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Commitment to Success... Does Your Crew
Have What it Takes? Do You?
What is lacking for most
salespeople and business people is the commitment to do
whatever it takes to succeed. All too often I see sales people
that expect success to come to them and yet they lack the
commitment to make it happen. Commitment is defined by
Webster's as "put in custody, do, pledge, bind."
How many of us really have the commitment as defined by Webster's to make
things happen in our lives? How many of us really "put in
custody, do, pledge and bind" to the things in our lives?
I can remember a time in my life when I would not want to face what was
really challenging. I remember wanting something easier. I was
younger and immature. There was an underlying sense of
entitlement. "Give it to me now and make it easy," was an
attitude that was childish, like the small child throwing a
fit if he or she could not have that toy or candy now, right
now.
Now I find that "nothing worthwhile in life is gained by
avoiding what is uncomfortable initially."
The longer is takes to get a new client, the better they turn out to be in the long run. The
more challenging situations give me greater satisfaction and a
feeling of accomplishment. I am grateful for the "resistance"
in my life.
What about your staff? What about you?
Can you think of someone right now who expects things to be easy and is disappointed if
things don't come to them "now, right now?"
Are you hiring sales people or employees who jump from company to company and expecting
them to be committed to your company? Are you challenging your
staff and they resist? Are you upset that what you want to
achieve is not happening faster, easier?
Be grateful for the challenges, embrace them. Use them to motivate yourself to achieve what
was "unthinkable" for you in the past. Encourage and coach
your staff to use challenges in the same way. Be excited if
things are challenging. Focus on the solutions and not the
problems. What you focus on expands.
If someone gave you everything in your life, would you really be satisfied? Would you really
appreciate all that you have now if it was all given to you?
Challenges stretch our abilities. They serve us by helping us
achieve new heights. Challenges give us the sense of
accomplishment and fulfillment. As we look back, we feel
gratified that "we did it." Are you committed to do what it
takes or looking to leave a difficult or challenging
situation? Are you dealing with the people and things that
make you uncomfortable?
Commitment means staying with it no matter what. Would you move an apple tree every two or
three years to a new spot in your yard? No you would not. Why?
Because you know that moving it, uprooting it every two or
three years would mean no harvest, or at least not an abundant
one.
The same is true for humans. If we move from job to job or avoid uncomfortable situations by
ignoring them or in general, "uproot" ourselves from
challenges, we too will not have an abundant harvest in our
lives.
Imagine what the Olympics would look like if we lowered the bar in the high jump after each
jumper missed a record? What would the pole vault look like?
Imagine if we shortened the long distance races? What if we
gave each batter in baseball six or seven strikes after they
struggled awhile? Would we be watching sports at all without
the challenge?
Didn't we stop pitching underhand
to you in the first grade? Where are you lowering the bar?
Where are you expecting six or seven strikes?
Lead by embracing challenges. Look for how you can be stretched. Teach your staff to be
excited by the challenges at the company and in their lives.
What challenges are now asking you to grow? What situations need addressing now, that you
have been putting off because they are uncomfortable?
It's up to you.
Lower the bar or go for the record.
Which one sounds like more fun?
Gratefully yours,
Steve
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