Get down…but don’t let it take you down

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If you find yourself wising you’d started sooner or done differently you’ll want to check out yesterday’s post & podcast 

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There’s no question we all have our down moments. Hip hop artist Jeezy was supposed to be on Beyonce’s song, Drunk in Love. Jeezy normally prepares for studio sessions, but when he got the call, he just showed up and freestyled his lyrics.

When the song was released, he wasn’t on it. “Sorry, I couldn’t use it, ” came the words from Jay Z.

“I missed my shot,” thought Jeezy.

Did he get down? “No. Actually it woke me up,” he said.

Jeezy realized he’d gotten comfortable and gotten away from the techniques that created his success. He wasn’t taking it as serious as he once did and because he was hanging out with the legends of the industry, he’d thought he’d arrived and could just wing it.

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Negative moments can get you down…or they can wake you up.

You can get down…just don’t let them weigh you down.

Because what starts off as a moment of failing becomes a monument of failure.

The down moments should be mile markers in your life-checkpoints to adjust your pace, not millstones to weigh you down.

Things are going to get you down, but don’t let them take you down.

In reality the moments are doing you a favor-they call you out, wake you & shake you up.

When the customer-the one you’ve sold their whole family to comes back in and buys, but it’s not from you-as a matter of fact, they didn’t even ask for you. You can get mad, pissed off, throw things, burn off, and threaten to quit…

Or you can use it as a wake up call because you deep down you know you haven’t been maintaining the relationship and staying top of mind. It’s not  your customers’ job to remember you, it’s your job to make sure they never forget you.

These moments are trying to wake you up to say that you’ve got to tighten up.

When you look how far you’ve slipped it can get overwhelming. “Where do I start,” you ask.

You start.

Instead of wasting days to trying to get over it, use the moments to learn and grow through it.

Heart attacks are wake up calls. \

Injuries are wake up calls.

Bankruptcy is a wake up call.

A breakup from BooBoo is wake up call.

COVID-19, demotion, and termination are all wake up calls.

I had a buddy of mine swing by my office the other day. Come to find out, he’d been terminated due to the COVID crises. Initially he was pissed off, but after he cooled down, he used the moment as a wake up call. The owner did him a favor. No longer was he stuck, he could pursue something he’d been delaying for years.

Down moments are a part of life.

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Do you want to win or succeed? Most say they want to win, but I’d rather succeed. Because winning is one outcome, but what happens when I pour my all into something and I don’t win? If my only option was to win, then I’d probably quit.

I’d rather succeed because success has multiple scenarios. In those scenarios are wins, losses, blow ups, near misses wake ups, and shakeups, but collectively I’ll succeed.

See, I won’t always win, but I can ultimately succeed.

Here’s your TSL action item of the day.

1. Name a moment that was very tough for you. Maybe you haven’t even gotten over it.
2. How will you use it as a wake up call? This is tough because it takes ownership, but it’s necessary to grow forward.
3. Email me @ thesaleslife1@gmail.com

You can get down, just don’t let it take you down.

**Note these are the show notes, but I riff more on the podcast. Check it out by searching The Sales Life Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

Don’t break the chain of momentum (The Sales Life Podcast #479)

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Momentum is so elusive because you don’t know when things will finally come together…and once you realize it’s gone it takes weeks-if not years to get it back. (Some people never regain their momentum)

Maybe when we get to heaven it’ll show you would could’ve happened had you not said no to the thing that could’ve lead to your demise.

Think of the things you’ve said no to. You didn’t take that dream job-good thing you didn’t because they went out of business 6 months later. Staying put lead to new, greater opportunities that you would’ve never been privy to.

Think about the time you almost didn’t work with that customer. Today they’re one of your best customers resulting in greater connections and more sales.

Momentum is based on a choice. Decisions matter because you never know which decision is going to become the lead domino to a change of events-good or bad. 

People underestimate the power of momentum. Momentum is an amplifier and your greatest advantage. 

But it can be frustrating…to put in the work and not see immediate results.

Is it working? Is it worth it?

Keep feeding it…

You worked with a customer 2 hours after closing and they didn’t buy…keep feeding it.

You drove an hour for a meeting and they didn’t show…keep feeding it.

You worked out twice yesterday and you gained weight this morning…keep feeding it.

When The Sales Life Podcast seems to flat line with new listeners…I must keep feeding it with another episode.

When my YouTube channel has no views…keep feeding it.

