Latest / Travel Agency in a Year / DAY 285 | Travel Advisors: Celebrate the Wins That Do Not Show Up in Revenue
Transcript
- Rachel: Welcome back to the Travel Agency in a Year podcast. I'm your host, Rachel K with elevate with Rachel K.com. And if you don't know who I am, I am a travel agency owner and I help travel advisors build real agencies. And now's the time. I'm not gonna go on a rant in this episode, but I might a little bit with regards to business development in general for travel advisors. I don't know. I'm in a little bit of a mood right now. I really want to help you guys get to seven figures, quit your job, go all in on this, and build a legitimate legacy, if not a full-on enterprise. All right, today is day two hundred and eighty-five. Celebrating your personal wins more than just the numbers. So we talked about having gratitude yesterday for everyone that's helped you build your business where it is, not just your clients. And I always like to talk about celebrating wins because this takes a lot. And kudos to all of you who are in the thick of it right now. And you're just like, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. especially if you're an agent who's like, I've I really wanna make this a full-time thing, I really wanna make this a business, and I see you in the success circle, and you're like gotta do this. I gotta go all in and you're working so hard and I'm proud of you. And I'm proud of every one of you that's not in the success circle that is also going for it. we're gonna go somewhere a little more personal today. The wins that don't show up on your spreadsheets or your analytics, and let's acknowledge them, okay? I think we've discussed this before, but let's do it again. Because you know what? We're in Q4, and you've probably been grinding all year. And I don't know if you're where you want to be in your travel agency, but if you aren't, let's celebrate those personal wins, even if you are. Okay, this is research from Harvard Business School. It's from also in books, sorry, called the progress principle. Professor Teresa, I don't know how to say her name. Amabile Amabal. I don't know. The book is called The Progress Principle, okay? And it is a diary study tracking knowledge workers' daily experiences. So Professor, ma'am, that I can't pronounce your name, and her partner, they found the single strongest predictor of a person's motivation and positive emotion on any given day wasn't a major breakthrough or a large external award or my gosh. Yeah, the large external award. I was gonna go on a tangent, I won't. It was simply making meaningful progress, even in like small incremental ways, like on work that mattered to that individual person. So the smallest wins that are acknowledged and noticed, recognize yourself, okay? Turned out to have a more outsized effect on sustained motivation over time. Let me see if it's in my notes here. Yeah, before I get into the next section. What does that look like for you? Everyone's a little bit different. I'm gonna go through in my brain the people who are showing up every week in the success circle. What I remember. What could be small wins for them? I'm not gonna name names, but if you're in the circle, you might be like, that's so and so. Alright, so small wins, let's see. one of them got to is starting not one but two businesses, and it's a really crazy ecosystem that they're developing right now that's gonna turn into something awesome and transformative for their niche in particular. That's a pretty big win, but I would say just getting the LLC files. That's a big win, even though if you're listening and you've done the LLC filing, it's pretty easy, but that's like a small win that can be celebrated because that's just one more step towards the big wins and building something. Okay, another one. I'm not gonna list the exact certifications. They are also building in an ecosystem and they've gotten several certifications under their belt to form and mold this ecosystem that they're creating that's not just travel. And they're gonna be able to also build their little enterprise this way. And so that could be considered a small win. Or for that person in particular, starting to really network where they need to network to attract the clients they need to attract to get their ecos ecosystem off the ground. another one is kind of a brand newbie agent. just learning the software. You're doing it. You're doing it after work, every night, maybe. I don't know if it's every night, but you're doing it. That's a small win you can celebrate. I'm trying to go through my list here. You guys are like, shut up, nobody cares. another one started posting. Well, there were several, there were a couple that were afraid to post, like face, not afraid, but like uncomfortable with showing up face to camera. And they both recently started posting. One made a big investment in I don't know if it's a course. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's not anything that I'm doing. But they made a big investment and that investment, like, kind of forced them to follow the rules, you know. You know what you you know what I mean? Like if you spend a lot of money on something, you better do it. And that's helping them get business. The other one is understanding how to get comfortable in front of the camera and they're so close they're getting it and they're gonna kill it. Just keep going if you know who you are. If you if you know who you are keep on keeping on it's okay let's see there's so many there's so many okay I'm gonna stop talking about it all right so why more than the numbers matters If don't understand what this has to do with selling travel, listen up. Because it has to do you. Like the travel is not your identity. Quarterly revenue milestone is it's a win, it's a kind of win, and it's worth acknowledgement. Like hooray, I did a hundred K each month in bookings, or I did two hundred K each month in bookings. This is awesome. And we covered that back on day two fifty of this podcast. And personal wins, the difficult conversation you had to have have with a client, the boundary that you upheld. The fear that you moved through, you can't eliminate fear, but you moved through it, and the skill that you have built, those are just as real. And that Harvard Harvard Business School research suggests that those matter even more for your day-to-day motivation and