Has Becoming Too Comfortable Become A Sales Crisis?

As we get started, reflect upon this quote from A.J. McLean,

"You have to become comfortable in the uncomfortableness."

Are you willing to change your relationship with change?

Are you willing to strive to find ease or familiarity in situations that might initially feel uncomfortable (like learning how to consistently prospect again)?

In today’s world, you can’t run away from change. Everything is in a constant state of flux.

Allow me to set the stage... Settling, complacency, contentment, relaxation, peacefulness; it's out there right now hiding in the closet of many sales departments.

Lurking in the dark shadows of success and camouflaged where one least expects to find it, there's a great balancing act of excuses.

It's the silent business killer, ambushing and striking salespeople without warning.

It can bring even the biggest and brightest to their knees. What's this hidden terror? Becoming comfortable.

It can happen to you. It strikes with extreme precision. It happens, so please don't kid yourself.

Becoming comfortable is a ruthless disease. It doesn't care how long you've been in sales or what day of the week it is. It cares only of the cold, timid and weak-minded.

Truth be told, while many of you seem content on getting by and blending in with all the other empty salespeople, a true sales professional is not. They have meticulously rewritten the sales playbook.

Calvin Coolidge once said,

“All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.”

Just for a moment, I ask you to think back to your childhood... You embraced learning, correct? You embraced change, correct? You figured out the things that allowed you to grow.

So... Why as adults do many find it difficult to embrace change?

Why do so many in sales take the road most traveled?

Why are so many in sales seeking out the "sales success magic pill", instead of just doing the work?

What many fail to realize is throughout our lives we will continue to have growing pains, whether they be emotional, mental or spiritual, there will always be forms of discomfort.

However, as we get older, this discomfort now becomes our choice. We can avoid it, endure it, or embrace it.

Let's face it, our brains are hardwired to avoid pain, we often choose to avoid discomforts rather than embrace them. This results in our personal and professional growth becoming stunted.

You can either be comfortable and stagnate or stretch yourself to become uncomfortable and grow.

Discomfort is a stimulant for growth. It forces you to change, stretch, and adapt. In an ever-changing business world, I encourage you to embrace discomfort.

Become purposeful about doing things to push yourself outside of your limits.

Difficulty helps you to grow, and this is what sales professionals do better than sales reps.

If you desire long-term success and sustainability, you must stop avoiding the hard stuff.

To become more means you must create new perspectives, acquire new skills and push the boundaries.

Learning to become comfortable with discomfort is one of the most important skills you can ever have to live a truly fulfilling personal and professional life.

Repetition fuels growth and expands your comfort boundaries.

How many things you once deemed uncomfortable, you now accept without giving it much thought?

Have you become too comfortable to be pushed or you feel you can't be bothered to make the necessary change to improve?

I love this quote courtesy of Craig Groeschel,

"If you change your behavior but do not change your heart, the behavior will come back."

What's in your heart when it comes to change? Are you willing to do the work?

HAS BECOMING TOO COMFORTABLE BECOME A SALES CRISIS?

"If you'll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives."

Vince Lombardi

The question I have for all you... What are you willing to do to become a better salesperson?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Michael Easter's book, "The Comfort Crisis, Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self"

Early in the book, Michael says,

"Most people today rarely step outside their comfort zones. We are living progressively sheltered, sterile, temperature-controlled, overfed, under-challenged, safety-netted lives."

Let's unpack this quote as we tie this right back to sales...

How many salespeople are living progressively sheltered lives as they are being overfed lead after lead, being under-challenged and coddled by their managers inside their safety-netted environments?

Have managers become just as comfortable as salespeople? I will leave this one for your imagination.

When it comes to comfort, Michael Easter went on to say,

"Today's comfort is tomorrow's discomfort. This leads to a new level of what's consider comfortable."

Let's think together for a moment... The things you've accumulated up to this point in your life fit quite nicely into your comfort zone. The car you drive, the home you live in, and the income you make. You've already acquired it, so you don’t need to stretch your zone to make it a reality.

Isn't it safe to say you would like to make more money this year then you did last year?

If the answer is yes, then would you agree you must work harder and smarter?

