The gates were never closed…

Dr Edith Eva Eger is a Holocaust survivor and the author of the book, “The Choice.” She told Oprah, when the prison gates of Auschwitz concentration camp were opened, many of the prisoners, walked through the gates, but turned around and went back and sat down, because they didn’t know what to do with their newfound freedom.

You see their physical gates were open, but their mental ones were not.

As much as you long for freedom…freedom from a toxic relationship…

freedom from alcoholism or drug use…

freedom from debt, obesity, or that dead end job…

As much as you want the freedom, the minute you step through those gates & feel the freedom, you turn around and go back.

You go back & trade one toxic relationship for another..

You decide to have that one drink with that college roommate that ignites a bonfire of remorse and regret spiraling you deeper into despair because you have to start all over…

You keep swiping, adding to your already hemorrhaging debt load because you want to feel to momentarily feel good.

That 70 pounds that you want to lose will take too long-besides “your body doesn’t respond to working out like other people…”

You leave one dead end job only to desperately grab 2 more because you didn’t realize it was going to that hard…

Many prisoners today face the same fears. They do their time yet quickly end right back in prison, because they didn’t know what to do with their freedom.

The only difference between you and them is your gates were never really closed.

You look at your current situation & your storied track record and use the thought of freedom as a coping mechanism to help get through the day.

…month…

…year…

God forbid you truly take the time to realize that your freedom is a choice…

But to know you have that option is too scary to even think about, so you don’t think at all.

You cope instead…

& wait for someone to open the gates…

You wait, but don’t choose to walk.

There are no gates in your life, only mental barriers.

But, walking to freedom is scary….

It’s uncertain…

It’s uncomfortable…

And we don’t know what to do with freedom, because we’ve never truly known it.

Life’s been the chess board & we’ve always been the pawns.

Which is why we turn around and go back to the warmth of certainty…

Even though it may be toxic…even though it’s miserable, it’s the only thing we know.

And we can handle know.

It’s the unknown that’s terrifying…

In between now and better is the darkness of the unknown & that scares the living shit out of us.

I know because I’ve walked through many gates, only to return and sit. I had to force myself to get to a point where it was too far to turn back, so I might as well just keep going.

Freedom is your choice.

Hell yea it’s scary…

Damn right it’s uncomfortable….

And yes….it is life or death.

Because you must go through the dying processes of old to experience your life of new.

That’s freedom & that’s for you.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

~Marsh

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

You were winning the whole time…

Author Tommy Baker gave a speech titled, “The Journey Is The Win,” and he emphasize this point,

“Even in the midst of chaos and uncertainty the last thing you want to hear is how beautiful the journey can be…yet when you look back on your life, that’s exactly what you’ll remember…”

When you retell your personal hell, you choke up because the words are mixed with joy and pain & are difficult to get out clearly.

Images flash in your mind or thoughts trigger you wondering, “I don’t know how I even got through…”

You thought the win was the destination, only to realize, looking back, that it was in the journey, and you were winning the whole time.

You just didn’t realize it.

The journey is the win.

Often times the wins were disguised as losses and what looked like a setback was really all part of the plan, because not only did you have to learn to win, you also to endure the losses.

Former Seattle Seahawks player Cliff Avril said that one of his biggest regrets while playing in the NFL was that he never took time to enjoy the process.

He fought so hard to make it to the league…to make the roster…to earn the contract…to overcome injuries…to play another year..to get to & win the Super Bowl – all of those are huge accomplishments, yet when he looks back over his career it was over in a instant…

and he never took time to enjoy the process.

The days are long, but the years are short.

You may not enjoy the moment, but you can respect the journey, because of who you’re becoming in the process.

Becoming is not some bubblegum flavored elixir that you take and everything will be just fine..

No, becoming is bitter, distasteful, and often unsettling, but it’s necessary…

…because you have to learn from the losses and grow in the wins.

When you lose, you learn to forge grit, persistence, and resilience…

When you lose, you learn how to figure it out on your own…get outside of your comfort zone, and dig deep to unleash capabilities you didn’t even know was there.

And when you win, you grow in self-confidence, getting a little more surer so when you lose again, you know you’re capable of winning again too.

The journey is the win…

I wouldn’t call it a win if you wouldn’t call it a journey.

