I was on my way to a meeting last week. I took a slight detour to visit my local Dunkin Donuts and got caught in some traffic near my house I’d never experienced. As I sat in a long line of cars and school buses (with no coffee yet, by the way) waiting to get through a light, I realized I was feeling discouraged and a bit unmotivated. It really struck me when I finally got to the front of the line. Apparently I hit this intersection at the exact time every school bus in my county was heading back to the school bus depot. There was a guy standing at the street light overriding the built in timer to get the school buses through to their destination and, therefore, the rest of us on our way. So, I have to assume that every morning from 8:30-9:00 am this guy stands there pushing this button every 2 minutes. The status of my attitude hit me when I caught myself wishing I could trade jobs with him.
Any human salesperson has ups and downs and it occurred to me I was having a …down. I’ve been in sales 15 years and 99% of the time I love it – I really don’t want that guy’s job no matter how much better it seemed that day. The good news is that I know how to move from “down” to “up”. I thought I’d post about 5 things that have worked for me over the years and last week.
1. Get enough sleep, eat right and exercise. It is amazing the problems a good night sleep and some vegetables will solve!
2. Help your customers. Spend energy contributing to your customers’ success.
3. Avoid negative people and news for a few days. Focus on something positive instead.
4. STOP worrying about your quota. As the Bible says, “Can any of you add an hour to the length of your life by worrying?“
5. Focus on something you CAN control. If you want to lose 20 pounds, eat fewer calories than you burn starting immediately. You’ll gain momentum by reaching a goal you have control over.
These are 5 things that work for me over and over again. I’d love to hear what works for you, too.
