Saint-Exupery on Your Future

“As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.”

– Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–1944)

French aviator and writer

How are you kicking off your salesday?

Are you preparing your mind with solid thought, information, and support? Are you allowing the right radio or TV personalities to get you ready? The right news or material? The right people at the office?

Be careful to what you give your attention. It all has an influence on you. (And kicking it is much more fun than mediocrity… or worse.)

Feed your mind well. It’s where action starts.

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Hubbard on Gomoing It

 

“To avoid criticism, do nothing,
say nothing, be nothing.”

– Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915)

American publisher and writer

You can draw value from a naysayer or cynic by remaining objective and positive in your thinking (yes, it can be tough).

Occasionally, they’ll point out valid hurdles or challenges you haven’t seen (even if they present it like an @ss). With their help, if you can remain objective/detached (and keep your ego in check), you’ll have a better chance of getting something valuable from the interaction.

Stay objective. Be no ego. Get value.

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Coelho on Hobbling Fear

 

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

–Paulo Coelho (1947 – )
Brazilian writer

Sometimes, if we don’t have success after repeated attempts to do something, we can lose confidence and eventually give up trying. It’s called “learned helplessness” (we learn to be helpless).

Sales check: Any areas where you and your team have stopped trying (or try, but with little commitment) because prior repeated failures and/ or a perceived inability to succeed has trained you not to try? In prospecting and customer contact efforts? In motivating and improving team attitudes and cooperation? With customer care improvement initiatives?

If so, what can you start doing today to minimize any “learned helplessness” that may have set in?

___________________________

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Bono on Pushing Your Luck

 

“When you stop taking chances
You’ll stay where you sit
You won’t live any longer
But it’ll feel like it”

–Bono (1960 – )
Irish music artist and activist
from ‘Summer Rain’

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”

– Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
American statesman, scientist, and printer

luck: noun: a force that makes things happen

You want more luck? Be the force that makes it happen…

  1. Prepare. Work hard to be ready for the opportunities that are important to you. Research. Practice. Perfect.
  2. Be awake. Pay attention to the people, events, and things around you. Evaluate logically and trust your gut instinct.
  3. Take action. Put yourself out there. Explore. Be vulnerable. Make contact with people. Take risks.
  4. Expect positive results. Optimism improves your chances. If (when) you fail, embrace the lesson and continue on, smarter.

That’s it. Now go be lucky (and sell something).

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Kunin on The Folly of Passivity

 

“One is responsible for
one’s own life. Passivity
provides no protection.”

–Madeleine Kunin (1933 – )

Swiss-American diplomat and politician

Sometimes, if we don’t have success after repeated attempts to do something, we can lose confidence and eventually give up trying. It’s called “learned helplessness” (we learn to be helpless).

Sales check: Any areas where you and your team have stopped trying (or try, but with little commitment) because prior repeated failures and/ or a perceived inability to succeed has trained you not to try? In prospecting and customer contact efforts? In motivating and improving team attitudes and cooperation? With customer care improvement initiatives?

If so, what can you start doing today to minimize any “learned helplessness” that may have set in?

_______________________________

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