The Magic of Joy

I can't believe how often I forget this.  It is so easy, so controllable, and such a differentiator.  We want to be around joy.  Seasons, holidays, places, and people.........we all have our favorites that bring us joy.

We are drawn to people that bring joy into the room with them.  You know the type, and if you're lucky, you are naturally the type.  Here's the thing:  we all have the ability to find our state of mind in which we bring joy with us!!  We do, there is no doubt in my mind.  It's harder for some than others, for sure.  But joy can also look different in each of us.  Some are loud and jovial, some are quiet and kind, some simply care, etc....  Regardless of how you show it, people can feel genuine joy when it's in the room.

So to sales - as I forget it, it always amazes me the different type of responses that joyful salespeople get during sales calls.  They have an easier time getting appointments, the appointments last longer, the conversations get deeper, the relationships get stronger, and the clientele builds.  Joyful salespeople are welcomed with open arms.  And we can control this?  I think we can.  So why don't we?  Because we forget.  We worry about the things that are out of our control, and forget about the things that are in our control.  We focus on the technical aspects of sales, and forget about simple salesmanship.  We think that people buy into the best sales pitch, and we forget that people buy from who they like.

Everyone likes joy.  You simply can't go wrong by adding this into your daily arsenal.

Identify the Season

From a very Macro level, to a very Micro level.........we can break moments of life down into seasons, each one intended to prepare you for the next.  Lessons as a kid prepare you to be a teenager, preparing you to be a young adult, preparing you for middle-age, etc...  Each is a season of life from a macro perspective.

As you get more micro, each responsibility is a season preparing you for the next responsibility.  Each success, each failure, each opportunity............prepares you for the next.  Some seasons are short-lived by design, and some seasons can last a good portion of your life.  The importance from one season to the next is improvement...........which means something different for everyone.

In order to find your purpose of improvement, you must first identify the season that you're in.........even though you may not fully be aware of the next season in which you're preparing for.  A season of discouragement may be preparing you to be able to lift up others in the future............allowing you to share true empathy for what they're going through.  A season of financial struggle may be preparing you to become a more aware steward during better financial times in the future.  You get the idea........

One of my Pastor's once told me "you need to call life what it is."  He taught me to identify what the scenario is, what the situation is, what the season is...........identify the struggles and the blessings within that season, and allow them to make you better.

You don't need to worry about what your next season is, you likely don't have any control over it anyway.  You need to identify this season, and allow it to mold you.......but not define you.

A New Mindset

I woke up this morning with this theme ringing loud and clear.  We all have times when we need to hit the reset button, decompress, get away, recharge.  Upon our return, if we approach the day-to-day in the same manner in which we were before, that recharge won't last long.

When we return from overwhelmed, we must approach things differently.  It's not a change in strategy or skill set, but a change in mindset.  A positive outlook, an assumption of success, the benefit of the doubt, a smile, seeking out a new relationship, the yearning for an influential conversation..................if any of these can be added into your daily mindset, you will see a major shift.

As salespeople, we have been given the gift of multiple daily transactions.  These transactions are phone conversations, presentations, emails, and other interactions with people.  As we approach each transaction, we are able to influence the tone and spirit (not always the outcome) of that interaction simply by the mindset in which we go into it with.

The people that you're interacting with will feel it, and feed off of it.  Not only will things go more positively, but you will turn into someone that they will want to interact with more regularly.

Lead with Positivity

I'm sure that I've posted on this in the past, but re-stating it is as much for my own benefit as anyone else's.

A team feels, follows, and operates as their Leader leads.  If you as a Leader plan and approach with the assumption of success, the team will follow and move forward with that same assumption.  If you project positivity, so will those around you.  Positivity breeds positivity, just as success breeds success.  Negativity feels "out of place" in a room of positivity, and will either transform or weed itself out.

There is a common saying that a team is only as strong as its weakest link.  I don't necessarily agree with this.  I would say that a team is only as strong as its leadership will allow it to be.

As leaders, we should work on surrounding ourselves with teammates that are better than us......then put the resources in place to exploit their strengths.  All of this is nurtured through positivity.  Your teammates will see it in your eyes, and feel it in your vibe.  You can't fake positivity, you must live it.  Your entire team will assume success as a result.

Invest Your Talents!!

Thanks KT for the great word last night, and the inspiration for my message below.

I'm the worst about identifying my weaknesses, and focusing on improving upon those.  That's not a bad thing, and I don't want to stop that.  But, that has a tendency to get more of my attention than actually investing the strengths and talents that I've been given.  That's a problem.

