Understanding the Root of Motivation

December 13, 2009 on 11:50 pm | In Motivation, attitude, mindset | 5 Comments

When it comes to creating and maintaining forward momentum in your career or in your business, there is one factor that rises above all the others: your why, your reason for doing things, the motivation behind your motivation.  It’s been said that you can accomplish any what, so long as you have a big enough why.  I’m a firm believer in the truth of that statement.

Have a look around, and you’ll see that those who get what they want out of life are driven to succeed by their why for doing it.  In other words, their reason for succeeding is bigger than any defeat they may experience along the way.  These may sound like empty platitudes, but look a little deeper and you’ll see what I mean.

Think of a time when you were close to achieving some particular goal but stopped just short of getting there because of some obstacle that came up.  Most likely, like the fox in Aesop’s fable, you made a declaration of “sour grapes”, justifying to yourself that not attaining the goal was probably for the best anyways.  Dig beneath the surface, though, and I’ll bet you’ll realize that, no matter how important attaining that goal may have seemed to you at the time, somewhere along the way you lost your zeal for it: you no longer had a big enough why.

Now think of a time when you did achieve some goal you’d set for yourself, in spite of any roadblocks that may have come up.  No matter what the setback, you got up, dusted yourself off, and kept right on going, pushing ahead until you got what you wanted.  What kept you going in this case?  Examine your motivation, and I’m sure you’ll find that in this case, you had a really significant reason for achieving that particular goal.  In this case, your why was big enough to accomplish the what.

Continue reading Understanding the Root of Motivation…

It’s Time For a Little Chat…With Yourself!

December 2, 2009 on 10:03 pm | In Motivation, attitude, focus, mindset | 8 Comments

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a big believer in the power of positive thinking.  I know there’s no better way to get what you want than to believe that you can; I also know that optimism is essential to success.  The big question everyone always asks, though, is “How do I do it? How do I become a positive thinker when my life/business/career is so crappy?”

That’s a great question with a really simple answer: you need to have a little chat with yourself.  I’m serious!  One of the biggest saboteurs to success is that nagging little voice in your head that says things like “Yeah, but…”, “I can’t do that!”, “That’ll never really happen!” and all the countless other negative phrases we say to ourselves when we have a great idea or try to take some kind positive action.  The voice might be that of a parent, a teacher, a sibling, an old boss…all those folks who, whether they meant to or not, planted seeds of negativity in our brains that we’ve never quite been able to shake.

Well, it’s time to strangle that little voice and replace it with a new, more supportive one, and it’s going to be easier than you think.  I’m going to encourage you to do something that’s going to feel a little weird, possibly even a little uncomfortable (imagine that!), but that will pay huge dividends in your personal development.  I’m going to encourage you to start doing…*gulp*…affirmations.

Now before you write me off as a new-age wacko in salesperson’s clothes, let me remind you that the Great Ones (Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, etc.) all encourage affirmations in one form or another.  And I agree with them all: positive self-talk is good for the soul.  More importantly, though, positive self-talk is GREAT for activity, which leads to results, which reinforces beliefs, which opens your eyes to greater potential, which spurs even greater activity…and so on.

Continue reading It’s Time For a Little Chat…With Yourself!…

Avoiding Desperation In Sales By Asking "Why?"

September 28, 2009 on 10:27 pm | In Motivation | 5 Comments

I just finished recording a couple of segments about  the Motivation 101 process with Keith Keller of Career Success Radio.  For details on that chat, you can check out this blog post over at their Ning site.  Our conversation got me thinking, though: job seekers and salespeople have a lot in common, and they could learn a lot from each other.

One similarity in particular stood out: the need to avoid desperation and anxiety by asking “Why?”, engaging in the process and detaching yourself from specific outcomes.  Sound a little esoteric?  It’s really not.  Let me explain what I mean.

As I’m fond of saying, asking “Why?” is critical to your success because it unlocks the subconscious mind to act in your behalf in achieving your goals.  This is because it helps  identify the positive emotion behind a specific goal or outcome you’re looking for, and identifying this positive intent gives your subconscious something to move toward on a continuous basis. 

