Focus Your Firepower
Inhale the good air and exhale the bad air. This is the process
of life. Some motivational gurus use this metaphor to describe
how we should bring good things into our life and expel the bad
things: inhale confidence, exhale uncertainty; inhale knowledge
and exhale ignorance; inhale positives and exhale negatives, etc.
This metaphor is backward says Wally Amos, of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie fame. In an article I just read he quotes a friend who advocates the reverse: inhale darkness, exhale light; inhale pain, exhale joy; inhale anger and exhale love.
Are you self-serving or selflessly serving others? When we take joy from the world it's great for us, but when we replace it with anger, it's pretty bad for others. Wally Amos' friend contends that the place of transformation is within each of us and we are capable of converting the negatives of life into positives to share with others.
Is your focus inward looking or outward bound? This is a question a colleague and I used as a litmus test when we developed a training intervention for dealing successfully with unwanted change. Our research showed clearly that people under stress only compounded their problems when they focused their thoughts and energies on themselves and the pain they were suffering.
When people focus their thoughts and energy on others they and others are lifted up and moved beyond their present state. Such people not only find more self-worth and satisfaction within their own lives, they positively impact those around them. They fill others with confidence, knowledge, satisfaction, and a greater sense of general well-being.
"Selling is not about salespeople and their products, it's about our customers and their problems."
Under pressure it's natural for our thoughts to turn inward. You already know this, of course, but it's way too easy to forget it when pressure increases on us to perform. When that happens it is only natural for our thoughts to turn inward and we have to consciously work to refocus our thoughts, feelings and actions.
Focus your thoughts and energies on others, Sarah, if you want to build more trusting relationships and close more sales.
