This post is not geared to motivate you to hustle for the last 2 months of the year, to get deals across the line. This post is geared towards what can you do every day to get 1% better. Not leave it up to hope, chance, the 11th hour. Keep things within our control. To do this we need to elevate ourselves to the 1%.

As humans our natural default is negative. When something doesn’t line up, we assume the worst. Blame others, the situation, the customer. We never learn or grow when we are always pointing the finger at someone else. So how do we level up? We first have to determine, what the best version of us looks like. What business results do we achieve? Financially how do we stack up? What type of relationship are we in? How are we showing up for ourselves, and our partner? Kids? Friends? Family?
This is our desired or future self.

Now we look at where we are today. Our current self. When we see the contrast, we also expose the gap. For some, this gap may be larger than others. This is no different than sales. We do this with our prospect to understand the size of the problem and the impact of the gap. Well now, we are doing it with ourselves. We have defined our future state, now to develop standards towards achieving it. This is where most fall short. They focus too much on the outcome. Did I achieve it or not? not enough time on the process. My motto is “get addicted to the process”, this is where habits are formed. Habits will take you to the outcome, with little effort and ease over time. The challenge is most want instant gratification and fold too quickly.

They don’t trust the process or the time it takes to work. We look around, see what results others are getting, and compare ourselves to them. Feeling less than, frustrated even depressed. We rob ourselves of all joy. Overnight success is years in the making.

Once we develop our 1% standards, we stick with them daily. Every day. But what about the days we don’t feel like it? Especially those days. Once we have enough days stacked of repeated effort, things start to get easier. What used to consume a lot of mental bandwidth, effort and angst starts becoming easier. This could be going to the gym, drinking more water, cold calling in the morning, updating our CRM, and daily prospecting. Whatever activity we need to be doing daily.

Why am I talking about all this?? Because I get asked daily by founders, and sales reps "What can I do to get better at sales?"

The one answer I say is to work on yourself. There is no silver bullet. Become the best version of yourself, so you can show up for others. Increase our self-awareness, and understand why we do things in certain ways. Be an observer. Understand our patterns, the good and the bad. This allows us to get in front of them if they don’t serve us and create the environment to continue if they do. This approach gives us an unfair business advantage. When we are in sync with ourselves, our focus shifts to our audience. We anticipate their needs, hopes, and fears. Allow us the freedom to tailor our questions, conversations, and experiences to delight them. This only comes when we are at peace with ourselves.

My commitment is to not break promises to myself. Whatever I say I am going to do… I do. Otherwise, we start losing trust and belief in ourselves, and we hold ourselves to a lower standard. This plays out in all facets of our life. We are vague, and washy with our clients, we are slow to respond. How can we create urgency within ourselves? This is me last weekend in Barrie, Ontario.

I committed to a cold plunge and did it. It was exhilarating, but it was more powerful fulfilling a promise I made to myself.

5 changes I have made in my life recently that have increased my urgency, focus and self-belief are:
1. Daily exercise minimum of 30 minutes, I don’t think about this one anymore.
2. Stopped drinking alcohol ( 3 months so far) Feeling clarity and more energy
3.Journaling in the morning, improving self-awareness, looking for patterns, and highlighting moments of gratitude.
4. Reading a chapter of a book every morning, starting the day with knowledge & new perspective
5. Meditation ( still working through this one)
This is not a bragging list, it is allowing me to cross the chasm to my future self, decreasing the gap daily. Some activities require more effort than others but it is a work in progress. It is my commitment to myself to be in the 1%

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What results have I noticed?
1. I show up different, not in my head, present and ready to go as a wife, mother and business owner
2. Increased clarity at work, closing bigger contracts in new industries.
3. Less brain fog - see things for what they are, new angles
4. Increased confidence - I look at the habits stacking up over time & feel proud. This spills over to other areas of my life. I can do anything
5. Increased conviction - I don’t talk myself out of things
What can you do today to start becoming your 1%?

Most people start new programs on Jan 1. What about ending the year with two months of habits already stacked? Starting 2024 in a prime state of mind, ready to take on anything that comes your way.

Are you ready?
Let’s Go!!!!