For example, let’s say you’ve got your sights set on a particular account and you’re closing in on the end of the process.  You’re pretty confident that you’re going to win the sale and, in fact, you’ve set an intention and written a specific goal about doing so successfully.  Then you find out that the prospect decided to go with a different provider.   That can be pretty devestating, especially if you’d been counting on the commission check, right?  In fact, for a lot of salespeople this kind of event is the beginning of the downward slide into the slump.  It can create a feeling of desperation to “close” the next deal at any cost, and prospects can smell that despeation 10 miles away.

Continue reading Avoiding Desperation In Sales By Asking "Why?"…

It's Time to Get Motivated!

May 22, 2009 on 7:11 am | In Motivation, goals, mindset | 9 Comments

As the name of this blog indicates, I believe that proper motivation is one of the fundamental building blocks of a successful life.  In sales (a category which includes all you entrepreneurs and small business owners, whether you like to admit it or not), motivation is the key distinction between success and failure.  It’s a simple formula: having the right motivation keeps you moving and in action.  Without it, you stop.  Over the past several days, I’ve shared five techniques that will help you stay motivated, no matter what is going on in the world around you.  Let’s do a quick recap.

The first step was to start asking yourself the power question: “Why?”  Why do you want to acheive a particular goal, a certain level of income or anything else?  Asking “Why?” helps you identify the emotional component of your goals, which in turn engages your unconscious mind to help move you closer to their accomplishment.  So stop asking yourself “How am I going to do that?” and start asking yourself “Why do I want to?”  You’ll find the results much more satisfying.

Second, we talked about shutting off the news to create your own National News Free Week.  This step will help you avoid distraction and stay focused on doing the activities that are in harmony with your purpose.  While news overload can create anxiety, worry and despair, living a news-free life is liberating.  You are far less susceptible to negativity and far more open to possibility and gratitude.

The third topic centered around the need for passion, enthsiasm and excitement for your work.  Instead of being among the 87% of Americans who hate their jobs, finding passion for what you do puts you in the happy minority of people who actually enjoy thir work, even considering it to be a form of play.  And if you can’t find passion for what you are doing now, remember: you are always free to pursue something that you are passionate and enthusiastic about.

Continue reading It's Time to Get Motivated!…

Want Results? Better Get Moving!

May 21, 2009 on 6:29 am | In Motivation, activity, goals, sales process | 5 Comments

Question: What have you done this week to move yourself closer to your goals? Do you have a clearly defined, written plan to get you where you want to be? If not, what are you waiting for?!

We’ve all heard that what gets written down gets done, yet the majority of us don’t do it. It really amazes me how many salespeople I talk to who have no idea what they need to accomplish on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis to help them achieve their goals; in fact, I still encounter many people who have no idea what their goals are! I only have one question: if you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’ve arrived? More importantly, how will you even know if you’re on the right course to get there?

Specific written goals are vital to your success. You know that. If you haven’t written out your goals for this year, stop reading and go do it now. Don’t come back until you’re done, because what I’m going to suggest next will require you to have your written goals in front of you. This is a powerful tool that will help you achieve any goal you set, and it is actually very easy to do. Unfortunately, anything that’s easy to do is also easy not to to do, so I want you to make a commitment, here and now, to try this method out for the next seven days. If it doesn’t work for you, you can stop; but you have to try it for at least seven consecutive days before passing judgment. Ready?

Looking at your list of goals, I want you to think of the six most important things you could do tomorrow to move you closer to their accomplishment. Limit your list to only six things, the six most critical. Now, prioritize the list in order of highest impact; in other words, the most impactful thing you could do becomes number one and so on. Now comes the hard part.

Continue reading Want Results? Better Get Moving!…

Successful Selling Is All In Your Head

May 20, 2009 on 3:53 am | In Motivation, focus, mindset, optimism | 9 Comments

Some sales trainers will tell you that the location of your sales presentations is of critical importance in making the sale; unfortunately, they don’t all agree what that location should be. Some say that sales presentations should be made in the prospect’s office, others in your office and still others in a neutral zone such as a restaurant. I’m going to break with these folks and say that the only place where truly successful selling takes place is right between the your ears.

The most important playing field in sales is and always has been your mind. Look at any sales superstar and you’ll see this is true. The truly great ones in any field succeed because they have developed the mindset for success. For some, this mindset has developed naturally because of good genes and a nurturing environment. For most of us, though, developing the right mindset takes a significant amount of work and a constant vigilance to guard any progress we make.

