10 things I learnt from selling time share

The internet page took forever to load.  Waiting. Waiting. And then, I think I actually gulped out loud.  It wasn't looking good.  There was less than £100 left in the account. I needed a job. The sunshine coast in Australia is a notoriously difficult place to find work, especially if you are a backpacker. But if you want to stay and see the world, you'll do anything. I've delivered leaflets, raked gardens, washed cars and then the job that made me my millions (no not really, but enough) I sold timeshare. And to this day I am so grateful so this job. I know some people laughed and others snorted, "you've gone to Australia to do that"!  Well to this day I used the experience I gained in this job on application forms and in job interviews. 

Be brave. Be open to new things. Life will surprise you. The people I met, made it worthwhile.

I worked in marketing, selling timeshare appointments and a private members holiday club. All through giving out free scratch cards... sounds crazy, right?  Some days I worked on the Esplanade, looking over the beach and straight at the ocean. I would work outside, standing in the sunshine and soaking up the atmosphere. Those were the days. Other days I stood in hot, noisy, bustling shopping centres, flogging dreams to holidaymakers and locals. You know those annoying people that stop you when you're trying to do a quick shop in Primark? Yeah, that was me. Is Life like a scratch card?I've never worked on full commission before. I am so proud of myself looking back on this. I was successful. I had fun. I sold, I closed. I won. Sales. It is a constant competition, a battle. A war against yourself. You have to believe in yourself. Motivation is key. And it is all on you.I'm writing to remember and this is a period of my life I never want to forget. I learnt a lot about sales, but I also learnt a lot about life and I wanted to share some of my lessons with you. Lessons learnt:

1.  Every day has new hope. What a great lesson to learn. So you had a bad day. Tomorrow you will work twice as hard.
2. You learn fast and you learn hard. I hope I can always have this adaptability. If we stop learning we stop moving.
3.  You are only as good as your last sale. You are only as good as your last shift. Never settle. Never give up.
4. I learnt to love people. People just want to be acknowledged. If you aren't going to get the sale, make someone's day.
5. Real life is hard. It's not glamorous. Standing all day, talking, smiling. If you don't work, you don't get paid. It's exhausting. Persistence. Push through the pain barrier.
6. Life - there is a bit of luck involved.
7. Rejection. Rejection is hard. It punches you in the face every single time. It doesn't get any easier but now you know what it feels like, so you can be ready for it.
8. “Keep aiming for the 'no's', the more 'no's you get – it just means your closer to your 'yes'.” (this was actually a quote from my Dad, whos a pretty epic salesman, everything I know, I learnt from him).
9. Every day I was excited to go to work, because the possibilities were endless. I always want to be excited to go to work... I want to see the opportunity in every day.
10. And finally, I learnt how to close... Sometimes you have to just say goodbye. Sometimes you have to walk away. And sometimes you end up with a sale.

Anything is possible. It's terrifying, but if you want it if you really want it so bad that your life depends on it. You can do it. You can do anything for a time.What about you? Have you taken some crazy jobs so you could stay and travel? What have you learnt? Let me know#storiesfromabackpack