Momentum is an uneven exchange. Think of it as if I were exchanging a 3rd world country’s currency for the American dollar. I may have 4 million Darubles, but it’s only worth $1000 U.S.

That’s what momentum is to you.. The orange only squeezes out a little juice…I can bitch about the juice or I can look for more oranges.

The results will show when they show. When is not your job…how is. 

When questioning if you should or shouldn’t? If it supports your momentum do it…if it could break your momentum then don’t.

Never settle, keep selling your way through life no matter what.

You can listen to this episode and 400+ others by subscribing to The Sales Life Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, or YouTube. 

“YG” your sales game

🔥The video’s way better 😉

An aging athlete admitted, “I’m getting older…but the game stays young…”

I think we forget that in sales…

We’re like the old southern preacher who’s 75 years old with dyed jet-black hair slicked back…

You’re getting older but the (sales) game stays young.

Sales isn’t a young man’s game…it’s a young game & you’ve got to adapt to it.

Mentally: Don’t hit me with another “back in tha day it was easier” story because back then you bitched that it was hard too. Veteran sales people think back when… new salespeople think “next.” Stay fluid in thought. Use your experience to leverage not to judge.

Physically: You can’t expect to adapt & eat like crap. Feed your body the foods that give you the energy to stay in the game.

Technically: “Sweat the technique.” Buyer’s tendencies have changed…the sales process is faster…the products are more efficient so why aren’t you? What once worked ain’t working anymore. Let the young bloods teach you…pick your best seller and completely learn it- your new knowledge will “bleed” onto your other products.

If the game stays young, so should your approach.

Stay in The Sales 💪ife

Sell me this pen 🖊

Years back in order to get a job in sales, a manager would walk in, size you up, & say,

Sell me this pen…

& if you were creative & quick on your feet, you’d get the job.

“Sell me this pen…”

If I were asked this question 21 years ago…or 21 selling years later, I still couldn’t answer the question vey well.

When you think of a pen, you picture a cap, ink, & a tip, right?

& seeing that pen I come off with these weak statements like, “Look at the craftsmanship, Mr. Customer …& the ink is from the finest of inks…”

Hearing myself say that, I wouldn’t pay 50 cents let alone 2-300 bucks for the pen…

But, that’s because I’ve always said what a pen is…& never paint the picture of what a pen does.

In one word, your pen is power…

Your pen fills out the application for your new career…

& with your new career, your pen writes down all of the relevant information, skills, & techniques that you can use to move up quickly…

Your pen writes offers, proposals, & counteroffers…

Your pen writes thank you notes & letters of gratitude…

Your pen endorses the back of your commission check…

Your pen signs the receipt for new clothes & shoes-now you’re starting to look the part…

Your pen opens the savings account & gym membership…

Your pen signs the contract for your new car & custom built home…

Your pen signs the agreement to get your child into the perfect school…

Your pen signs the card “I’m thinking of you during this difficult time…”

With a half circle & 2 dots, your pen leaves a smiley face on a post it note on the bathroom mirror…

Your pen underlines the passages of a good book that are recalled during your time of need…

When you’re knotted up & don’t know which way to turn, your pen liquifies your thoughts & gives you clarity…

Your pen writes your mission for the day or month…

Your dreams can be steered into reality with your pen…

Your pen in one word: Power

In two words: Personal Power

The pen costs pennies or is even free…but its power is priceless.

Sadly most people only see a pen for what it is & not for what it can do…

Because most people are waiting for something to happen in order to pick up the pen…

When you need to pick it up & rarely put it down & make it happen.

Right there at your fingertips you can unlock your future…

All with the power of a pen.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

(Note) you can hear this blog & 400+ other episodes of The Sales Life with Marsh Buice Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

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Why not stay in your comfort zone

From the mountaintops, I’ve always shouted, “Stay out of your comfort zone,” because your comfort zone traditionally was thought of as a source of laziness.

I believed that until now…

NBA legend Michael Jordan said, “People don’t believe me when I say I practice harder than I play, but it’s true because that’s where I created my COMFORT ZONE, so when it came time to play, my body reacted to what I was already doing. I believed I was the best…when I hit the shots, it reinforced that…& when I missed (& you will miss), I DID NOT WAVER because I’d built a nice little cushion of confidence.”

Instead of fighting to stay away from your comfort zone, why not stay in your comfort zone?

Your comfort zone is a setting that you default to without even thinking….

The reason why your “Comfort Zone” gets such a bad shake is because it is set on limited beliefs & poor habits.

