Positive Mental Imagery and Visualisation seem to be the current recurring buzzwords in personal and business development. Both of these things are, of course, important when it comes to succeeding in business. If you can’t imagine where you’re heading or you don’t have a goal, and if you approach everything with a negative attitude, you probably won’t get very far very fast.
A lot of people who subscribe to these teachings however are falling short of their goals – and there is usually one reason for that.
Lack of positive action.
Visualisation and a PMA are not magic bullets for success. You can have the clearest dreams and be convinced you’ll achieve them, but if you don’t take consistent action in your business, you will fall short.
I often recommend the global best seller book “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson. Which talks about simple productive actions, repeated consistently over time, culminate to big results.
I get it, small actions are no way near as exciting as big goals, and when business is going well and we become busy, it’s easy to become complacent and drop the business development activity.
I’m frequently asked what the most important thing to achieve in sales is and the answer for me is always consistency. Working in sales can be a roller coaster of highs and lows until you can find consistency in your activity and therefore your results.
Procrastination is the obvious enemy of the sales person or business owner, but there’s a lot of focus from “business experts” on how you should “remove any tasks that don’t make you money. Although these small actions might not make you money immediately, they could earn you lots in the long run.
For example, spend 15 minutes a day on LinkedIn, connecting, growing your network and leaving interesting comments, and by the end of the month that’s 5 hours of additional networking you’ve done – and surely in 5 hours you will have made some worthwhile business connections.
Often we put off the ‘scary’ actions, such as follow-up calls (scary for other people, not for me, I love them!) But imagine you make just one follow up call a week – not only is that 52 a year (and surely you’re going to get business out of at least some of them) – but after the first 2 or 3 you’ll realise they actually aren’t something to be afraid of. That consistent action has just removed a fear as well as been profitable!
Plus, consistent action means continual improvement. Imagine how much you could improve at something, say closing sales meetings, if you kept working on them for months!
And don’t worry about taking the “wrong” action. The sooner you do it, the sooner you’ll realise whether it works for your business. Better to realise something isn’t quite right, tweak and pivot, and find the right way of doing it, than to do nothing at all and stay at square one.
Yes, being consistent is difficult. You’re not the only one who suffers from procrastination, but you are the only one who can make the decision to improve your life and business.
‘The Slight Edge’ reminds us of Aesop’s fable of the race between the tortoise and the hare, where the tortoise is consistent and dedicated and ultimately ‘slow and steady wins the race’
Do remember visualisation and a positive mental attitude is important. Keep that end goal in sight, but also keep in mind it’s the small steps of positive ACTION that will get you there.
If you’d like some help with improving the actions and consistency you can take to grow your sales give me a call on 01827 243203
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