Why "Stop It" Is the Solution You Are Looking For

There is a great sketch from Mad TV where Bob Newhart is a psychologist who works for $5. His method of treating his clients is to hear what they have as problems and then offer his advice to “stop it” in order to fix their own problems.

It seems so simple. How different would your life be today if you just stopped your bad habits, bad decisions, and bad actions? Such simple advice to receive, not so simple to implement.

The problem that we have as adults is that, most of the time we repeat wrong or incorrect actions even though we don’t like the result. We continuously find ourselves back in the same situations we hate to be in - effectively because we are acting like we always act.

  • We are really nice to a prospect. We hear their problem and offer a solution. We lose to someone whom we find out later got the business by completely disagreeing with the prospect on what their problem was.
  • We give free advice on how to fix a problem. We lose business to someone who refused to tell the prospect how to fix their problems unless they were being paid for their advice.
  • We follow a prospect’s rigid buying process exactly. We lose to someone who went around the process and met with the decision maker directly.

And then, the situations come up again, and we do it the same way.

“Stop it.”

Your way isn’t working, so stop doing it that way. If you don’t like the result you are getting, usually the opposite action is the right one. The problem is that the right way doesn’t always seem right so it is hard making the adjustment.

It’s your choice.

Brian Kavicky

Connect with Brian Kavicky

For 25 years, Lushin has guided business leaders toward intentional, predictable growth.

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