One of the best business books of the 20 th century was called “Learned Optimism” by Dr.
The problem is, of course, actually doing it. Solomon, writing centuries before Christ, said “As a man thinks in heart, so is he.” The Apostle Paul wrote, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The relationship between thoughts, actions, and results has been recognized probably since the dawn of mankind. There certainly is nothing new about that observation. Probably the greatest principle of self-improvement is this: You can choose your thoughts. To manage ourselves effectively, all we must do is control our thoughts. It sounds so simple, and in one sense, it is. So, every salesperson has to formulate an effective answer to the question, “How do you get yourself back up when you are down?” But, on a day-to-day basis, the impact of being “down” can be lethal to your success. In my case, it took the intervention of a wise sales manager to lift me out of my depression and get me back to work.īut not everyone has that option. I became so depressed that I couldn’t leave the house.
It doesn’t take long to become almost paralyzed. Since I wasn’t as active, I didn’t create much new activity. Since I was depressed, I wasn’t nearly as active as I had been. Since I didn’t have as much to do, I became depressed. You know, there is a cycle to depression. It was just a lull in the usual feverish level of activity to which I was accustomed. In one of my sales jobs, I encountered a slow-down in the number of projects I had going. But, I have the tendency, when things aren’t going my way, to become depressed. I know about this because I am given to depression. If you have a positive attitude, an optimistic mindset, and are “up” emotionally, all these decisions are a lot easier to make than if you are dragging around in a state of depression. Least for a while, until someone catches up with you. And you have the option of taking a two-hour lunch and being done at 3 PM. Thus, you have the option of not being at your first call at 8:00 if you choose not to be there. This is not so in sales, where all these decisions are yours to make. In most other jobs, you know what to do, where to go, and when to do it. The depth of this challenge is unique to the profession of sales. Managing yourself is the first challenge. You won’t have the energy to apply yourself. If you are depressed and listless, it doesn’t matter how good your selling skills are. It’s one thing to focus on closing the sale and presenting to a sufficient number of prospects and other such tasks, but the real heart of the issue is managing yourself so that you can do these things effectively on a regular basis. I’ve often thought that this is one of those fundamental challenges for a salesperson. His real question is one every salesperson must confront and successfully resolve: How do I manage myself to keep The swings from up to down were wearing on him. When things go well, he’s up, emotionally, and when things don’t go well, he’s down. I’ve been pondering an email I recently received a young salesperson described his most pressing challenge: The sales roller coaster.
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