“No pain, no gain.”
How do you react when you hear that phrase? Most of us react negatively with an eye roll. Why? Because who really seeks out pain? Not many. Most of us avoid pain or discomfort whenever possible.
Yet sometimes we:
- Aren’t doing what we know we should—exercise, calling prospects, inputting our data into our CRM, or addressing an objection
- Want to achieve something—sales goals, winning a specific client, reaching a weight goal, starting a new relationship
Seeking pain may be what we really need; or at least seeking a way to get us moving into action.
I value the people around me who will kick me in the butt to get me to move when I am stalled. Listen up Managers, you may need to get things moving in your sales team with a good kick in the seat. (Please note I am not suggesting physical contact.)
You see, Initiative is one of the Success Drivers of top performing salespeople. Initiative is the personal and proactive energy we put out each day. Often, lack of Initiative is what keeps us from doing what we should and achieving what we need or want to.
If you are ready to give yourself a kick to get moving, here are 3 tips:
- Connect with an accountability partner. Share your goals, dreams, and struggles with someone who won’t ‘make it all okay,’ but instead will question and challenge you to do something about it. Those are people who truly care about you.
- Track activity. Keep a scorecard of what you have really done each day. We can all fill our days, but does that busy-ness include what really matters? It takes just a few minutes to identify the proactive actions you have taken that move you toward where you want to be. Also, don’t forget to eat your frog first each day.
- Identify the What’s in it for Me of the activities and results. Make it personal so that it is relevant to you. If you don’t have the answer, ask others for help in identifying the benefits. Knowing we all have aspects of our jobs that are not our favorite, this may take some effort, but connecting your actions back to what matters to you will help.
Make today the beginning of kicking yourself into action. The momentary pain will quickly be replaced with the realization that you are moving toward new levels of success.
