Play to the image that you want to see

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

Hear the full episode>  The Sales Life Podcast. 

Ever talk to someone on the phone who you’ve never met and create a whole image of what you think that person looks like? The only thing you had were their words and tone of voice, but that was enough to create an avatar-from their race to their height, weight, and level of success.

But when you meet them in person, they look NOTHING like you envisioned!

If your mind is powerful enough to create a person, how instrumental do you think it is in creating an image of success (or lack thereof)?

Know it or not, you’re playing to an image.

One of the hardest things for me to change was the image that I’d been playing to for decades of not belonging or never being good. Unknowingly I played to that image so much so that if I achieved any success outside of that image, I would in some way sabotage myself to fit back into that poor image.

Creating a new image is hard-sometimes you have to forcefully play to a new image by repeatedly feeding yourself new images. (Which is why I say you have to be careful what images you are feeding yourself.)

---

I have an image of stepping on stage and speaking in front of thousands of people.  I can see the color of the curtains; I can feel the warmth of the lights;  and I can even see of the audience… but I can’t see me. That’s because I have to fight through millions of distorted old images- I can feel & sense it, but can’t all the way see it.

Yet…

I’m playing to an image.

The Sales Life Podcast is a workable image for me. Every morning I’ve written over 500 episodes and with each stroke of the pen, I’m closer to my image becoming a reality.

In 2017, each episode of The Sales Life Podcast only got handful of downloads (2 were from me!), but I played to an image and today thousands make it a part of their daily ritual.  My YouTube Channel (Subscribe today!) has hundreds of videos and some have no views…but I’m playing to an image of 500k subscribers.

I’d rather play to an image of my future than accept an image of my past.

---

Here’s your TSL action item today:

1. What image will you play to?
2. What action will you take toward that image?

Email me @ thesaleslife1@gmail.com

Learn on the go by subscribing to The Sales Life Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

Connect with me @marshbuice on IG, TikTock, and LinkedIn

Join The Sales Life Facebook Group and watch live episodes every morning!

Subscribe to The Sales Life on YouTube for a new episode every day.

It’s not your fault, but it is your responsibility

Photo by Polina Zimmerman on Pexels.com

Here are the show notes for episode 500 of The Sales Life. Special thanks to Mark Metry.

“When’s the last time you took responsibility over everything that’s happened in your life.” ~ Mark Metry author of “Screw Being Shy.”

When people hear the word responsibility they immediately equate it to fault.

It’s not your fault your parents got divorced.

It’s not your fault your dad died when you were nine.

It’s not your fault your brother ended up in jail.

It’s not your fault you had to take an early retirement because the company sold out.

It’s not your fault that you were molested.

But it is your responsibility…

Because you are responsible what your life becomes over that event. 

Response-able. The ability to make a decision and choose to act.

“Most people never get this far,” because they associate fault with responsibility and as long as you blame others you detach responsibility from your life.

This is why people experience self-sabotage and get pulled back toxic relationships and dead end situations-not because you can’t get over everything what’s happened, but because you won’t claim responsibility over everything that’s happened in your life. 

You can’t fix others…

You can’t splice the old scene with a better one…

As cold as this may seem, it’s over, so take your power back by claiming responsibility and choosing what your life becomes over that event.

Some things weren’t my fault….many were, but fault is a separate issue and the lessons I learn from my faults can only be applied once I take responsibility over everything that has happened in my life.

TSL Action Item today:

1. What specific event will you claim responsibility that’s been a fault in your life?
2. In 30,60, 90 days what will you move toward instead of falling back?

Email me @ thesaleslife1@gmail.com

Hear the full episode by subscribing to The Sales Life on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.



They cut your branch not your tree

Show notes for episode #499!

On my way to work I saw a tree service cutting a huge limb that was hovering over the powerline. If that branch broke, it would fall & knock out the power in that area.

They cut the branch, but they didn’t cut the tree.

I wish I was mature enough to initiate pruning in my life, but sometimes life’s crew, called circumstances, comes along and cuts me.

In those times I have to remember they cut my branch, but they didn’t cut my tree.

Life will prune you in the form of demotions, break ups, blowups, failures, setbacks, & major disruptions.

Life actually did you a favor because as thick & fruitful as that branch seemed, you had no idea it was about to break and knock out your power.

The loss is a gain, you just haven’t realize it yet.

---

I remember May 1, 2016 as if it was yesterday. When I walked into the office, my boss was to the left and the owner was seated at his desk.

I was demoted.

I was crushed-everything I worked for was wiped out.

But they cut my branch, not my tree.

It took me over a year to stop acting like a stump & rise and play like a trunk.

My trunk is where my strength lies. Everything I needed to start over was right there in my trunk, but I can’t get there acting like a stump.

You can have a tree without branches but you can’t have branches without a trunk, so you may lose a branch but you haven’t lost your trunk.

Pruning hurts and is scary because it’s definite yet so uncertain. You can’t solder a branch back together, but that’s probably a good thing, because you’re now lighter to climb higher.

They may have cut the branch…but they didn’t cut your tree.

---

Your TSL Action:

1. In your life, what was a cutting of a “branch” but you saw it as a “tree?”

2. Are you acting as a stump or trunk?

3. What else needs to be pruned?

Email me @ thesaleslife1@gmail.com

---

This episode was recorded on Facebook Live. Connect with me and say 👋 @marshbuice on Facebook

Get show snippets on IG, LinkedIn, & TicTok

---

Learn on the go by subscribing to over 500 episodes of The Sales Life Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

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.

