Brent Widman, Author at Brent Widman - Southwestern Consulting

Discipline

This is a big one.

Discipline is what drives us. This is what keeps us doing the things that are going to make us successful. We don’t overthink it, we just do. This is the thing that gets us out of bed. We go for it every day, even if there’s times we don’t want to. This is what sets us apart from those around us.

There’s no one person that’s better than the next. The question is, what the disciplined people do that sets us apart from the rest?

We have a plan

We know what our day is going to look like. We know that we may not feel like it. We know the power of positive self-talk. We know the power of activity. We know the control it takes to get in the right state of mind.

We just do

Don’t overthink things. There’s 2 types of people. The one’s that you tell to run through the wall. We do it. We figure it out later. Then there’s the one’s that will think about how tall that wall is. What is that wall made of. What’s behind that wall? What’s on top of that wall? Will the wall fall? What will happen to the wall? Which one are you?

We have patterns and habits

It’s not monotonous, it’s what gets us there. What time do we get up, shower, eat, brush our teeth, take the kids to school/daycare, do our admin work, sit down to work, plan our day, hour by hour, work out, work on files, do meetings… and the list just keeps going. We have habits that we do, habits that we don’t have to think, we just know exactly what we need to do and we do it

We enjoy it

We are convicted, TRULY convicted in what we do. We know we are leaving people better off even if they say no. We know we are adding value. We make them better. We love what we do. We have built it with our bare hands. We know how hard we work.

We work

We don’t do laundry, watch TV, surf the internet, hanging out at lunch for 3 hours, or talking in someone’s office for 45 minutes. Friday afternoon is no different than Monday morning. We have a start time and an end time. We know how the day is going to go and we get after it. We do the things many others don’t like to do, which is why they are wasting time.

Discipline is an art form. It can be taught. It must be something that you practice every day. Something that we continuously work on and make better. Discipline is what keeps driving us.

Commitment is doing what you said you would, long after the mood you said it in has left.

If you are in sales, you are a salesperson. That’s not a bad word, a dirty word, or even wrong; it’s one of the best professions you can be in. Now, you may not have grown up thinking…. I’m going to be in insurance sales, car sales, a Loan Officer or even a Real Estate Agent. Guess what? You are, and now is the time to embrace it.

I remember when I got my first job in sales. It was at Life Time Fitness. My boss at the time (one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met) sat me down and said “call all these people,” and handed me a stack of papers. He didn’t know the impact that would have on me. I haven’t stopped dialing.

Except for that one time…

I fought being a sales person. I took a job as a Sales Director, telling myself I wouldn’t have to make calls anymore! Yes! I couldn’t accept being a sales person. I couldn’t accept that I needed to put in activity each and every day with no excuses. It hit me, and you know why it hit me? I stopped doing the activity. My business suffered. My income suffered. My mentality suffered. I realized it was time to accept it.

That’s what I did.

I embraced it. Every facet of it. I embraced the phone calls. The days you look forward to it and the days you don’t. I embraced the way people put you off. The way they just say no. The awkward first call when you just don’t have it that day. I embraced the meetings when people want to see you in person, even though neither one of you need it. I embraced sales people before me giving what I do a bad name. Having to overcome the objections we hear time and time again. I embraced all the rejection. I embraced constantly thinking about my numbers and my goals knowing some days would be harder than others. I embraced it.

You know why I embraced it? Because I love every second of it.

When you embrace it, you will want to help people. You will want to make those calls, set those appointments, get past that fear and have that confidence. That phone won’t seem like it weighs 5,000 pounds. Tell people you are in sales! Tell people you are good at it. If you aren’t good at it, get better. If you ARE good at it, get better.

We are in the #1 profession in the world where we can make an unlimited amount of money and help an unlimited amount of people if we just put the time and effort into it. There’s no degree, no college and no class in high school. You have to work at it.

If you are reading this right now, smile, sit back in your chair and understand that you have something to offer. Understand that when you work at it, it only gets better. When you find a mentor, coach, seminar, books, CD’s, DVD’s, videos, podcasts or anything else you can do to make yourself better… you will be better. You will be less stressed, home on time and happier in life. When you love what you do it loves you back.

Start drinking the Kool-Aid from the fire hose! Be a SALES PERSON. Embrace it.