We want things to be different for ourselves. We want to master our profession. We want to become the world’s greatest salesperson. We want to be a basketball star. We want a zero handicap. We want to be better human beings.
So we go to the world for knowledge, training, and mentoring. There will never be a shortage of self-help resources. There are plenty of golf instructors. Mentors, who normally work with go-getters, are not hard to find. There are plenty of online resources for you to read, explore, and even purchase. There are excellent sales trainers on the website that this blog was published on.
So why is it that all of us are not as successful as we want to be? Why are we not hitting all of our goals? Why are we not the sales pros we want to be?
I believe it comes down to a lack of guts.
Watching March Madness this year, I am reminded of a human behavior that I witness each year. It is so obvious that it jumps out at me during close games. The final shot in the last few seconds of the game is normally drawn up on the sidelines. That ball is likely going to the best player on the team - and they know it. I have never seen a player mouth the words, “No way, I am not taking responsibility for the win or loss!” In fact, that player does everything they can to get open and make the shot. They are begging for the opportunity.
When was the last time you begged for a phone because your phone was dead and you needed to find the next customer? When was the last time that you were excited about a sales meeting because you knew, no matter what, you would win the sale? How do you answer the question, "Do you want me to run this sales meeting or do you want to do it?"
The knowledge is out there so that we can learn to build the skills. Guts is the fuel that makes us learn and apply the knowledge to develop and sharpen those skills. Guts is the fuel that helps push us through the discomfort of applying our skills for the very first time.
Having guts is the difference maker. It is a 5-second decision that can make or break your success.