We have all been blessed with skills, talents, gifts, strengths...........and we need to invest those into our people and places of influence.  Our families, friends, networks, and companies need what we have to offer.  When you contribute your talents, you will improve the people and environment around you.........and build you own confidence at the same time.  Success breeds success, not only person to person, but also within yourself.

Spend, invest, contribute..........steward your talents, and EVERYONE will benefit greatly.

Keep Pushing

Our world is full of distractions that can lead to wasted time, frustration, and discouragement.  Obstacles present themselves which turn easy-to-accomplish objectives into something much bigger than you planned for.  Challenges come up that seem impossible to overcome, that will bring your progress to a halt altogether.  Negativity surrounds that turn small tasks into uphill battles.  The enemy will continue to try to knock you off of your game, they win when you give up.

Keep pushing.  That's the only answer.  You've established balance, you believe, and you have established unified support...........now push.  Don't let the distractions take a stronghold on you.  Don't let the obstacles, challenges, or negativity get you off track.  Evaluate progress in comparison to the big picture regularly, so that you can redirect and adjust as necessary.  But don't let up while doing so.

If the strategy has been planned, deviations and doubt do little good anyways.  You'll slide off track, make a bad decision..........no big deal.  Keep pushing through, it's the only way you'll find victory.

Unity

Perhaps the most under utilized and under appreciated factor of them all.  Without unity you have division.  Without unity, you are alone.......working toward your objectives, with your power, your resources, and your intelligence. The importance of unity is often forgotten, but it is not a new or revolutionary concept.  There are 10+ versus in the Bible discussing unity and division, obviously it's at the foundation of success.

Unity is a must while overcoming overwhelmed.  To get through the thick of it......you must share a vision, share an objective, have a helping hand to ask for, have an empathetic person to talk to, have a mentor to bounce ideas off of, have a friend to laugh with, and have a belief system to fuel your progression.  Without these things, you are counting on you...........and you may be the reason that you're in a state of overwhelmed to begin with.  We all need the support, the encouragement, and the affirmation.  We all need the unity of those around us, both inside and outside the workplace.  Without unity, we are setting ourself up for failure.

Surround yourself with a united front, and cherish that unity.

And Now - Belief

There are entire books written about belief pertaining to your career, and a book itself cannot even cover the full impact that it has on your success.  So - I'm only touching here on the impact that belief can have on overcoming overwhelmed.

We always wonder, we always dream, we always fear, we always imagine.  As you enter a state of overwhelmed, the fear will begin to take over the dreams and imaginations.........and soon you will be imagining the worst outcome, expecting to lose, and predicting to fail.  Everything turns into worst case, bad timing, poor luck, why me, what now, and what if.  Unless you believe.  If you believe in where you're headed, if you believe you're doing the right thing, if you believe in your mission..........you will fend off the fear and expect to succeed.  Belief will get you through overwhelmed.  Belief will make overwhelmed look like confidence.  Belief will make others want to be overwhelmed with whatever your overwhelmed with.  And when you believe, others will believe.

2 of the steps to overcome overwhelmed - Balance your YOU so that you are 100% real, and then use your passion to follow what you believe in.  Others will run to follow.

Overcoming Overwhelmed

It's been over a year since I last posted..........  And, the timing is now perfect.  My mind is right.  A clear mind to to encourage, to strategize, to share, to learn, to lead, and to follow.  In my last post "The State of Overwhelmed" I was entering the early phases of a season in my career (and life) that made these things blurry.  Thank you to my accountability partner Double-O for encouraging me to get back to the blog, I appreciate you.

Balance, Belief, & Unity - these are three areas (among others) that we must keep an eye on, and keep fine-tuned to manage and persevere through Overwhelmed.  For the sake of keeping this a short read, I'll only talk about balance here, and follow-up posts about belief and unity.

It's very cliche, but we must balance life and career...........but take it further.  Yes, balance the time and priority placed among the two.  But how about merging your person, personality, and values of "life" into your career?  One of the things that prohibits balance is we have trouble being our real self in the work place.  Of course I'm talking about our real self in a dressed up, professional, best manners version........but still real.  We train ourself that to balance means that we have to flip a switch from hard-charging sales guy to family man (or whatever fits you)...........switching from persona to persona. With this, balance means a major shift.  If we train ourselves to be real always, then the only switch we should flip during certain hours is our cell phone on and off..........period.  I'm learning, and on days that I succeed.........it's liberating.  I realize how exhausting changing personas can be.  The next step to that is that you'll realize that people want to do business with "real" people anyway..........and that you may have been limiting yourself in both roles all along.  This isn't a blog to focus on personal life, but it's amazing the positive impact that comes along outside of career from this merging of career and life.

Think about it.  Visualize it.  Practice it.  Merge YOU in life and career.