Today's Reading
PART ONE
MINDSET
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION TO MINDSET
You might be champing at the bit to dive into the details of what to say to prospects so you can close more sales. We're going to cover all of that, but first we have to address the super-important subject of mindset.
If the word mindset sounds too woo-woo for you, just think of it as the unspoken thoughts rattling around inside your head. I know you have those, because we all do. Whether you realize it or not, you have stories that you silently tell yourself about your strengths and weaknesses, your past performance, your future goals and expectations, your prospects and customers, and what defines success, mediocrity, and failure. Those statements and stories are always there, whether you notice them or not.
This really matters because, as Brian Tracy put it, "Sales success is 80 percent attitude and only 20 percent aptitude." Your subconscious attitude might be telling you that you're the best salesperson in the world, or a total loser, or somewhere in between—and you will act accordingly. Once you accept that 80 percent of your results flow from unspoken or even unnoticed beliefs, you'd better get really freaking good at shaping those beliefs.
In this section we will go beyond the usual rah-rah motivational sayings, to help you adopt the full mindset of a high-performing sales carnivore. You'll get a lot more clarity about your goals, your perceptions of what you can (and can't) accomplish, and your attitudes about competition, rejection, and much more.
Success has to start in your head before it can be manifested in reality. So let's change the stories you tell yourself, which will change your state of mind, which will then change your results. I've seen this happen in my own life and career, a story I told in depth in my previous book, The Self Xperience.
My view of success has been shaped by four simple but universal laws that smart people have been noticing for centuries.
The first is the law of attraction, also known as manifestation, which some dismiss as a superstition. But it's really human psychology, not anything supernatural. If you want to see real progress in your results, you have to set explicit goals and remind yourself of those goals every day. Become obsessed with your goals, whether that's hitting a certain income level, improving your closing ratio, or something else. Visualize in your mind's eye what your life will look like once you get there.
One effective tactic is to let yourself feel like you've already achieved those goals, by writing affirmations in the present or past tense, not the future (for example, "I made $100,000" rather than "I will make $100,000"). If you repeat such affirmations daily, you will subconsciously begin to do the action steps that will drive the success you seek. As the saying goes, sometimes you have to see it to believe it, but sometimes you have to believe it before you can see it.
The second law is the law of gravity. When Isaac Newton saw an apple fall from a tree in 1666, he realized that an invisible force is pulling everything downward. Gravity is neither good nor bad; it's just reality. When that apple hit the ground, that was where it was supposed to be at that moment. You, too, are wherever you're supposed to be at this point in your journey—so there's no need to be discouraged by your current status.
I look at this from a religious perspective, but even if you don't believe that God shapes our paths, the law of gravity still applies. We're all on a unique journey that may not make sense until we get near the end. Some of us have a rockier path, and some have a smoother path, but we're all doing our best against the gravity pulling us downward. Therefore we're all worthy of respect, no matter where we currently stand. Never trash-talk yourself by thinking something like I'm not worthy yet, but I will be after I hit my goals. That's not true! The mere act of living and pushing back against gravity makes you worthy.
The third law is one I made up, the law of GOYA. That's an acronym for GET OFF YOUR ASS. So many people think they can just think or meditate their way to success. But all of your thinking, including all the mindset tactics in this section of the book, needs to lead to action. Thinking without action won't help you.
When you embrace the law of attraction, the law of gravity, and the law of GOYA, they combine to drive the law of allowance: You will ultimately reap what you sow. When you project your goals into the world with intention, resist gravity without getting discouraged, and work hard, you will harvest good results, at the appropriate time during your unique journey.
If you have faith in these laws, take action to practice them, and stay patient, they will work their magic. The results you seek will start to follow.
...
