I spent much of February working overseas throughout the United Kingdom. At the end of each sales program I provided each attendee a printed summary of life skill reminders that are built into my work.
Since life skills are relevant to everyone, they have proved to be an effective means to teaching business principles and the list proved quite popular. Because of that I thought I’d share it.
Here are two dozen things to keep in mind as we navigate life and work in order to stay upbeat and positive.
- Sales is the greatest of all professions because it is fair. Sales doesn’t care if you are a man or woman, young or old, tall or short, black or white, small or large, left-handed or right-handed. All sales cares about is whether or not you can sell.
- Honor the profession and it will honor you.
- Be better, not perfect. Better is attainable. Perfect is not.
- Keep your head and heart aligned. Life works best from the inside out.
- Most people spend more time planning their vacation than their career. Give both due respect.
- Be significant in the lives of others.
- We all take turns in the barrel. The number of hands that will reach in to help you out will be equal to the number of times you have reached in to help others.
- You learn more from a loss or disappointment than a victory. Be a student of behavioral dynamics.
- Never get beat the same way twice.
- The global demand for great, value-creating sales professionals far exceeds the current supply.
- If you win the ones you’re supposed to win—and some of the ones you’re supposed to lose—you are good. Nobody wins them all.
- Manage the emotional experience. Create positive ones and avoid negative ones. Sales isn’t just B2B (Business to Business) or B2C (Business to Consumer). It’s H2H . . . Human to Human.
- Happiness is a choice. Until you are happy with who you are, you will never be happy with what you have.
- Winning matters. If it doesn’t, you are in the wrong line of work.
- If you are meeting a lot of jerks . . . chances are good that you are the jerk.
- Never back into the pay window. Honor your employer. Earn your money.
- No stinkin’ thinkin’. Be positive. Surround yourself with positive people.
- From the time you wake up ‘til it’s time to hit the rack, be grateful for what you have and worry less about what you don’t. Billions are so impoverished they can only fantasize about the life you live.
- Get plenty of sleep. The brains needs time to refresh and recharge. You will run down or burn out without enough rest. Quality sleep is very, very important.
- Manage your Worry Circle. Own the things you can control and block out the rest, which are toxic cerebral poisons.
- Bad habits and negative influences come at a cost. Manage them down to a bare minimum.
- The hours you are awake pass one of four ways: you can waste time, spend time, invest time, or cherish time. Waste and spend as little as possible. Invest and cherish as much time as possible.
- The world is full of busy people but short of productive ones. Know the difference and strive to be productive. Pursue high payoff/high priority activities. Ignore those that are low/low.
- Wisdom is what you learn and apply from experience. Wisdom goes wherever you travel. Relying on accessing information is different. Without access you will not know a thing.