A Purposeful Manifesto Brings Meaning To Your Sales Life.

As we kick off our time together, just curious... How many of you are a having personal growth conversation with yourself?

Let's just call it, a series of honest and internal conversations sparking lasting and meaningful change.

Mitch Albom once said,

“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

What's your purpose?

What lights your fire, your internal spark?

What drives you to do what you do personally and professionally?

Eleanor Roosevelt once said,

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”

The choices you make today decide what happens in the future.

In this hyper competitive business world, what are you doing to rise to the occasion to change the course of your sales career? Or, on the flip side, are you allowing the circumstances in front of you to control your narrative?

I 100% believe a heartfelt, sincere sales professional leads their sales life through a manifesto. They have open, honest and personal development conversations with themselves.

Question for all of you... How do you bring meaning to your life? Whether this be personally or professionally, why do you get up in the morning to do what you do?

What truly matters to you?

Many of us talk about finding our purpose in life, however; how many of you are you building your purpose instead?

When you start building your purpose, you start building your way.

Unfortunately, a vast majority of today's society define success around money, power, cultural identification, beauty, love, and fame. Often, personal ethics and values often get left out of the equation, why is that?

With trustworthiness being questioned at rapid rates inside the sales world, a few questions for all of you to ponder...

How are you presenting yourself to the business world?

What truly matters to you?

A personal manifesto brings meaning, purpose and passion to your personal and professional life.

A MANIFESTO... WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

To quote, Charlotte Burgess-Auburn, the author of, You Need A Manifesto - How To Craft Your Convictions And Put Them To Work,

"Think of a manifesto as a compass to help navigate the turbulent world we live in."

Let's start off by gaining an understanding the word manifesto, which comes from the Latin word manifestus, meaning obvious.

Throughout history, manifestos have been particularly useful in getting large groups of people aligned around an idea so they can work together to accomplish a common goal.

Examples of manifesto's would be:

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech which casted vision of the world that he spent his life working to create.

The Declaration of Independence is an articulation of what the founders of the United States believed about humanity, and their intention to be free from outside rule.

A manifesto is a declaration of one’s beliefs, opinions, motives, and intentions. It's a document declaring what's important to someone. This serves as a statement of principles or even a call to action.

A manifesto may challenge assumptions, foster commitment, provoke change or may even challenge the status quo.

A manifesto is like a mirror, reminding you who you are when the time comes to act like it.

Why is this important for salespeople? Well, allow me to share...

Unfortunately, salespeople today are faced with more temptations and distractions than ever before. More and more salespeople are compromising their values for the sake of expedience.

Many salespeople do what “seems” right, rather than to do what intrinsically they believe to be right.

Now think about where trust sits in the sales world and reflect upon what I just shared above.

A personal manifesto can help serve...

• As an inspiration to live your life with purpose.
• As a foundation upon which to build your life.
• As a framework for your life.
• As your sales NorthStar.

Stop, think and reflect upon this for a moment... could a public declaration of your intent, help you rise above the sea of sameness? May this change the perception around what you do and who you are? Could this help to build trustworthiness?

BENEFITS OF A MANIFESTO

A manifesto becomes valuable and serves as a constant source of inspiration. It becomes something that can easily be read daily.

Imagine waking up in the morning, rolling out of bed, grabbing a cup of coffee or tea, self- reflecting before you start your day as you spend a few minutes reading through your manifesto.

This would help keep your mind focused on your priorities. Daily you're reinforcing your values repeatedly.

Question for you...

What are your sales values?

This is why I believe a manifesto could have a monumental impact on your sales career.

Imagine sharing this manifesto with others. Think about sharing with your clients, future clients and friends. Imagine how this could elevate your status within their minds?

It now becomes your public creed through which you're presenting yourself, your beliefs and your future self.

• A manifesto can challenge you to be the best possible version of yourself.
• A manifesto can serve as your source of motivation, helping you make positive changes.
• A manifesto can help guide your actions when you’re not sure in which direction to go.

THE SELLING FROM THE HEART MANIFESTO

As the last chapter of Selling from the Heart ends, I incorporated a personal Selling from the Heart manifesto.

Here's a sampling of the manifesto...

A selling from the heart sales professional is a new class - genuine, authentic, the real deal, in touch with who they are and are brutally honest with themselves.

A selling from the heart sales professional wages a war and becomes a minister to their clients in a profession riddled with unscrupulous, fake and disingenuous sales reps.

A selling from the heart professional leads with the heart and not the wallet.

A selling from the heart sales professional brings the human approach to sales by making it about their clients and what's important to them.

A selling from the heart sales professional seeks first to be understood as they turn transactional sales opportunities into transformational experiences.

You can find the entire manifesto on the Selling From the Heart website - here

WRITING YOUR MANIFESTO

I'm not here to tell you there's a right or a wrong way to write a manifesto; the style is completely up to you. You may want to make it simple, straightforward and state with passion why you believe in each principle.

Write down your beliefs, motives and the intentions around each of the topics.

Your manifesto is an opportunity for you to lay it all out there by being real, genuine and staying true to YOU. Lay all your cards out on the business table for everyone to absorb.

Let me get you thinking by answering the following questions:

• What do you stand for?
• What are your strongest sales beliefs?
• How do you want to lead your sales and personal life?
• How do you define yourself?
• If one idea could change things, what is it?
• What’s the one thing that you believe would change everything?

As your writing your manifesto, I encourage you to use strong and decisive words.

The strength of your manifesto will come from the language you use. Say it like you mean it. No watered-down messaging.

I encourage you to clearly define your purpose and stay true to your values. When you fail to uncover or struggle to clearly define your values, you wind up drifting along with your sales career.

Speaking about drifting... Napoleon Hill once said,

"Drifting, without aim or purpose, is the first cause of failure. Without a plan for your life, it is easier to follow the course of least resistance, to go with the flow, to drift with the current with no particular destination in mind. Having a definite plan for your life greatly simplifies the process of making hundreds of daily decisions that affect your ultimate success. When you know where you want to go, you can quickly decide if your actions are moving you toward your goal or away from it. Without definite, precise goals and a plan for their achievement, each decision must be considered in a vacuum. Definiteness of purpose provides context and allows you to relate specific actions to your overall plan."

Don't be a sales drifter.

AND REMEMBER

"Take the time to define yourself and define your value. If you're having a hard time doing that, ask yourself: What is something I would say to someone I love?"

Beyonce Knowles

Ask yourself... How different of a person would I be if my actions and beliefs did not align with these values?

I sincerely believe writing your manifesto will elevate your status and enhance your sales career. This will allow you to professionally grow and help you to live out those beliefs.

When all is said and done, the true hallmark of a sales professional is knowing what you believe and having the guts to live it.

This my friends is what selling from the heart is all about.

Writing your manifesto is a practice of self-awareness. By knowing yourself better, you can do better work. And isn't this what you want?

Originally published on Larry Levine's LinkedIn.