I don’t know what I’m doing

We’ve all said those words…

It’s funny that those are the exact same words that massively successful people say too..

They didn’t initially know what they were doing,

…but they knew where they were going.

They were determined to make it work…they were sure to be a success…they were adamant about changing the game.

So they headed in that mental direction & picked up lessons, skills, connections, and ultra success along the way.

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I don’t know what to do…

I don’t know what to do, is not the same as I don’t know what I’m doing.

What to do…means to quit before you even get started. You’re waiting on Perfect….perfect time & conditions- then you’ll do.

But …what I’m doing…is just taking action. It’s being bold enough to kick along, push forward, & figure it out as you go.

Because nobody fully knows what to do...but few are bold enough to push off & say, “I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’ll fucking figure it out.”

Don’t get paralyzed in what to do.

You’ll forever be standing there in a heap of regrets.

If you know where you want to go, head in that direction & start doing. Next will be there waiting for you.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

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Why wait for ‘then’

I ran into a guy I knew the other day who was signing up for a gym membership he’d let lapse. He told me he’d slacked off from working out once he’d gotten into a relationship, but now needed something new because the 3 yr romance ended.

A familiar habit for us all…

We wait for Life to disrupt us- then we wake up.

We suffer a health scare then we choose a healthier lifestyle…

We have a terrible month then we decide to get serious about our profession…

We get fired then we finally leap to do what we’ve always wanted to do…

It’s as if we wait on Life to give us a failing grade then we switch majors to see, try, & do something we’ve deep down always yearned for.

We wait because disrupting ourselves is scary…

…what if we fail?

…what if it doesn’t work?

…what if we end up looking stupid…

…what if we hear the dreaded words, I told you so…

…what if we take the leap, but don’t find our wings?

…what if…

…what if…

…what if…

So we wait for Life to disrupt us so we have an excuse (to others and ourselves) that we had no choice but to jump…

Keep the minors minor & they’ll never become major…

Why wait on major disruptions to do something?

Why not create your own?

…minor ones…

They don’t have to be, I quit!, moments…

Just create some mini disruptions that keep you awake & cause you to take notice that you do have options…

You always have options, but, through routine, your perspective gets narrowed into thinking that you have no other choice but to stay stuck in where you are today.

Drive a different way to work & back home…maybe you’ll see a piece of land that interests you or a new place to eat out…

Grab a real book, leave your phone in the car, sit by the lake or in front of your favorite coffee house, & read a few chapters.

Get off the treadmill & go run bleachers at the local high school. (& don’t tell me you can’t find a way in between the “locked” gates).

When working with customers today sit at a different desk, use a different phone, & try a different technique today.

Send a spicy 🌶 message to your boo or bae. Y’all used to all the time, now you’re too busy.

The list goes on & on…

Drive, do, act, try, eat, think, read, speak, write- shit ANYTHING a little bit different today.

Find ways to disrupt yourself every day, that way when (not if) the bigger ones come, you’ve already conditioned yourself w/ 365 + reps of smaller ones.

Stay in The Sales 💪ife.

~Marsh

No erasers, just pages

There are times in our lives we’d all love to take back…

…times where we turned left, when we should’ve kept straight.

When at its hottest, we said words we didn’t mean…

made poor decisions even though we knew it wasn’t right…

& let things slide that we could’ve stopped right then & there.

But we didn’t…

We spend our days replaying that familiar movie in our minds wishing we could freeze the frame at the point of regret…

But, as always, the movie keeps playing with a familiar ending…

You know how it ends because you’re the one who’s lived it.

Humble The Poet wrote,

“There are no erasers for your past, but you can add pages.”

It seems we spend so much time searching for erasers & very little time adding pages.

We spend our days wishing we could take back those days gone wrong…

& while frantically searching for an eraser we say to ourselves, “If only I had another chance, I’d do it right this time!”

You may not get a do-over, but you do get another chance…

Make it “write…”

…just add a page

Your Life is like a really good book…

It’s full of mystery, suspense, pain, sorrow, laughter, and success.

You’ve got a real page-turner going…

Keep writing…

& when you’ve filled that fuckin page up & it’s still not good…

Add another page and keep writing…

Yesterday I had someone throw my past in my face. I’d thought for a long time they’d been thinking that way and yesterday it came out…

You know what I did?

I thanked them…

For finally saying what’d they’d been feeling.

It was weird because, in the past, I would’ve blown up…but I’ve learned (the hard way) that when I lose it, I really somewhat agree with what they’ve said.

…but I’ve added pages…many pages since then.

I’m not who I once was because I stopped looking for erasers & instead added pages.

If you can’t undo yesterday then just do today…

Add pages & keep writing your story.

It’s gonna be a best seller. 😉

Stay in The Sales 💪ife!

~marsh

Don’t wait

When Steven Pressfield’s book, The Legend Of Bagger Vance, was made into a movie, he felt it was a good book, but a poor movie.

& he was right…

The movie was not well received.

