Lessons From a Crazy Week

Good morning!

I am creatively spent.

It is Monday morning. I’ve spent the past three days cleaning out my wife’s childhood home. Her stepfather passed away and we put in easily 30 hours of labor each between Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Allison and I are physically and emotionally and therefore creatively exhausted. And, as anyone who has settled an estate will tell you, we have a long way to go.

To get through this chaos, I’ve spent a lot of time recounting and following my own advice. Yes, I practice what I preach:

• First, everything is temporary. In a tip earlier this fall, I talked about a cycling fundraiser across Massachusetts called the PanMass challenge and described the strategy I used for making it to the top of some seemingly unreachable hills: Like an incline has an end, it’s important to remember every part of sales is finite. Both the high highs and the low lows have an end point. Getting through your worst and most challenging days requires keeping that in mind. This, too, shall pass.
• Second, during times of chaos, you need to hyper focus on the fundamentals of time management. You also need to say, “no” a lot and make hard choices. Continually ask yourself, “What is the best use of my time right now?” As I proved to myself last week, it’s not always business.
• Next, be appreciative. The best salespeople I know work well in a crazy-busy environment. We check boxes and move onto the next task almost without emotion. It is essential to not just blaze through the to-do list but to demonstrate gratitude and compassion whenever possible. Remember, everyone is going through something.
• And don’t forget to stay organized. I am a list maker. One key part of making the best use of your time is to know what’s most important in the various parts of your business and personal life. When everything hits you at once, you will feel overwhelmed. The way out starts with a pad of paper and a pen, some quiet time, and a list. Then, at the end of the day, do it again and re-prioritize.
• Finally, find time to sell regardless of how busy you are or what else is going on in your life. This one, I can honestly say I didn’t achieve very well. I got out a couple of time-sensitive proposals but following up on people who had expressed interest in The Sales Vault didn’t happen.

The last lesson of mine that I would follow is to remember that every day starts with the reset button and every day gives us a new opportunity to get it right.

Or at least try.

Friends, Allison and I along with all the FarkaBerrys (Kati, Bryan, Emma, Alex, Madeline, Ollie, Chandler, Linnea, Georgia, Jillian, and our beautiful grandson, Mason), we wish you a very merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays.

Have a great selling week and I will be back next Monday to wrap up the year.

Start your 2022 with sales momentum. Check out the list of upcoming workshops in The Sales Vault. See one you like and want to join in? Send me an email: bill@aspirefor.com or call 781-934-7036