chaplain get-up, I would stand dead still until it felt as if my body was going into rigor mortis! I had spent a few weeks on a meditation retreat in Scotland, so I knew how to be still for a long time, but still I couldn’t stick it out longer than about twenty minutes. With breaks in between, I made about £5 pounds an hour, better than the waitering job, but not nearly enough to pay my way to the United States, the next leg on my journey.

One day, something unexpected happened that would ultimately more than quadruple my earnings. As somebody threw a coin into my suitcase, I fell out of position, probably out of exhaustion. Immediately, someone else threw another coin. And than it dawned on me that if I responded when people gave me something, it would motivate them to throw in more coins, and best of all, I wouldn’t have to break my back standing still forever. As a coin was thrown into the suitcase I would simply make a little ‘Chaplainesque’ move or change my expression, and another coin would usually follow. I was soon making £25 an hour and paying my way to New York.

On the streets of London, I learnt my most important entrepreneurial lessons. You can’t keep standing still - move, delight them, and they’ll throw money at you. It doesn’t take a lot to affirm and recognise someone, but when you do, you’ll be well rewarded. I discovered that the best way to get is to give. I learnt that a willingness to change could quadruple my income. But perhaps most important of all, this week I saw how far I have come - from busking to doing a corporate presentation in London earning far more than £25 an hour. Whatever your dream, wherever you are at the moment, know that you too can make it happen if you will only have the courage to move.

Until next week - Create Your Self!
 
Justin

Justin Cohen

Who is Justin Cohen? Justin Cohen, the author of Lifebuilder, is a sought-after conference speaker and trainer specializing in motivation, sales and leadership. ‘After Justin came to present, turnover has doubled.’ - Tanya Peche, Sales Manager, EDCON If you are looking for a speaker for your next conference or training session, click here to find out more about Justin Cohen.

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