2008 September | Barbara Giamanco

People ask me often what makes a great sales person. Is it their personality? Is it their knowledge of the sales process? Is it their attitude? Is it their habits? What is it really? The answer – simple as it is – is all of these things and more. Our habits, what we actually focus our time and attention on day after day, is probably one of the single biggest things that will lead to either success or failure. A long-time fan of Jack Canfield and his work, I decided to post his recent newsletter article on habits.

Where are Your Habits Leading You?
by Jack Canfield

You are an accumulation of your habits. From how you get out of bed, how you shower, how you dress, how you walk, sit, and talk, how you respond to the world, how you act in front of others, and how you think; you’re living out your habits.

Habits are necessary. They free up your mind so you can concentrate on how to survive day to day. You don’t have to think about how to drive your car so you can be on the lookout for danger while you are driving. You don’t have to think about how to walk so you can concentrate on where you’re going.

Unfortunately, habits can also keep you locked in self-destructive patterns, which will limit your success. To become successful, you will need to drop bad habits and develop new ones that are in line with the life you want to live.

People don’t suddenly appear in the life they want to live… their habits determine their outcome!

What are the habits you have that are keeping you from achieving your goals?

Really be honest with yourself here… Are you always running late? Do you return phone calls within 24 hours? Do you get enough sleep? Do you follow through on your promises? Do you plan out your day?

Imagine what your life would be like if all your habits were their productive counterparts!

What would your life be like if you ate healthy meals, exercised and got enough sleep? What if you saved your money, stopped using credit cards and paid cash for everything? What if you stopped procrastinating, overcame your fears, and began networking with people in your field? Would your life be different? I bet it would!

So, my suggested action step for you is to write down some productive habits you could adopt and visualize in your life, step two is to ‘act as if’ you were living these new habits right now!

I’d like to help you get moving toward creating more successful habits, so I’d recommend you develop four of your new success habits each year, one for each quarter.

Once you pick the new habit you’re ready to adopt, next you’ll want to create a method that will support your new habit.

Here are some ideas… You could write it down on a card that you keep with you and read several times a day. You could make it a part of your daily visualization. You could also enlist the help of an accountability partner who has habits to change, or work with a personal coach who can keep you on track.

It’s important to make a 100% commitment to your new habit, so be specific about the steps that you’re willing to take in order to drop an old habit and adopt a new one. Don’t be vague about how you will change your habits. Spell it out for yourself so you can recognize situations that motivate you to act out your new habit.

Just developing four new habits a year will dramatically shift your life to be more in line with your vision. And the more in line it becomes, the easier the other habits are to replace because your perspective is shifting and you can see more clearly how your old habits aren’t serving you anymore.

Make the decision. Make the commitment. Then watch your new, positive life unfold!

I’ll see you in another two weeks in the next edition of Success Strategies. In the meantime, take the time to implement just one of the strategies discussed in today’s issue.

Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

We’ve all been there. We thought the sale was closed and then bam! out of the blue our clients tells us that the deal is off. Blah!

Just such a thing happened to me yesterday. A project that was given the green light was pulled just as the work was beginning. It wasn’t anything that I did wrong, it’s just that the business climate changed and an executive changed their mind as a result. Of course losing a sale is a bummer for anyone, and it is especially painful if you are a business owner like me. This sort of unexpected lost sales puts a real ouch in the revenue projection and cash flow.

What I’ve learned through the years is that you have to pick yourself up and move on to the next opportunity. It serves no purpose to become “angry” about the client’s decision. It is so important to deal with these kinds of surprises with grace and dignity. There will be other opportunities that come your way, but not if you handle the change in direction badly. Bottom line – you’ve got to maintain a positive attitude and quickly move on. Otherwise, you risk getting stuck in victim land and that won’t serve you at all.

Situations like these also illustrate the importance of keeping your sales pipeline full at all times. You just never know when revenue you counted on might suddenly dry up. Remember to be continually selling and marketing what you have to offer even when the sales are flowing in steadily. That way you’ll always be prepared for the unexpected.

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