4 Amazing Truths About Facing Sales Adversity
Years ago, my mentor Steve Welch gave me this advice:
“Taft, you will always be in one of three phases. You will be dealing with a problem, you will have just finished with one, or a new problem will be on its way to see you very soon.”
Not your typical self-help “you can do it” advice, huh? Yet it was true. It’s called life.
As a sales professional, you get paid to deal with adversity. The better you are at it, the more people you will help and, in turn, the more commission you will earn.
All of that being said, adversity isn’t exactly fun. We all wish life was filled with easy solutions, right?
As my former mentor said, life is filled with adversity. With that backdrop, here are four thoughts to help you with adversity in sales and in your life.
Amazing Truth #1: Adversity is totally natural – I once heard that life would be perfect if people weren’t involved. Well, there is one way for you to avoid adversity and that is to do nothing.
Adversity is actually 100 percent natural. Think back in your life to any time you were learning something new or reaching for a new goal.
Maybe you were looking to lose weight or start a new company. As you think back to those times, you will remember the obstacles that popped up almost instantly.
The minute you set out to lose weight, someone brings home a cake. When you make the decision to start a new company, someone threatened to sue you for the company name you chose.
Maybe you’ve heard the phrase, “The higher the levels, the higher the devils”? That phrase is referring to adversity. This was meant to happen. Wait, really? Yes, really. It’s a test.
Adversity is in your life to see if you are worthy of the goal you are going after.
Amazing Truth #2: What you focus on expands – In my seminars I share how race car-driving students learn to look towards the track and not towards the wall when they are spinning out and facing a crash. Why?
Because you move in the direction of your focus.
When adversity pops up in your life, stay focused on where you want to go rather than the obstacle in front of you. I know that sounds easier said than done and it takes discipline to not become obsessed with your adversity.
Trust me… keep your eyes on the prize.
Amazing Truth #3: You need to plan for adversity – You may have heard the phrase “Proper Planning Produces Peak Performance” before. It’s true.
Spend time thinking about the obstacles that could potentially pop up and preemptively determine how you are going to handle them when they do.
Take the cake example from above. How will you ensure that you don’t eat the cake when it shows up in front of you?
Maybe you write a $1,000 check to someone and tell him or her that if you eat the cake, they can have the money. That might cause you to hesitate!
You get the idea. Have a plan.
Amazing Truth #4: Adversity is a phenomenal learning tool – Have you ever met someone who just seems to have wisdom? I don’t just mean smart. I mean Yoda-style wisdom.
The people who have wisdom tend to be a little bit older. Do you know why? Because they have dealt with more obstacles and learned from them. In fact, the more obstacles they have dealt with, the more wisdom they have.
Start to look at obstacles and adversity as the best learning you will ever receive. Start to journal how you dealt with your adversity. Did it work? What could you have done differently?
One day you will wake up and someone will be looking to you for your wisdom.
Perhaps you have additional thoughts on how to deal with adversity. I would love to hear them. My twitter handle is @RyanGTaft.
Remember that no matter what you are dealing with, this too shall pass.
