After graduating from USAFA in May 1992, the Air Force sent me to Texas A&M to study meteorology.
For my 23rd birthday the following April, my dad bought me golf lessons (and an addict was born!)
I was single, had time, had money, and I was—and still am—competitive.
I swung that club until my hands were calloused, my neck was red(er), and my heels were blistered from walking the TAMU golf course in 104-degree heat playing 2, 3 even 4 balls because I was the only one on the course.
With a lot of lessons, a lot of playing time, and sheer force of will, I improved rather quickly.
While visiting my Dad in Jacksonville, FL, before being shipped off to Osan, South Korea, I took another golf lesson where the pro videotaped me.
There I was in all my hunched over, head-swaying, outside-in, slicing glory for the pro to show "my angles, my planes, my grip and my pains."
He drew on the screen with boxes around my head, "Vs" on my arms, and lines on my hips, and you know what happened?
I got better.
I got A LOT better.
I got a lot better FASTER than ever!
And I only took about five swings in that lesson!
The key was not getting in a lot of swings.
The key was seeing what a perfect swing would look like, then practicing that.
The same thing happened with my prospecting and selling abilities when I recorded my phone calls and had my sales coach dissect my calls.
Reviewing both the golf videos and sales calls with an expert felt weird...awkward...even embarrassing.
But I wanted to excel at golf—and I wanted to excel at sales—so I made myself vulnerable.
Who's recording and analyzing your efforts to become excellent?
Market like you mean it.
Now go sell something.