You believe more in your past than in your future & you don’t believe you’re entitled to massive success…

so it’s no wonder you feel like you’re spinning on a rusty hamster wheel, because you’re sliding into your default settings.

To change your comfort zone you’ve got to believe you are a BIW (Best in the World). It’s not a proclamation to others, it’s a mindset for yourself.

See, if you believe you’re the best, then you’ll practice like you’re the best.

You may not be playing on the field, but you’re playing in the game of life.

The luxury (yes luxury) of practice is that you get different vantage points without the blown results. MIchael Jordan practiced hard because he knew he had the advantage of working on his mechanics, footwork, & timing…he could speed it up or slow it down…walk through & freeze the play…and he could replay circumstances from many angles until he achieved the right results…

When you play, you don’t have time to hesitate, you have to quickly react- the hits reinforce that you’re the best & the misses were buffered by a cushion of built up confidence.

Regrets are formed because you knew you could’ve done something different (i e deliberate practice), yet you didn’t. When you practice harder than you play, even when you miss, you have no regrets, because you know you did everything in preparation for that moment…it just didn’t work.

But you don’t waver…

You gain confidence in your practicing…you do it over and over again until you get it rightly perfect. Through practice, you get to take on the impossible and make it possible…walking away exhausted yet satisfied on a job well done.

Everybody wants to play, but they don’t want to practice.

They want the accolades, awards, jets, multiple zeros- all of benefits from the winning play, but they’re not willing to practice.

The hours of practice pales in comparison to the minutes of play, but if you believe you’re the best & practice harder than you play, when it comes time to play, your setting is set so high that you can take on the hardest of tasks- reacting without flinching & achieve clutch outcomes because you play like you’ve practiced.

Practice for you is winning the mornings. You’re a late night person because you’ve trained yourself to be one. Rest is a part of practice so you can’t roll hard on 3 hours of sleep. I get that you like to sleep with the tv on, but even though your eyes are closed, your mind is still open & whatever is on the screen is getting dumped into your mind.

Turn off your notifications & put the phone face down or off. Trust me we’ll make it for 8 hours without you…& you’ll make it without us too. Your body is fatigued, but you can’t sleep because the screen is triggering your mind to stay awake.

Practice eating the right foods…practice pushing the last few reps or miles out. Push yourself in such a way that causes you to draw on and develop deeper reserves.

Practice getting the promotion so when the time comes, it’s a natural extension. Most people play a 1:1 ratio, meaning 1 phone call = 1 appointment…1 customer = 1 sale…1 job application = immediate hire…1 loan app = 1 approval…

Life’s not 1:1 it’s more like 25:1….way more practice takes in order to net a specific result.

It’s carrying yourself like you are the best regardless of what your current situations look like…know you are the best…practice hard…so the hits reinforce & the misses cause you to practice even harder. You don’t implode because you missed…you stay confident because you’ve built your cushion.

Instead of fighting to stay away from your comfort zone, design it to win within it.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

Connect with me:

🔥400+ episodes of The Sales Life with Marsh Buice Podcast

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🔥 Email thesaleslife1@gmail.com

The day after a bad day

The day after a bad day

When you have a bad day, the following day is a “Breakthrough Day…”

because the fact that you didn’t lay down, call in or hide, & showed up, the day after a bad day, is persistence in the making…

annnnd because you showed up, you get to do it different & a little bit better today.

You’re not failing as a loss, you’re refining to win.

Bad day? Show up…it’s a breakthrough day today.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

🔥400+ episodes of The Sales Life with Marsh Buice Podcast

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Your struggles ain’t all for you.

Your struggles ain’t all for you

Nobody likes to struggle…

& life is the only one qualified to teach you struggles…

But struggling is a valuable asset in your life. It hurts to learn but the lessons end up being priceless.

Struggles are fo you to Show & Share.

Because I believe 1/2 of your struggles are for you & the other 1/2 for others…

1/2 of your struggles are to show you that you’re capable of handling more. This may be the hardest it’s been, but it won’t be the hardest it’ll ever be. (See your 10 yr old self)

Many of your struggles leave you with no help nor options other than you have to keep fighting to figure it out.

& the other 1/2 of your struggles are for you to share…because inevitably you’ll end up crossing paths with someone, somewhere who will be struggling…

How could you relate if you didn’t first struggle yourself?

Because you know what the end of the rope feels like…because you can relate to when all looks lost…because you know exactly how it feels to only have enough strength for one more round…

& because what looked like the worst day then, turned out to be the best for you now…

You can share your struggles so they can keep fighting.