Keep moving…

Stay in The Sales 💪ife

-Marsh

It‘s not called First Replier

Million dollar real estate broker Ryan Serhant observed that one reason why you may not be finding success is because you are replying and not responding. In this automated, ever-growing commoditized world, your greatest asset as a sales person is differentiating yourself by responding instead of replying.

In this automated, ever-growing commoditized world, your greatest asset as a sales person is differentiating yourself by responding instead of replying.

We salespeople often reply when the customer we’re currently working with is the cherry to our crap-filled month. Nothing’s been going right & no one is buying, so it’s no surprise this one isn’t either. While everyone around you seems to be swimming in deals, you just so happened to have caught the one picky customer who has NO CLUE what they want; or the customer who seems to be 11 yrs out from buying; or the customer who you just don’t seem to jive with… In defense, we shut down mentally and lay up lame ass replies to their questions & concerns. Replies are words placed in the right order, said at the right time, yet void of any emotion.

We had a customer come in recently who was all busted up. Her life was turned upside down. She left her abusive husband while he left her with bad credit and a repo’d car. Obviously she was an emotional soup-crying, confused, & no idea what to do from here. A tuned out salesperson would’ve pulled her credit & replied with, “Sorry, your credit is too bad I can’t help you,” but a tuned-in salesperson would respond by saying, “Look, your credit has taken some hits, so which family member can we get on the phone right now, to get you back on track? Today is going to be your new birthday!” The responding salesperson aligned with her emotional state & offered a specific course of action.

Think about it…they’re not called First Repliers, they’re called First Responders because they come onto the scene, asses the situation, & work to get you to safety. Customers need that from you. They come in with a range of emotions & need you to asses and respond in a way that aligns with their emotions & the results they need to see. The one they do business with is the one who responds best.

That might as well be you. 😉

I’ll see you in the Sales Life.

⭐️ Catch The Sales Life with Marsh Buice podcast. You can find it on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play

Stop Apologizing

In his book, “Lose Well,” comedian Chris Gethard  writes,

“When we decide we want to shift the standard of our life to include something new and out of the box, we tend to spend a lot of time apologizing for it and justifying it. People we encounter express incredulity and we scramble to downplay the quest we’re setting out on.”

A’int that the truth…

…as soon as you throw something big and audacious out into the universe, what’s the first thing you do when people snap back with, “You!!…you’re going to do what!!”  “You want what?!” “You think you can be what?!”

You get slippery feet and immediately back away from your loftiness, simply because you expressed your dreams to a small-minded person who has given up on their own dreams.

Look how quick you are to release the reigns of your dreams simply because some else can’t see what you see. 

The minute they push back, express doubt, or look at you like you’re a damn fool, you apologize & justify with, “I know…it probably wasn’t gonna work anyway, but I was just thinking about it…” (Poof) “I was just goofing around..I-I-I was just bullshitting with you.” (Poof)

“Other people’s opinions are one of the most dangerous things to our success”

~Chris Gethard

Stop apologizing for who you are and what you want…if you want it and you’re committed to it..then f’ing do it, and stop apologizing along the way.

I don’t care how minor or major your pivot is, whether it’s learning a new language; if it’s taking swimming lessons so you can enjoy the summer with your kids; if it’s writing a book, blog or starting a podcast; or owning the damn company you for work for now….Go!!! and don’t look back nor explain yourself with weak ass apologies.

For 10 seconds, look up from this & ask yourself, “What do I want to do, go, be, and have?” No explaining…no justifying…and damn sure no apologizing.

If you want to be a stand up comedian, go to Open Mic Nights-yes you’ll be terrible, but you’ll never be good until you get worse first.

If you want to begin speaking, turn your phone on and contribute to the world-yes you…YOU have something we need to hear.

If you want to teach school enroll in online classes…but you’ve racked up a bunch of student loans and the government is already looking for you, then start by becoming an aide just to see if it’s something you really will commit to. (And work out some sort of payment arrangements with the gov, because they will get their money eventually. Trust me, I know firsthand.)

If  want to become an area manager, become a local one first. If you want to be a top producer, learn how to be a consistent one, then stretch the goal. If you want to be a better parent or just a better human being, then go right a damn head, step forward and stop apologizing.

We apologize too much and too long. We apologize over and over and over for our past mistakes and downfalls.

When you keep apologizing for then, you’ll never live your Now.

