In all areas
of life, taking action is the key to success. Most people, who fail to
achieve what they want, fail for lack of action. The ability to take
action is the skill that ultimately separates the winners from the losers
in the game of life. There are a number of truths that I have come across
in my business and while coaching clients, these truths are to be reviewed
and lived by to produce the abundance in life that you desire.
Truth #1: It’s more essential to success to be consistent
than to be precise.
The power of consistency is one of the most significant forces in the world.
It far outstrips the power of exactness. If you are consistently doing enough
things right, you will reap a huge reward. If you are waiting until you have
it down to perfection you are not going to take any action.
In sales more than
any other profession, consistency of your actions pays big
dividends, while infrequent action even when right, pays very
little. The daily consistency of prospecting and lead follow-up
is the gateway to sales success and high profitability. Again,
it’s more essential to success to be consistent than to be
precise.
Truth #2: A step toward your goal is a step
in the right direction, even if the step is a misstep.
To often we fail to
act due to fear of failure. We can become paralyzed by the
need to be right or correct in all our actions. My friend Jim
Rohn says to achieve your goal you need “measurable progress
in reasonable time.” That doesn’t mean all the progress we
make will be going in the right direction every time.
Earl Nightingale said “that success is the progressive realization of a worthy
goal or ideal.” To achieve a worthy goal we have to progress toward it through
the trials. We must proceed with consistent action. It also says there are
times when we will be heading in the wrong direction and have to adjust our
course of action.
In the end, success
is a poor teacher. The real teacher in life is adversity and
short-term failure. You will always learn more from your defeats
than your victories. In sales you will learn more from the
sale lost than the sale made. Most salespeople think when they
make the sale they did everything right. What happens if that
assumption is not true? What if you did just enough right to
beat out the other guy but he wasn’t any good? What will happen
when the competition gets tougher or the marketplace gets tougher?
Will you have the skills you need to dominate then?
To often we fail to
face reality, this comes back to us in unfulfilled potential.
Unfulfilled potential eventually manifests itself into regret.
We have to be fixated on taking steps to obtain our goals daily,
even if they are the wrong steps. It’s better to make a decision
and find out it was wrong, than avoiding making a decision
at all. At least you know what you should not do the next time.
Truth #3: Even when you choose not to decide,
you have still made a choice.
For too many of us
we just hope things get better. We hope to become healthier,
thinner or we hope we earn more. We have wishes and dreams
but no commitment or definitiveness to change what we are doing
to ensure the desired result. We fail to take action on what
we know we need to do now.
Many of us can vacillate
over a decision for days, weeks, months or even years. We must
realize that by not making a decision we have essentially made
a choice. We end up making decisions by default that because
we did not decide and act, the decision was made for us.
As salespeople, by
not preparing for a changing marketplace or changing economy,
our choice is solidified. We have chosen by default to not
do as well or earn as much when the marketplace change occurs.
Would it be reasonable to assume that our marketplace will
always remain the same or improve? Would we be protecting our
families and assets if we assume that we don’t need to improve
our skills and abilities in sales? Our decision to not act
in truth means we still have made a choice.
Take ten minutes to
evaluate these truths. Are you embracing these truths in how
you run your business and life? Are there changes that need
to be made? When do you need to make the changes? Here’s a
hint…NOW!
Don’t get paralyzed
by inactivity or perfection. Turn action into your asset. That’s
what true Champions do!
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