When it feels you’re the only one, someone steps in- just at the right moment to say, “I struggled too…& made it…& you will too.”

But you can’t share until you first show…yourself.

Keep fighting…

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

Here’s the video for today’s post 👉https://youtu.be/38a3RUhyXm0

Check out over 400 episodes of The Sales Life w/ Marsh Buice on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

Choose your look

Watch this post on YouTube! https://youtu.be/iXbtlcDOg3U

Wayne Dyer said, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change.”

Your success is determined by how you look at things & if you choose to look at things differently, things begin to change for you.

Amazing…

But sometimes it’s like we grab the wrong prescription glasses and we see the world through those lenses… but if they’re not right everything is distorted & blurry.

So when you’re struggling, you’re looking through blurry lenses, but think you’re looking in a clear direction…

Things may be uncertain… scary… & unsure-It may look like all is lost because you can’t see, yet you’re giving it clear direction.

You can’t always choose what’s happened or what’s happening around you, but you can choose how you look at them.

“What you see is what you get,“ is not only a figure of speech it’s a way of life.

So if you’re looking at everything through dead-end lenses then what you see if what you get…

but-even if they seem unfair or unjust, if you choose to look at things differently you’ll find your option. It’s not that you ignore what you see, it’s that you acknowledge it & choose to see it in a way that will not stop you from achieving success.

You have options & now that you see your options, things will begin to change for you.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

Check out over 400 episodes of The Sales Life w/ Marsh Buice on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

“Go ahead…”

Wally didn’t feel like playing the baseball game that day so he said, “Go ahead & let the other guy play…”

The problem for Wally is that the other kid never gave his Wally his position back.

You’ve probably never hear of Wally Pipp, but you’ve probably heard of Lou Gehrig…

For 56 years Lou Gehrig held the record for most consecutive games played.

This message is 2 fold:

If you’re deep on the depth chart today…even if it looks like there’s no way anything’s going to open up for you…

Play, practice, & prepare like you’re a starter because you never when that “1 opportunity” turns your whole life around.

When you hear, “Go ahead,” you play in such a way to never give that position up.

& if you’re in the lead position, don’t ever think that you can’t be dethroned.

Every opportunity counts…every customer counts…every situation counts…

Because all it takes is for you to “not feel like it,” & say, “Go ahead…”

That’s the day you fall…& the moment they rise.

“Go ahead,” is not a command it’s a mindset & if you say it once, you’ll say it anytime “you don’t feel like it.”

Opportunities exist for you…but they exist for others too…

Especially when you say, “Go ahead…”

Instead say, “I got it…”

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

(Thanks to Michael Strahan’s book for the inspiration for this post)

The 5 Emotional Cycles of Change

“This time it’s gonna be different!”

“This is it!”

“This is hard…”

“This is b.s.”

“This is ridiculous…there’s no way this is gonna work for me…”

“Oh well…”

When enough is enough…& you’re sick & tired of being tired, you push off to change…

Only to realize early on that it’s harder than you expected…

The only result you seem to be getting is just constant pain-mentally & physically.

Things seem bad…but then they turn to worse.

So you quit…& go back to the way things were.

If this all sounds familiar, you’re in great company because we’ve all pushed off hard & fast in an effort to change, only to feel the pain, give up & turn back.

Now that you know that you’re not crazy nor weak, see the cycles for what they are & take them head on.

The 5 Emotional Cycles of Change (ECOC) are listed in Brian Moran’s book, “The 12 Week Year.”

I. Uniformed Optimism: “Piss & Vinegar” stage. All upside & no downside. (Doesn’t last long)

II. Informed Pessimism: This stage you’re moody because you realize the change is harder than you expected. You’re looking for ways out because things are bad…but it gets worse.

III. Valley of Despair: “Things weren’t so bad before,” you rationalize…so you quit & go back.

Stage III is where most turn back…but with a strong enough purpose, you’ll learn there’s more…if you keep going.

IV. Informed Optimism: The clouds break open and you’re finally seeing some results…but you must KEEP GOING. This stage is where most people sigh a breath of relief too long & relax too much-negating all of the hell they pushed through.

V. Success & Fulfillment: You’ve built new capacities & confidence. You can handle more & take on more because you now you’ve shown yourself what you’re truly capable of.

Congratulations on reaching Stage V…now move the bar because there’s more for you. 😉

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

Full podcast 👉https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sales-life-with-marsh-buice/id1292788623