Thinking on the 'Bright-Side' in Life and in Sales
As many of you know, I moved with my family from the friendly, beloved Midwest to the exciting, beautiful, close-to-the-ocean East. And I’m not gonna lie: it’s been harder than I thought it was going to be.
For starters, I miss my friends, my nanny, and pretty much everything about my old life. And any kind of a move can be pretty unsettling. I can’t find anything. I don’t know where anything is. And I pretty much have to start over with new friends, new doctors, and a new hairstylist (gasp) NEW EVERYTHING.
And that got me thinking about thinking on the bright side. Because new is exciting. New is shiny, challenging, and can help you see what you’re made of.
And THAT got me thinking about all of you out there. When bad, challenging, or unexpected things happen to you, are you able to find the bright side? If the answer is yes, I say good on ya. If the answer is no, then let me see if there’s something I can do to help you with that. Here are a few positive by-products of what adversity can bring you.
RE-FOCUSING—If something unforeseen happens, like you lose a big account or a fantastic employee leaves you for greener pastures, you can wallow, or you can buckle down. You can pay more attention to other bigger accounts and decide that the lesson you take from this is that it will not happen to you again. You can talk to the departing rock star and ask him or her some insightful questions about the decision. And, if there are some criticisms about your operation or you personally, perhaps this is a good time to recalibrate and again, make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.
GRATITUDE—An unfortunate situation is also a great time to focus on other areas in your life and work in which things are going really well, and to stop and be grateful for those things. Health, friends, a great team of employees, great vendors, even friendly competitors can all be a great blessing to you. The ability to recognize that and sit quietly with it is gratitude and is a great gift. Give it to yourself.
RESOLVE—It’s time to pull a Scarlett O’Hara. Halfway through "Gone With the Wind," you might remember, she famously promises that "with God as my witness I’ll never go hungry again." She didn’t really have any business making a statement like that, given the circumstances of being former landed gentry on the losing side of the Civil War. But you know what? She never DID go hungry again. In fact, Scarlett rose from the ashes and reinvented herself with as much wealth if not more than that of her father. So make your own promise to yourself. You may think it seems crazy to make promises based on circumstances that are often beyond your control, but make them anyway.
You’ll be better off, stronger, and more determined for them.
I don’t wish you any adversity, but when it comes, you’ll be ready.
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
