how do you respond when you’re underestimated?

My Mum is a huge John Farnham fan and we've taken her to a number of his concerts over the years. This Mothers Day we treated Mum to an outing to the cinema to see the new documovie: John Farnham - Finding the Voice.

Like many people who we see as successful, John Farnham had periods in his life when he was underestimated, by almost everyone. In the mid 1980s he had hit rock bottom and no record label was willing to sign him. He resorted to recording the Whispering Jack album himself, in his garage, on borrowed money. 

Once produced, the next challenge was to get radio stations to play his new single 'You're the Voice'. No station would play it. They laughed at the idea of the once teenage pop idol being played on their station. 

Ultimately one station executive reluctantly agreed to listen to the song. Without even hearing the end of it, she took the tape immediately to the 'on air' studio and asked the presenter to play it.

'Johnny Farnham - are you joking?' was the response.

'Just play it,' she insisted.

The rest, as they say....is history.

Whispering Jack: 
- spent 26 weeks at number one on the Australian charts;
- went to number one in markets around the world;
- sold 24 times platinum;
- won 6 ARIA awards;
- after almost four decades, remains the biggest selling Australian* album of all time.

*on the Australian charts, by an Australian artist. For trivia buffs, the only album to outsell Whispering Jack on the Australian charts is Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell (non-Australian artist).

We will all be underestimated from time to time. Some people I speak with say that it occurs every day of their professional lives. It's hard not to feel worn down if we're continually underestimated. What's important, is how we respond. 

I believe that when we're underestimated, the best thing we can do is to harness our determination. This can give us the motivation we need to prove our doubters wrong. 

There is of course a danger that if others doubt us, we'll eventually doubt ourselves. That's why it's also important to have one or more people who we know will support us when things get tough. 

If you're feeling drained by others doubts it can sap your energy. To help you identify the areas where you could boost your energy, I've developed my Personal Energy Scorecard. It's free and takes less than two minutes of your time. Complete the scorecard to receive insights into the areas that may be draining your energy and for some easy tips that you can implement immediately to boost your energy at work.

You can take the scorecard via this link.