The reason for this is that we are under a constant barrage of negative messages from the world around us. We take in so much negative information on a daily basis, it can be a real challenge to keep our success mindset intact. What are some steps we can take that will help? Try these:

First, limit the amount of negative information you voluntarily take in on a daily basis and replace the negative with something positive. I talked about this a couple of days ago, but the point is this: be proactive with your mental intake.  Don’t just soak it all up like Sponge Bob…choose what you allow into your mind.  Your conscious mind is the filter for your unconscious, so use the filter wisely to sift out negative thoughts.  Do like Tom Hopkins says: whenever a negative thought starts to creep in, throw your hand out in front of you and shout “BAD SEED!”  You’ll be amazed at how effective this technique is for banishing negative thoughts…and the people who would spread them.

Continue reading Successful Selling Is All In Your Head…

No Passion, No Success…Know Passion, Know Success

May 19, 2009 on 7:59 am | In Motivation, enthusiasm, passion | 3 Comments

“For every sale you miss because you’re too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you’re not enthusiastic enough.” – Zig Ziglar 

The last two posts on this blog discussed steps you can take to accelerate your motivation in tough economic times.  The first suggested that you get clarity and focus on your goals by asking “Why?”  The second mentioned the need to stay focused, primarily by avoiding the distraction of the “Bad News Blues”.  

What else, though, can you do to get motivated and moving in the direction of your dreams?  The quote above from Zig Ziglar nails it: you must get passionate about what you do in order to stay motivated and moving forward.  Why?

To answer that question, I’d like you to think about an activity you really enjoy.  Let’s say, for example, that you love to golf.  Here’s the question: what does a golf lover do in order to play the game?  The answer: whatever it takes to get on the course!  In fact, people who are passionate about golf have been motivated to call in sick to work, cancel all other activities and golf in the rain in order to play at a favorite course.  Now that’s passion!

Continue reading No Passion, No Success…Know Passion, Know Success…

No News Is Good News

May 18, 2009 on 6:16 pm | In Motivation, activity, focus, goals | 11 Comments

Are you as tired as I am of all the bad news being offered up by the national media? If so, please join me in a special campaign this week. I’m officially designating it National News Free Week.

This is the critical second step in staying motivated to accomplish your goals: the ability to stay focused and avoid distraction!  So I’m issuing a challenge to as many people as I can reach to turn off the news for one solid week. That’s right: no TV, radio or internet news for seven full days.

“But Jerry!” you ask, “How will I know what’s going on in the world?”

Good question, and the answer may shock you. Listen closely: it doesn’t matter! Yes, you read that right…it just doesn’t matter what’s happening in the world around you. The only thing that truly matters is what’s happening in the world inside of you.

Continue reading No News Is Good News…

When It Comes to Goals, Ask "Why?", Not "How?"

May 17, 2009 on 6:11 am | In Motivation | 6 Comments

If you’re like most selling professionals, you’ve probably got a list of written goals…somewhere.  Some of you have them tacked to the wall in from of your desk, some carry them in your day planner or PDA, some of you have them filed away in the bottom of a drawer and would have trouble finding them if asked.  Regardless of where you have your list of goals, though, you’ve already accomplished something major: you’ve engaged a powerful ally in your success by writing them down.

What ally?  The simple act of writing something down plants the seed of action in your unconscious mind, letting it know that this goal is something it should be working to achieve for you.  The unconscious mind is such an incredibly powerful machine, it will work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, to accomplish the intention you’ve set for it.  Once engaged, it knows no limitations.  

Oftentimes, though, the next thing we do in our goal-setting process disables this ally: we start to ask “How?”, as in “How am I going to do it?”  This question, while it seems logical, can be one of the most disempowering questions you can ask yourself.  Why?  Well, instead of focusing on the accomplishment of your goal, now you are focused on the details of getting it done.  If it’s a BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) we’re talking about, the “How?” can seem overwhelming.  You don’t know where to start and, as a result, you don’t start.

So what’s the answer?  Ask a better question.  Instead of asking “How?”, ask “Why?”, as in “Why do I want to accomplish this particular thing?”  ”Why?” is a much more powerful question for engaging the power of your unconcious mind because it has the power to create an emotional connection to the goal.  How does this work?

Continue reading When It Comes to Goals, Ask "Why?", Not "How?"…

Powered by WordPress with Pool theme design by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds. Valid XHTML and CSS. ^Top^