Taking Care of Yourself is Good
Business
Appeared in Selling, April 2001
As your selling year unfolds, are you reminiscing about last year’s
performance? What you fondly remember are the great
successes and the feelings of accomplishment. As you
bask in the glow of your sales achievements, you're probably wishing for
more continued success. You're probably not wishing for more time so you
can spend it working. Your choice in scheduling your
time is key to making those successes continue. Here
are some thoughts about how we allocate our time for selling.
Your time has come Some salespeople make decisions about working
without thinking about the person doing the work. We
schedule all of our time for customers, managers, peers and
subordinates. Everyone except us seems to earn a piece
of our time. We should schedule time for our joy and
relaxation, too. Since you work hard, you should reward
yourself, too.
Ask yourself what do you really enjoy? Is it reading, sports,
hobbies, exercise, or something unique to you? Whatever
it is you must make the time to do it. We somehow always make time for the
events on our calendars. So schedule the activities
that bring you joy in your calendar. When you schedule
them, you’ll have to complete them. You should expect
to reduce your stress as the activities that delight you provide a
refreshing change from the challenges of
selling.
Start small If you say you don’t have the time, you must
schedule the time. A few years ago I found my work
consuming my life. I realized the one activity that
gave me joy was absent from my life. I used to read a
variety of books for pleasure, but I couldn’t even remember the last book
I read.
My goal became to read at least 15 minutes each day. Incorporating a small amount of time into my schedule was
easy. I found time when I waited for customers, family,
waiters and before bed. Reading then became a
habit. At that point, finding more time in my schedule
to do even more reading became much easier. Researchers
say a behavior takes approximately 21 days to become a habit. Give yourself the time to let your favorite activity become a habit
in your life.
All work with no time for personal joy is called not having a
life. Nourish your brain, and your soul. As you treat yourself, you may find yourself smiling more or at
least having something to smile about. Think of your
choices as your reward for all the great things you do and the fuel for
future accomplishments.
Change your vocabulary If you prevent schedule overload you are able
to make more time for yourself. Learn to say no. Others
can make requests of you that you should not agree to do. Learn to separate what you should do for customers, managers and
others and what you can say no to. If you have some
projects that are taking more than enough of your time, be prepared to
tell your boss if he asks you to add an additional assignment. Ask if someone else could undertake the project until your
commitments end. And with all assignments, ask for help
when you need it.
To be successful in selling we focus on others. Our success depends on others. Yet we’re less valuable to others
when we’re exhausted, stressed and ill tempered. We are
the only ones responsible for taking care of our business. We are also our
own customers. When we always put others first, we will
always be last. As you set your selling goals this
year, include some time for yourself. It’s later than
you think and the year is going by faster than you think.
Taking care of
yourself is good business appeared in Selling in the
April 2001 issue.
..................................................................................
Maura
Schreier-Fleming is President of Best@Selling (www. BestatSelling.com).
She works with technical sales professionals and business professionals on
skills and strategies so they can sell more and be more productive at
work. Her column 'Selling Strategies' appears in The
Insurance
Record.
(c) Copyright 2004 Maura
Schreier-Fleming. All rights
reserved. |
