Don’t Sell Yourself Short

One of the greatest challenges that each person faces in this life is the challenge of “finding themselves.”  Everyone has had thoughts about which roads to pursue in life and what might have been different had you traveled one road instead of another.  Many college students struggle with which career to pursue or discovering their talents.  Many salespeople wrestle with making a career out of sales and if so, which company and what products to associate themselves with.  Most salespeople think in terms of finding an employment home rather than building security through their efforts.  They total miss the point by thinking the employer is there to take care of them, instead of understanding that they create their own security through their performance.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What lies behind us and what lies in front of us, pales in significance when compared to what lies within us.”  Most salespeople have no concept of what they are capable of achieving.  They tend to think in terms of what their employer can offer them.  At the heart of the issue is the question, “what can you offer yourself?”  The greatest difference between salespeople is not the companies they work for or the products they offer.  The difference is found within the person.  Do you even have a clue as to what you are capable of achieving in your selling career?  You know what you have done in the past and you know what others have done.  But do you have any idea of the power that lies within your soul?  Have you ever stretched far enough to know the power that lies within yourself?

As I began working with salespeople I forced myself to use restraint in expressing what I believed they were capable of achieving.  If I came right out and told them, they wouldn’t believe me and would give up trying before we even began.  I met with a salesperson today that I trained a few years ago.  He was making a very comfortable six-figure income when we started working together.  He is making today more than three times the income he was earning when we began.  I don’t believe this salesperson, in his wildest dreams, ever believed he could earn that kind of income.  What made the difference?  It was not just one thing.  There is no magic bullet.  There were several things, working together that made the difference.  Let me list a few principles that he applied that will also work for you.

1. Don’t allow yourself to be tied to your past.  Regardless of what you have achieved in the past, you can always do better.  Many salespeople fail to reach their true potential because they naively believe they have achieved their best.
2. Don’t succumb to the deadly cancer of apathy.  Never accept the status quo.  Work and think outside the box.  Look for ways to improve your performance every day.  There is nothing in this life that cannot be improved upon, even you.
3. Many people over estimate others and under estimate themselves.  Reach deep inside yourself and discover you true potential.  If someone else has achieved greatness, so can you.  The average person has no realistic idea of what they are capable of doing.
4. Human nature naturally directs our thinking to the “negative” instead of the positive.  People tend to view life in terms of what they can’t achieve as opposed to what they can achieve.  Set your focus on turning “impossibles” into “possibles”.
5. Don’t allow yourself to be frozen by fear.  Fear is a form of ignorance.  When you begin to gain an understanding of your inner strength you will learn to stand firm in the face of fear.  Once you have stood face to face with your fears, they will no longer have power over you.
6. Remember, “successful people are not without their problems; they’re simply people who’ve learned how to solve their problems.” – Robert Seashore
7. Develop a positive attitude.  The only thing in this life that you have total and complete control of is your attitude.  Successful salespeople have developed an “I Can” attitude.
8. If you are to truly discover the “power within”, you must develop an overpowering desire to succeed.  Waiting for opportunities to happen is the legacy of all average performers.  Creating your own opportunities is how successful people live their lives.
9. Find a purpose in your life that is so strong and so compelling that you would move both heaven and earth to preserve it.  It is that purpose that we sustain you through difficult and challenging times.
10. Take responsibility for your actions and own the results of your efforts.  No one else can fulfill your destiny and no one else can walk the lonely road of success in your footsteps.  Success is a lonely road because so few people find it and when found, so very few are willing to walk it.  

The greatest joy you will experience in your sales career, will come at that moment when you discover a glimpse, ever so small, of what you are truly capable of achieving.  When you have tasted just a drop of the sweet nectar of your inner strength and long for more, then you will be on the road to achieving your true potential.  The saddest epitaph of life is never achieving the full nature of your creation.