Hard is manageable

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Sometimes in the course of the conversation I’ll tell people that I ran 5-6 miles before coming to work & they’re like, “NO WAY I could do that!”

At one time I was that way too. Initially hard for me was just getting up early…then hard was running 1 mile…then 2…3…then 5-6.

Hard is exhausting…but the more you lean into hard it becomes manageable.

It’s not that running 5 miles & going to work is not still hard- it is, but it’s manageable.

Being a new parent is hard…amping your sales game up is hard…taking on a new job is hard…working out constantly is hard…but it gets manageable.

Hard & doing nothing looks impossible…but when you take on hard it gets manageable to the point where you have the ability to take on more hard.

Hard gets embraced instead of traditionally resisted.

& when it’s manageable you can handle & have even more.

Don’t wish that hard would go away…work to make it more manageable.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

2 words limiting your success

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It’s been said that a person’s success can usually be measured by the number of difficult conversations he’s willing to have…

Think about that one…

The areas where you’ve been successful were probably due to you leaning into difficult conversations…

& the areas where you’ve failed are due to running away from difficult conversations.

Every failure I’ve had in life: relationships, parenting, finances, professionally, & personally (yes a convo with yourself) were due to me running from difficult conversations…

You fail because you equate a difficult conversation with confrontation or an argument…

No it’s just a difficult conversation…that you need to have…

You run from difficult conversations because you catastrophize the outcome…or they always end up worse than when you started…

So you remain silent- thinking doing nothing is something, when all you’re doing is layering needed difficult conversations on top of one another until you bleed & blow.

The tension bleeds into your professional or personal life & you reach a point where you blow the hell up. (Which is why the outcomes always end up wrong)

You won’t get better at having difficult conversations until you have difficult conversations.

If you go into the difficultly reminding yourself that this is a conversation not a dialogue (so leave the “I’m gonna give them a piece of my mind” at home), you’ll approach it from a more relaxed point of view-seeking to both understand and be understood.

If it gets toxic, pause it (indefinitely if you have to) because it takes 2 to dance to that song…

& a difficult conversation is always a win.

It may not be the outcome you expected (because you could’ve been wrong the whole time), but it’s a win because you had the difficult conversation instead of running from it.

And that you can measure…

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

It’s not you were that lucky…How to work in bursts

So you pulled out ANOTHER month, right?

Every month you find yourself in a situation where you have 3 days to pull your month out…

And you did it!

But you start a new month off frustrated, yet relieved that you pulled your month out…

You’ve proven to yourself that you can work in the clutch…

Know your tendencies…instead of letting circumstances build into these pressure cooker, 11th hour moments, create them yourself.

It’s not that you were that lucky, it’s that you were that intensely focused…

Leverage your tendencies by working in bursts of 3-5’s (days)…

Like pulling a month out, put that same intensity & focus into just a few days…

Then play mind games with yourself giving yourself permission to rest a day then ramp up another 3-5.

Because you’ll have the momentum clicking you probably won’t even take yourself up on the “off” day, but even if you do, you’ll be more productive because you’re working in 4-5 round bursts vs taking 3/4 of the month off.

You can do this with any initiative:

Workout: 3 days intensely on & take a day off

Creative: 1 hour hard & heavy then take the rest of the day “off.”

Savings/eating better: 5 days no slack one day treat

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

You can’t hit it “BIG” until you hit it many

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VC firms have what’s called “Deal Flow,” meaning they’re constantly investing…

You hear of the VC’s who got in early with the Facebook’s, Twitter’s, & Ubers & you think, “Wow! They hit it BIG!”

They didn’t hit it BIG, they hit it many…

Because what you don’t see are how many losses they incurred to hit the big.

I know you want to hit it big…but you won’t hit it big until you hit it many…

In Sales & in Life, you must think like a VC & constantly be investing in reps & options- understanding YOU WILL INCUR LOSSES along the way, but-win or loss, you’re constantly investing…

You’ll hit it big as long as you hit it many.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

Shift happens

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Name any sport in any year & a team(s) is going have to deal with a season-ending injury of a star player. As devastating as the loss, the team has to figure out a way to win without them.

Shift happens…

Seeing injuries I’m reminded of 3 things:

🔥We’re all replaceable: As good as you are, don’t think “they” can’t go on without you. After amassing so much knowledge and skills, I thought I was irreplaceable until one day they called me in & demoted me to the bottom rung. Those who answered to me yesterday, I answered to them the next day.

It turned out, the demotion was the best thing that happened for me.

What happens to you now, happens for you later.

I saw firsthand that the store could move on (quite well) without me in the lead position.

Understanding that we’re all replaceable, make yourself replaceable by being ready at any time to move up.

See, someone above you thinks they’re irreplaceable like I did & life will show them otherwise…you just need to be ready to seamlessly step in when the opportunity comes.

🔥Be ready to step up. You don’t wait to first see the opening, then get ready-no, you get ready now. Don’t just sit there in judgement thinking you can do better than the other guy. Because you’re in a secondary position (for now 😉) you have the advantage of having a front row seat to the ins & outs of that position. See what works & doesn’t work now so you’ll be ready later.

🔥You will face injuries. Your injuries may be physical-you hurt yourself working out…but you still gotta workout! Keep showing up & do what you can.

You may also face emotional injuries like a lay-off, demotion, divorce, or health crises- as traumatic as these events are, realize the game of life goes on. Use what you have left to create more in your life.

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

“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 💪

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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 💪

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The bounce back gene

Some people seem to have the bounce back gene…

No matter how big the blow, they always seem to bounce back better than before.

Salespeople have the bounce back gene…

The bounce back gene is made up of Influence & Persuasion.

As a profession, salespeople have to use influence and persuasion to show how their product or service is the best fit for their customers.

But most people don’t realize we salespeople fail 70-80% of the time…

So in order to succeed, we have to use the skills of influence & persuasion not only to make a living…but also bounce back.

Salespeople have to immediately take action again & again to produce results…& along the way convince ourselves that the next one is the game changer.

Even if you’re not in sales, you have the bounce back gene…

The problem is when life swung & connected your speech & action changed.

You can’t bounce back without the IP address…

Influence & Persuasion…

Sometimes it’s just to yourself.

When I got demoted & finished feeling sorry for myself, I had to put the bounce back into action.

I had influence myself to take action, reconnect skills I’d lost, learn new skill I shied away from, and convince myself that I’d be better than ever.

Every day I bounced…

& convinced myself that “today” was the day…& that next month was “the month” that would change it all.

Get to bouncing…you have the gene, you just ain’t using it.

Whatever the situation, don’t stop proactively talking nor acting. Keep looking for actions & angles…re-ignite old skills & learn new ones…

hell, if you’re wiped out, what better time to take risks anyway?

And keep bouncing 😉

Stay in The Sales Life 💪

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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 💪

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