On your journey to achieve your aggressive sales goals—or any goal, for that matter— when you're in your respective
valleys that life will throw at you more often than you think it should, it's good to keep in mind what it really takes to reach the pinnacle of success.
If you'd like to get to 29,028 feet you can do one of two things:
... along with 154 other flip-flop-wearing, over-worked, under-focused, non-journey-enjoying travelers who are either temporarily going where they want to go or temporarily escaping their life of drudgery as part of the Mediocre Majority.
OR...
(And you thought calling on some grumpy prospects was hard! HRUMPH! What time did you get up today?)
Your climb to the top requires, necessitates and demands "base camps," ledges, plateaus to help you catch your breath and examine your situation and build strength for the effort you must exert to reach the next level.
If you go too quickly your body will not acclimate and you will pass out or get sick and be forced to go down one or more levels.
If you go too slowly you'll run out of supplies and/or money.
My own personal mountain since January 2017 has been Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
At my school on the wall is the poster shown below.
I literally took the picture the first day I visited the school because it resonated with me.
After a couple of years the lessons are really sinking in and they have made me a better salesperson, entrepreneur, father, athlete, and human being.
It took me about 18 months to really accept that there are no failures, only victories or lessons learned.
I doubt I could've learned that on my own.
Every day I get to learn from about a dozen different athletes one-on-one.
Everyone is giving of their time and expertise. No one keeps secrets from anyone else. If you have a question about a tactic or strategy, all share freely.
This includes learning from those below me, some of whom are actually more technical and advanced due to military or police training they receive outside of our school, they just happen to be a lower rank than me in our own dojo.
Younger, smaller, and less-experienced athletes have all forced me to tap many times.
It used to upset me.
Now I learn from it.
It's humbling.
It's good for my soul.
What's your base camp today?
Do you view a lost sale or missed appointment or failure to get a promotion as a setback, as a failure, or a place of peace and planning and preparation and excitement and opportunity? (No, I'm not crazy and I don't seek losses, but I do accept them much better now. It's quite freeing.)
Any fool that's collected aluminum cans for a couple of weeks can afford a $99 ticket to get a Coke™ and a smile and some honey roasted peanuts while perusing the "Sky Mall" magazine at 29,028 feet.
Real adventurers take the "road less travelled," and see the jagged edges and plateaus as toeholds and places of rejuvenation.
But they always have a sherpa to guide them.
How high do you want to go...and do you have a sherpa to assist you?