Words of wisdom for this week.
“If I fail it will be for lack of ability and not of purpose.”
– Lincoln
Loss of purpose in sales is akin to a loss of faith or patience in your ability to perform effectively and successfully. It is a feeling that no matter what you do it will not be good enough or soon enough. It is nagging question that keep popping into your consciousness that screams:
- What are you going to do with the rest of your life?
- What are you doing with your life now?
- Why aren’t you further ahead in your career?
- Why haven’t you accomplished or sold more?
- How can you sell more faster and easier?
These are not necessarily negative questions. They can be valuable on your journey to becoming a better you in every area of your life. However, if you keep focusing on what is missing or wrong rather than what you have or is right you may miss out on a great deal of personal satisfaction, inner peace, self-acceptance and feelings of positive worth no matter how much you sell or how good you become.
Purpose is the single most important motivator in a salesperson’s life. It keeps him/her keeping on when all around them is caving in before their eyes – a time when nothing seems to work. When people have abandoned you and life seems to have forgotten that you exist.
There is no easy way to regain your purpose. It is a function of many elements such as: will, desire, resolve, faith and trust. The way to discover or re-discover your purpose takes time, effort, passion, patience, contemplation, self-evaluation and commitment. These traits are not inborn or easily acquired, but in the end once you own them there is nothing that can stand in your way as you move into the rest of your sales career and life.
The first step in discovering (or re-discovering) your purpose is to find what you love, what you are passionate about and why you are in a sales career in the first place. Most people live lives always hoping for something better, but they refuse or don’t know how to do the work on themselves necessary to discover their purpose. I didn’t discover mine until my late 30’s after devouring dozens of sales and self-help books and contemplating hundreds of questions. Finally, it came to me after more hours than I care to admit in laborious and often difficult self-appraisal – ‘I want to help people with what I have learned on my life’s journey.’ This led to my speaking and training and eventually my writing.
This journey of self-discovery won’t be easy, but it will be worth the effort, in the long term, believe me.