Would you also agree, you must acquire new skills and knowledge to make this happen?

What got you to where you're at will not keep you where you're at, plain and simple.

Before we move on, allow me to introduce you to the law of comfortability.

It states, when you surround yourself with empty suits, harbor average thoughts, settle for average results, and point fingers everywhere, this all leads to an ordinary, empty sales life full of mediocre existence.

What are you willing to put yourself through to become a better salesperson?

Are you willing to break out of your comfort zone in a world that is rapidly changing day by day by day?

BECOME COMFORTABLE BEING HONEST WITH YOURSELF

Thomas Jefferson once said,

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

Becoming honest with yourself allows you to acknowledge your limitations, confront your flaws, and seek knowledge with humility.

Are you willing to commit to truthfulness?

Honesty is a huge part of embracing change. I encourage you to become radically honest with yourself. In chapter 2 of Selling from the Heart, I write about sales chaos.

Have you allowed turmoil to weave its web inside your sales career? Has chaos kept you from seeking the truth?

If you're not honest with yourself then how can you expect to learn and grow?

When you're dishonest with yourself, you choose to see what you want to see and you brush off, ignoring what you don’t want to see. This may provide you short-term happiness but, in the end, it becomes unhealthy, destructive, and screws with your mind.

Becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable is what radical self-honesty is built upon.

I encourage you to think about this one...

How can you become radically self-honest if you struggle to deal with any discomfort in your sales life? You can’t and you're only fooling yourself.

In this hyper-competitive world of sales, those who are willing to take risks, step out of their comfort zone and create some discomfort for themselves will be those who reap the biggest rewards.

Are you one of them?

HONESTY REQUIRES PRACTICE

Becoming radically honest with yourself requires you to become vulnerable.

Are you willing to become vulnerable and accountable to yourself?

If you’re consistently nurturing your mindset, you will build up a tolerance against negative thoughts, procrastination, self-doubt, and insecurities.

This helps you to break the stranglehold of comfort.

Becoming radically honest with yourself can be painful but massively rewarding.

When honesty collides with your willingness to change, there's no stopping your growth.

I encourage you to build confidence in your abilities. I challenge you to get radically honest and hold yourself accountable.

1. Seek to become an expert in your field of work
2. Constantly crave feedback on YOU
3. Set goals and create a business plan
4. Never ever stop learning
5. Seek out a coach or mentor

If you want something in life or in sales that you have never had, you will have to do something that you have never done.

DON'T SETTLE FOR COMFORTABLENESS

John C. Maxwell once said:

“People are like rubber bands, they are most effective when they are stretched.”

Are you willing to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone?

If so, imagine...

• The new sales doors you could you open
• The new sales opportunities you could you experience
• The new relationships you could develop

How would all of this make you feel?

Are you willing to take massive action?

SALES PROFESSIONALS ARE NEVER COMFORTABLE

A true sales professional is always sales hungry. They are life-long learners.

Sales professionals are educators. You can't become an educator without being a student first.

You must gain a thirst for new knowledge. You must stay up to date on new developments, always looking for trends and changes before they happen.

Getting uncomfortable, it's okay. Show up every day and be present. Sit with the discomfort.

To quote Craig Groeschel,

"You can make excuses or you can make progress but you can't make both."

Acknowledge discomfort. Shake hands with it, get used to it, and welcome it on the journey to better yourself.

It's often in these moments of challenge that we have the opportunity to learn about ourselves, our limits, and our potential for growth.

Everyone's journey is unique and different. What works for one person may not work the same way for another.

It's important to approach discomfort with self-awareness, a supportive mindset, a willingness to adapt your approach if needed and a tight inner circle to guide you.

It becomes impossible to grow if you're constantly carrying your own dead sales weight of years past.

Way too many of you are living in yesteryear. You will consistently struggle with the mentality of "that's the way I've always done it."

As we bring our time together to a close, I ask you to think about the following questions...

• Am I reaching my sales potential?
• How do I rise up and rise to the top in sales?
• What will I commit to doing today which will enable me to grow and flourish tomorrow?

Comfort will always stunt your sales growth.

Originally published on larry Levine's LinkedIn.