well-being than the big numbers alone. So why do successful entrepreneurs make room for this deliberately? This isn't like some secondary practice for people who've already made it. It's frequently something that genuinely successful entrepreneurs build in deliberately and precisely because they understand that outsized external results are rare and often outside of their immediate control. But the personal growth and progress that they are available to notice and to acknowledge, you can do that on a daily basis. waiting for only the big win to feel any sense of accomplishment is a recipe for like long, long stretches of feeling unrewarded, even during like genuinely productive seasons. And there is an agent I know that just went through this, and I may have used them as an example in another episode. They have done very they've I've seen them grow so freaking much as a business owner since we started working together. And they got this massive deal. And they're kind of nervous about it because it's kind of a big deal, right? And they hadn't even realized, they're like, I don't know why I'm so nervous. I don't understand it. And I was like, think back to the first time you booked your very first trip, how nervous you were. And this is like the next leap. And every time you take that leap, that's like something that you're doing that's gonna require you to have to grow, and it's scary, and it makes you really nervous. And so I was like, the that first trip that you the very first trip you ever booked, I guarantee. You can do that in your sleep now. And so this is your very first of this big booking, and within a year or two, you're gonna be able to do this in your sleep. Just think about that. Anyway, and I'm trying to think back like when I was the butler. And I was around a lot of very, very successful, wealthy people. Not often, but I was a when when my principal was around, good chance that he had somebody else with him that was very, very successful. And I don't remember any of them giving two rips about getting some kind of accolade or s like in fact they were just like, ugh. I didn't like that. And here's another one, which you guys probably don't know or care, but there's this musician. His name is Trent Reznor. If you know, you know. And I remember seeing an interview of his. He is if he wrote a musical, he would have the Egot. So he was really big in the industrial music movement in like the early 90s through actually just all throughout the 90s and early 2000s. And he's kind of pulled back. And I think he just went on tour like last year, two years ago. Anyway. but now he writes a lot of music, like the he wrote a lot of music for the movie Tron. He writes a lot of music for TV shows. And so he's won Emmys, he's won Grammys, he's won Oscars. So that's why I'm saying if he went if he writes a musical He could get the egot. He's a gr he's a phenomenally talented, extremely successful person, and he's been through some stuff throughout his career and his life. But I remember watching an interview of his, and they were like, you've won this was like probably back when he first started winning awards. And they were like, you've won like four Grammys. Isn't that amazing? Da-da-da. And they were like in his house, which I think at the time was Charles Manson's old house or something crazy. And he's like, I mean, I have in a closet somewhere. Like, what's the point of me putting them out on display? I don't need that. I'm just gonna keep doing my own thing. So that's like a really good example of someone successful who's not like, look at this when they're on Lifestyles of the rich and famous. That's not what he was being interviewed on. It's probably MTV News, honestly. So what I'm saying is like reflect on how much you're growing. I like building a business is a lot of takes a lot of personal growth too. Because if you you will be the bottleneck, you are the bottleneck. If you have no one else helping you, you are the bottleneck in any problems in your business. And it's gonna s you're constantly gonna have problems. I mean, problems don't go away when you win more money or make more money or like you know what I mean, win more awards. Like problems don't go away, but it's how well you deal with them, and that takes a lot of growth. Okay. Now, I'm not saying go crazy and be like, I'm gonna blow my wad celebrating me. So in line with what we are headed into for the next few episodes. This doesn't need to be a big fanfare. You can have a little flag and be like, Whoa, go me. But this should be like a daily practice. Like what have I done today that's moved the needle in terms of bringing in revenue in my business? Even if you brought no revenue in today, but like did you market yourself? did you take on a consultation you were afraid to take on because it was something bigger than what you're used to doing? did you Offer the opportunity in your content to take something on that's bigger than what you're used to doing as a travel agent. Like those are the tiniest little wins you can make. Did you stop using the done-for-you social media content grids and create something in your own unique voice? That's like the fastest way to get revenue. Anyway, just note it to yourself what you did, why did it matter? Don't have a big old loud celebration. That kind of steady, quiet acknowledgement tends to be way more sustainable and like genuinely felt by you than a big old display once a year. So gosh, my mind went blank here. What you did and why it mattered. What you did and why it mattered. Quiet acknowledgement daily. Sorry, I'm thinking about what this I had s I had something very dang it, I should have put it in my notes, but it just came to me and like flitted out of my brain. You can do this on a daily basis. You can practice, it's like practicing gratitude. And you should be grateful, even if it's like something hard that you did, like something you were like, this is my nightmare. That's a skill you're developing. Even if you did it terribly today. Like just do a daily overview. Okay. Check out the progress principle. and the associated research because those small wins acknowledged are the strongest predictor of sustained motivation. And these biggest I think I just saw this the other day, and by saw it I mean I saw it do me scrolling. Somebody mentioned the biggest indicator of success is optimism. So if you're negative Nancy, you ain't