A friend of mine is a junior college and minor league baseball coach (he is a roaming hitting instructor during the summer for developing minor league players). His team is successful every year – every single year. One day, I decided to spend a half day with him to see how he ticks – what does he do that makes him so successful all the time? Although I learned several things, there was one habit that stuck out and that I took back to my office.
When his players step on the field, they have to run. There is no walking on his field. That’s the one cardinal rule. When I asked about it, he admitted that this rule doesn’t really do much to keep them in shape, but that’s not the purpose: “Look, these guys are in fantastic shape already – it’s got nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with discipline and attitude. As long as they develop that habit of discipline by running everywhere when they enter these gates, they’ll also be disciplined enough to lay off the high pitches or hit the cut-off man when it counts.”
On my drive home, I kept thinking about the one cardinal rule that I needed to help me become a better professional… and that’s when I started waking up on the first alarm without hesitation. I can’t hit the snooze button – my habit of the last two decades won’t let me. This is my one cardinal rule … no matter how tired I am, when the alarm sounds, I get up. From that moment and through the rest of the day, I’m in charge – not my impulses or desire for short term relief – me, my conscious self. It’s not an exaggeration to claim that this one habit has contributed greatly to my success.
Idea for this Tuesday: Define one cardinal rule for yourself.
Don’t worry if it is directly related to your sales activity or not – it simply has to be a habit that enables you to perform better in your selling career. The only rule is that it should be a daily habit. Maybe you close out your inbox before going to bed every day; maybe you make five cold calls every single day; or maybe you meditate for 20 minutes every morning. Think of one habit that will spill over into your sales performance, and then take action to make it a habit.
I’d love to hear some ideas in the comments, if you’d be kind enough to share.
