Staying Positive in a Negative World
I received an e-mail this week from a veteran sales pro; I suspect it might ask the question that is front and center in the minds of sales professionals across the country:
Dear Jeff,
How are you able to keep your positive perspective on life/sales in an industry that can jade someone so quickly? The job itself is taxing for sure, but lately it’s other Sales Counselors or managers that just disappoint me. Whether it’s lack of work ethic on a daily basis or lack of leadership, it’s disappointing.
How do you face that, accept it, and move on in a positive way?
These are important questions. And by that I mean BIG-TIME important. Your attitude affects every aspect of your success, in sales and in life. Building and maintaining a positive perspective is critical to your effectiveness.
I don’t pretend for a moment to have all the answers, of course. And I have no interest in providing pithy, one-size-fits-all formulas. But since the question is asked directly of me, I will share what I do to maintain my own positive attitude. To do so, I will focus on three truths that shape my approach to life (and, as an extension, to my business life).
First (and definitely foremost), my mindset and attitude are always consistent with the strength of my spiritual life. When I am close to God I am more positive, patient, and generally possessive of a good attitude, even in trials. When I feel distant from God quite the opposite is true. We must connect, I believe, to principles and ideals that are bigger than ourselves. Otherwise we become self-absorbed with “feeling good”.
Second, I try to work in energy spurts. I engage and I disengage. I have healthy non-work diversions that fuel my energy for the next work battle. That means I exercise, I read constantly, I play the piano (and, more recently, I dance!). The key is that I do things with a focused purpose. I actively engage in non-work activities as a way to be better prepared to fully engage when I am back at the grind.
Finally, I have people in my life who keep me positive and I surround myself with such people. How can you not spend time with Cassandra Grauer, or Jim Suth, or JoAnne Williams, or Jim Adams or countless others without their positive energy being transferred back to me. This doesn’t mean that I avoid negative people; that is often out of my control. But I re-fuel with positive people.
I don’t know if any of that helped, but here is an overriding principle to consider: my positive attitude is both purposeful and active. I don’t wait to feel good – that is a decision that I drive with my own actions.
Victor Frankl once wrote that, “Everything else can be taken from a man except for the last of the human freedom’s – the ability to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”
Well said!