No wonder you can’t get ahead because your spending your current days apologizing for all of your yesterdays.

And get this...even if you were blemish free, they’d still dis, judge, and talk about you because people would rather judge you than account for themselves. It’s cool though, because they’re not on your bus anyway…

You want it, then do it, & stop apologizing.

I’ll see you in the Sales Life.

The advantage you have over professional athletes

I hate to tell you this, but chances are real good that you’ll never play for an NBA, NFL, nor any other professional team. Chances are even better that you’ll never sign a multi-year mega-million dollar contract either. When we hear the news, we day dream & talk at length about the massive contracts athletes sign in the off-season. In an effort to win a championship, teams lock up key players by inking them to multi-year, mega- million dollar contracts. Some of those deals you think are no-brainers…others you say, “What in the hell?,” to, but in either case, I guess hard work really does pay off, huh?

Or does it?

Because the following season after the player signed for instant wealth, they just don’t seem to run as hard, play through the pain as much, nor magically pull out a win the same way they did before they got caked up- which makes you ask the question, “What happened?” The response is always the same, “Oh, he got paid,” but that’s supposed to happen right? Aren’t you supposed to be paid for all of the hard work and sweat equity that you put in? Why doesn’t the athlete play like he used to? Why, if he’s making the most money he’s ever made-more then most of us could ever dream of, why is he so disruptive in the locker room & headlines?

What happened?

And there’s your answer…and your advantage. It happened for them & I hope it never “happened” for you. They realized their full potential and you have not. See, once these guys reach that max contract deal, it signifies that they’ve reached the top- all of it and then some- the problem is, when you think that you’ve reached the end, you cease working for new beginnings. Playing now switches from proving to protecting. Instead of playing & proving they’re worth the investment, they instead play not to get hurt & lose what they’ve contractually won.

So while yes, they should benefit from all of their hard, work, max deals should never equal max potential. See, if there’s no longer a bar to look up to, what would you reach for? Think about this, if I sat and wrote you a check for $1 million saying, “I think this is your full potential,” what would you do next? Would you look at it as a start or finish? Would you lay up & buy a bunch of shit or would you look at it instead as a down payment & parlay that monetary gain to make it work for you. Would you move the bar of potential up or would the bar just go away because now you’ve reached a certain status?

Contrary to athletes, no one is going to pay you in advance for what they think that you’re worth, you have to push the barriers of your potential every day, and as you do, you’ll earn not only monetarily, but also you’ll amass experience, wisdom, grit, & resilience along the way. And when you reach or even exceed your wildest expectations, because you’ve put in the sweat equity and kept moving the bar up, you’ll realize that you may have exceeded your expectations, but you have not exceeded your potential.

With each notch up, you get a newer, broader perspective. Your eyes are opened wider & what seems impossible to others, is i’mpossible to you. So you push even harder, higher, & broader in all directions- some days you don’t know if what you’re doing even matters…only to discover years later, it mattered and now here’s the meaning.

What was once the finish line now becomes the new starting line of so much more. Yes, have a destination, but I hope you never “arrive.” Play to your full potential today, but I hope you never reach it so that when you fight your ass off to reach your summit, you discover that you may have reached a summit, but not the summit because when you get to what you thought was the highest peak you could possibly climb, you look around & realize there are millions more higher mountains waiting to be climbed….by you.

Never stop climbing.

I’ll see you in the Sales Life!

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

Everyone’s a “then”

For every now, there was a then...

Once it was just Mick, Keith, Charlie, & Ronnie before they became The Rolling Stones. Don, Joe, & Timothy were just regular dudes before they became the legendary band called the Eagles. Andre & Antwan weren’t always Andre 3000 & Big Boi of OutKast. “Luda!” wasn’t shouted by the doctor as he slapped Chris Bridges on the ass in the delivery room.

When you look at people’s now, remember there was a then–many, many then’s in order to become their now. Be patient & work your ass off in the months & years of then’s. Yes, it’ll be thankless @ times; it’ll seem as if it’s for naught often; periodically you’ll feel like a damn fool for grinding on your dream while everyone else seems to be getting ahead except you.

When your days are in the ditch, remind yourself that you’re investing in your then…your nows will come soon enough & the results will pay off.

For “then” just keep working for “now.”

I’ll see you in the Sales Life.

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