Pressfield was asked how he dealt with the public’s criticisms- ripping up his baby he’d worked so hard to create, but was not represented well on the big screen.

He said he’d failed so many times that he learned & lives by one simple rule:

“Don’t wait…”

By the time the movie was released, he was already 800 pages deeply consumed into writing another book…. so it didn’t matter what others were saying because Pressfield had already moved on.

In an interview with Brian Koppleman, Pressfield said good actors & actresses do the same thing. They don’t stand around waiting to see how a movie is received, hell by the time the movie comes out, they’ve already shot 3 or 4 other movies. They’re continuously building & capitalizing on momentum.

Artists move on…

So should you…

The reason why you tank emotionally & lose your mojo is because you’re waiting for a certain result.

You’re waiting to see your shot go in & when it doesn’t…

..result in an appointment…

…result in a sale…

…result in a share, retweet, or positive comment…

When it doesn’t result in an outcome that you were hoping for-because you were just standing around, waiting for that one and only…

You crash & quit.

You didn’t make the deal, get the job, get a return phone call, loan, nor weight loss goal.

Shoot your shot & don’t wait…

Whether it be a showing, post, blog, video, podcast, presentation, interview…whatever…

Put that shit out there and move on…

So if (& when) you don’t get the results you busted your ass for, you’re already 3-4 efforts deeply insulated into your next things.

Stay in The Sales 💪ife.

~marsh

Being nice is not enough

Sometimes in sales, we err too far either way…

When we’re frustrated with our month, we take our frustrations out on the next customer by being abrasive & apathetic…

Or we fall in love with our customers- our date went so well that we bid them goodbye & hope they’ll buy from us when they’re ready…

Only to find they left and bought elsewhere.

Being an ass is never right, but being just nice is not enough…

Because just being nice only means that you’re agreeable…

It only means that you smiled & laughed at all the right cues & pocketed any hint of tension…

It also means that there’s less resistance & less friction…

But no resistance & no friction leads to no results…

For either of you..

You’re customers showed up because they can’t figure it out for themselves …

They need someone to understand their current situation & offer solutions…

They need to feel how your product fits into their lives.

They also need nice nice…

Nice has another definition too…

…it also means to show the small differences & minor details.

See, your customers are depending on you to read not only what they’re saying but how they’re saying what’s really important to them- accentuating details of safety, quality, or style…while adjusting different packages up or down in relation to their needs.

Your customers are paying you initially with their time to challenge their thoughts & levels of understanding…

…they need you to lean into their fears and address their insecurities..

& they’re also- though they’ll never say it, are depending on you to keep sanding on that block of indecision, with more questions & broader perspectives until it becomes a point of decision…

which is why you must ask…

If you don’t ask them to buy your product backed by your service- even if it’s a No, you’re being a fraud.

To them & to yourself…

Because neither one of you showed up for just nice…

they need nice, nice…

& you both need results.

Stay in The Sales Life

~marsh

“I don’t know”

Kyle Maynard was born with no arms and no legs. He may have been classified as disabled, but his parents didn’t treat him as disabled. Kyle grew up doing many things that his “normal” friends did. It may have taken him longer to do something, but he’d always figure it out. He tried high school football and ended up falling in love with wrestling. Initially, like anything Kyle took on, wrestling kicked his ass, but he stayed with it-pushing back the self-doubt & self-defeat-always determined to figure it out. (Check out his book No Excuses)

In Daymond John’s book “Rise & Grind,” Kyle said that he’d always wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro which is the highest peak in Africa. Each year 20,000 people try to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, but with thin air and fierce storms, only half are able to check it off of their bucket list.

In the beginning, Kyle set out to climb Stone Mountain, a tiny mountain of only 900 feet in comparison to the 19,000 foot behemoth Kilimanjaro. The Stone Mountain climb was brutal for Kyle, tearing large patches of skin off of the ends of his arms in the process. When the climb was over, a beaten & battered Kyle told a friend of his dream to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. She looked at him as if he were crazy, asking, “You just tore up your arms doing (tiny) Stone Mountain. How are you going to climb Kilimanjaro?”

Kyle answered her with three words, “I don’t know.”

But it was those three words that made him go to work to conquer his dream of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. (And he did it.)

What happens when you say the words “I don’t know?” Do you use the words as a crutch? Explaining that you’re not experienced enough… that you’re too short, too fat, too skinny, or the wrong skin shade? Do you say the words, I don’t know, because you’ve been conditioned all of your life to accept life as it is because you were raised in the projects; had to live with Big Mama, had no dad, had a drug addicted mom, were fired, demoted or bankrupt? Specifically what has, I don’t know, done to you? …but what can it do for you?

I don’t care where you’ve been, hell been only makes for a good story when you soon tell of your massive success. Don’t let “I don’t know” be a handicap & work against you. Make, I don’t know” work for you by going to work to figure it out.

Subscribe to my weekly podcast The Sales Life w/ Marsh Buice. You can find it on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play