Connect with me:

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

🔥 TSL YouTube

🔥 TSL Facebook Group

🔥 LinkedIn

🔥 Twitter

🔥 Blog

🔥 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

🔥 TSL YouTube

🔥 TSL Facebook Group

🔥 LinkedIn

🔥 Twitter

🔥 Blog

What makes you a BIW?

“What are you Best in the World at?”

If I asked you, you’d probably compare yourself to someone way more successful than you & reply with…

“Nothing…”

There will always be someone better than you…

But you are BIW…

Because Best in the World is not what’s in the trophy case nor on the wall-that’s just the fruit…

BIW is a seed of a mindset…

BIW is a mantra…

BIW is a work ethic…

BIW is your swag…

BIW is your ethos…

Think about this…

If you considered yourself Best in the World, what foods would you put into your body?

How would you live?

What relationships would you keep & which ones would you distance yourself from?

If you considered yourself BIW, how would you think…what would you talk about?

Would you coast? Would “good enough” be an option?

Hell no.

Because you’re Best in the World…nothing but premium goes into your tank.

If you’re going to “be” why not just finish the sentence?

Why not BE…Best in the World?

“I’m not going to BE sitting in this chair 5 yrs from now…”

“I’m not gonna BE 60 lbs overweight 6 months from now…”

No matter how it looks or feels right now, finish the sentence…

Stop waking up, looking at the current score, & add to the losses…step out with a BIW to add to the lessons to win.

If I’m going to BE…I might as well be, “Best in the World.”

I recently read Rakim’s book, “Sweat the Technique” (From old school rap group Eric B & Rakim) & he lives by the mantra, “Be better than yourself,” meaning to not get so caught up in what everyone else is doing, just be better than yourself. The idea keeps you focused on developing your skills & techniques.

“Imagine the impossible, then do.” ~Rakim.

To be BIW it’s going to require a couple of things:

🔥 Don’t wait for motivation to show up. Practice the positive behaviors that lead to the greatest impact for you-even when you’re not highly motivated to do so. Sometimes motivation has to catch up. Motivation should accompany your actions, not be the sole driver for what you do.

🔥 Train with the best. “Training” for you could mean physical, but training is also the company you keep. Hang with the best…limit yourself to the rest.

Don’t just “follow” people on social media just to follow….absorb them.

Buy into what they do & less into what they say in their marketing. (The jewelry, cars, cash, & planes are all a way for you to buy what they’re selling)

What are the habits, rituals, & routines that you can incorporate into your own life? You may not be able to hang with a billionaire right now, but you can hang with their minds through books & videos.

“Best” takes years…but is practiced in days, hours, & seconds.

Overweight, broke, divorced, demoted?

Swag out with, “I am the best!” It’s not something you have to say to others…it’s what you think & do right now, from where you are.

The results will show!

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

Dominate your space

Zack Babcock ended up serving a 5 year prison sentence for various crimes.

Prison didn’t settle him down…it made him even worse. He was always getting into fights with other inmates and officers.

Even though he acted out, he was hollow inside…

“How can I get peace,” he desperately wondered.

He used the only resource he had…

With only 2 bath towels to his name, he tore one of them into sections and began to “dominate his space…”

furiously cleaning his sink, toilet, & floors in his prison cell.

He couldn’t take back his past…& he couldn’t control what was going on outside of his tiny cell…

But he could take back his life…& it started with a torn bath towel.

There are things in your life you can’t take back…& there are situations & circumstances that are outside of your control…

But you can take back your life & it starts with “dominating your space.”

The area& resources that are directly in front of you & that is within your control.

When you’re on the phone with a customer- no matter how bad your day is going, “dominate your space,” that conveys a tone of upbeat professionalism & understanding.

When you’re working with customers- no matter how terrible your month is, “dominate your space” with the right body language and certainty that you know what the hell you’re doing.

When you’re at a social function or even in a toxic office environment…”dominate your space.”

Yes you’re 100 lbs overweight, “dominate your space” by walking in that gym with a mission to no longer live this way.

Your personal life may be crumbling, but “dominate your space” professionally…

You may have been just passed over or demoted…damn…now “dominate your space” & turn your professional life around make others stand in awe that not only are you back, but exceedingly better than ever.

“Dominate your space…”even if it’s a pinhole of light…DOMINATE.

It’s not about pushing & slapping other people aside…it’s about taking control & influence over what you’ve got and successfully earning your freedom.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

But you’ve gotta ask

“To be or not to be…” was the question by Shakespeare.

“Should I or shouldn’t I,” is the question asked by YOU.

Whether in Sales or in Life, we all get to the crossroads of “The Big Ask,”

Asking for something and getting a No in return.

This is where your mind launches a full out war with you….& normally wins.

Your mind is trying to shield you from further rejection by telling you that you shouldn’t ask because the answer is probably a No.

Everything you want in life is on the other side of ask.

& if you don’t ask?

You eat the leftovers Life scrapes onto your plate.

If you’re tired of eating leftovers, ask…and eat big.

You can’t lose what you don’t have.

You don’t have anything right now so you might as well ask.

The answer may be yes…

& even if it’s a No…

They may say No to your initial ask, but it may open up to other options & opportunities. “No we can’t do that…but we can do this______”

But you’ve gotta ask.

The fact that you took the risk, you proved to yourself you can go further and still live to fight another day.

But you’ve gotta ask.

Your asking expands your comfort zone, level of tolerance, & increases your confidence.

But you’ve gotta ask.

“Done” is better than “should.” No more negotiating with yourself…just disengage emotionally and fling the ask out there.

What’s the worst that could happen? But what could be the best?

But you’ve gotta ask.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