Stuck In The Comfort Zone

Occasionally, I’ll ruminate on an idea and without so much as a second thought, I’ll publish it to this blog. Often I have no predetermined result – and sometimes I look a few weeks later only to ask “What was I thinking here?” I’m just getting stuff out there to comment on. This is one such post.

You can guess we get a lot of resistance when we begin our work with people. Sometimes it is out-and-out resistance…(“I do not need this. I’m fine the way I am.”)  But sometimes it is subtle resistance (“Yes, I love what you’re teaching me…I just haven’t used any of it.”)

[It's not that way when people pay for their training on their own...but IS that way when companies invest in their people.]

The problem is that there is deeper issue: How does one come to the conclusion that they need to change their behaviors and habits? Not an easy question…but one that MUST be asked.

We don’t know any other way that to say “WAKE UP.”

“Most men live lives of quiet desperation and go the grave with the song still in them.”–Henry David Thoreau

Most of us just don’t, or can’t, get out of ourselves long enough or far enough to see what we can improve on. But I have two harsh techniques that will force you out of your comfort zone darn near immediately.

1. Add a 0 To Your Income. I heard Brian Tracy suggest this. His point is that once you say, “My goal is to ‘do what I did last year + one 0′,” you are forced into a radically different mentality. Now, you don’t have to be a math major to know that is a 10X increase in income. But the issue now is “How” do I get there? Once “How” becomes the issue, your mind races quickly to the skills and behaviors that matter.

It also forces you out of your comfort zone because to add that much dissonance, requires you to reinvent yourself. You don’t have to reinvent for 10% increase….you do for 1000% increase.

2. Assess The Top 1%. What this means is take the income earners/business builders of the top 1% of companies or people in your industry. We like this one as well because it forces you to compare yourself to your industry best. Why not? You’ve always heard, “Contrast, don’t compare.” But why not? Could it be that there are doing some little things that you don’t even know about?

Could it be that they know something you don’t? Could it be that they have a marketing process puts yours to shame? Could it be that they have a sales cycle or a diagnostic process that yours pales in comparison to?

Hard to believe isn’t it? That someone else could be more skilled than you?

Well, it actually does come down to skill.  The difference between you and the best is skill. The difference between you earning $125,000 and 1,250,00 is skill(s).  But until you accept that your gap must be defined as a “skill” problem, you’ll never care about improving them.

Incidentally, you sales managers/leaders: This is a great exercise to take your team thru at your next sales meeting. Forget the “pipeline” conversation and move to a truly inspiring conversation.

Filed Under: Company Leader • VP Sales