gonna be a success. And I want you to think about that when you think about when I'm like, if you're in the success circle, because I'm just like talking to my students now, come join us. I want you to think about that the next time you're in one of the live QA's or COTSE coaching sessions, and then you start saying, I just don't think the camera likes me, or I just am not, I don't think I'm good enough for social media content. Because that's being the negative Nancy. The next time you hear yourself saying that about yourself, let's twist it into an optimistic thing. Ooh. And so instead of I have to post on social media to get business as an example, we've talked about the I have to, I get to. So why don't we go a step further here? So people in Negative Town are I have to post on social media well, I just have to post on social media just to get any business. I'm not even getting any business because nobody likes to look at my face. Okay, that's like negative Nancy. You have to, and then you start spiraling. You get to, I get to share my unique value with the world. And that's like a nice little baby step towards optimism. I get to, I get to do this. You get excited, right? When you can fully step into, I am made to do this travel business and share this with the world. You have no problems posting on social media. So let's take that from the framing of because a lot of my students are in the niche of destination weddings. I am made to help wedding couples, whatever their problem is, get over their problem. The client is the wedding couple. The challenge get over their challenge by your covenant and when they work with me the transformation what's a c word for transformation because I have the three c's client challenge covenant I'm just rambling over here c word Ooh, no, not a conversion. Construction. No, I want to think about that. Yeah. So When you're made to do it, that phrasing, which if you study any kind of like marketing stuff, you have to have the transformation, right? And people will speak to it in their own way. Like I do, the client, the challenge, the covenant. Cut covenant. The covenant. some people I've seen are like, you're the prophecy. It's the prophet. Like however it resonates with you easiest is great, grand lovely. But I am made to have. Help struggling brides and grooms, engaged couples, whatever. I am made to help them plan a unique, unforgettable, not your standard cookie cutter, all-inclusive resort destination wedding by Implementing my experience, my excellent services, and my amazing connections that I've created over the years. And with all of this, they will be able to transform their nightmare of trying to plan with a billion different spreadsheets and 50 different travel agents trying to say to them, you should just subtly book trades the chara. You could get married there for $5,000, trust me. Did you know I could be your on-site coordinator with zero experience? Like, sorry, no shade to you guys, but also I know people who are far more experienced with actual weddings, okay? That are getting into this or that have been doing it. So you can transform that. You can create that transformation. And that's gonna like if you have that mentality of like I'm made to help couples in the Northeast United States get married in Italy because of my extensive experience and all my connections, and I have access to these private villas and estates so that I can turn their dream of a private estate wedding on Lake Como into a reality without them having to deal with fifty thousand vendors and Every okay, so I have a lot of travel advisors that come to me and they're like, I'm just so confused, I don't know what to do, da da da da. So is everyone else when they're trying to plan a vacation. Because they too are being thrown and inundated with all sorts of marketing and conflicting opinions and da da da da. But if you if you know what you are made to do in the travel industry, you know what you're made to do. Not I have to do this or I get to do this. If you can take that step into I am made for this. That's going to transform you. And part of that is learning every single day. Do an assessment every single day and celebrating those tiny, tiny wins to confirm that you're made to. Not I have to, not I get to, but you're made to. So if you have a client call, let's say, or like an angry email. And you get through it and you stand firm in your boundaries and you're like a okay, I'm doing this, I don't care. That just reaffirms the I am made to do this. And if you are in that situation and you're like, I'm not sure how I'm gonna respond to this, but you are able to think of yourself as I am made to do this, it's gonna help you craft a response that's not like super angry or passive aggressive or people pleasy, which is the opposite end of the spectrum. Like when there's a customer issue and you aren't secure in your standings where you're at. The two options is get angry, get mean, or, which is like one side of the fear stuff, like you're afraid, so you're like, I'm gonna get defensive. The other side is fawn, freeze, kind of a flight thing, which that's the people-pleaser side. So You can even look at this from a bigger perspective with any conflicts in the future. Like if you tend to lean people pleasy, any conflicts in any relationships that you have in the future. You're probably the type of person when under extreme stress you freeze or fawn. And if you don't know what fawning means, that means you please the the person or thing hurting you to make sure you don't get hurt again. Okay? Sorry. We were just talking a little bit about weird psychology there. Alright, this episode ended up going way over. I hope you have a wonderful day. I will see you tomorrow. I'm sorry. I went off on several tangents. No, I'm not. Just deal with it. So we're gonna t connect all of this. Junk celebrating the wins, not junk, the gold of this podcast, into something practical, which is preparing for the real PTO, restful PTO at the end of the year. If you're anything like me, I like to take the last two weeks off the year. Well, yeah. the last like ten days of the year and the first three or four days, it just kinda depends on how the calendar looks. I take two weeks off right around the holidays, but it starts about mid-December. So if you're like me, we're gonna talk about that tomorrow. I hope you have a wonderful day. See ya.