But in my determination to make things work, I kept coming back to the same question: Why were some salespeople making five to 10 times more than others? By observing them and the stories of other high performers, I discovered the four key factors necessary for someone to succeed beyond their natural abilities.
Have a Strong Identity
Performance coach, author and CEO of Limitless Minds Trevor Moawad related a story about a young man who took the SAT test. This man was an academically weak student. But when he got his SAT results back, his score was 1480 out of 1600 — good enough to place him in the top 5% of students nationwide.
All of a sudden, his mindset changed. Maybe he was more intelligent than he thought. Maybe he could make it. He got through college, became an entrepreneur and ended up incredibly wealthy.
Once this man had settled into his success, though, he got a letter from the SAT board. It turned out they’d made an error. His score was 740, not 1480.
If he really had scored only a 740, how did he manage to achieve so much? He succeeded because he changed his behavior based on a new concept he had about himself. Because he acted as he could, he did.
Like this man, I didn’t think of myself as someone with a great natural mind. I scored under 1000 on my SAT test as well. But I wrote down that I was a genius learner. I read it repeatedly, and the more I started to believe it, the more I was able to achieve. I’d tricked my brain into reframing who I was.
What serves as a theme in this man’s story and my own is the idea of positivity. It bears out in my observations of others in the sales business. All the people I know who are the best of the best have an optimistic approach to the way they think. They are constantly looking at opportunities rather than focusing on the negatives.
Determine Your Destination
Your brain is a lot like a GPS in that going anywhere first requires you to input where you’re going. You have to be able to set aside constraints and fears and envision being somewhere else.
More than 20 years ago, because my values were important to me and I didn’t want to lose sight of them, I set my destination and defined in detail the job, income and environment I aspired to. A friend kept a copy of what I had written and encouraged me along the way. When he came across the file years later, he remarked how amazing it was that most of what I wrote came true.
Most people struggle to set clear destinations that go beyond the next predictable promotion or raise. It takes courage to do. So I suggest to others that they be honest about what they want and write it out as I did.
A person who does this exercise doesn’t have to have the same goals as anybody else’s. They can set their own parameters, just like you can tell your GPS to take the fastest route or avoid tolls. And in the end, they don’t have to take the same route they initially punched into the GPS if they decide not to.
But it doesn’t hurt anybody to write it down on paper. If you at least write it down and prepare as if the trip will happen, you’ll still grow and become better.
So ask yourself: where do you want to go?
Take Action
Even though your GPS destination is important, the turns or steps you have to take on the journey are important, too. High performers let themselves go into the clouds to see and set a path, but then they zoom in on the GPS and nail down the step-by-step of how they’ll get wherever it is they want to go.
Successful people understand that the journey itself has plenty to teach through its details, and they take the time to enjoy the little things along the way. So don’t let yourself get overly focused on the finish line. Focus on the immediate action step you can take 1,000 feet down the road. Ask yourself what you can do right now, today, no matter how small, to push yourself toward your desired destination.
Ingrain Grit, Resilience and Tenacity
Just because you have a positive view of yourself, know your destination and understand the steps you’ll take doesn’t mean your journey will be easy or smooth. There will be roadblocks, accidents, detours and setbacks. That’s where grit, resilience and tenacity come into play.
Being ready for your journey requires ingraining all three of these traits into yourself. Doing this makes you adaptable, capable of confronting painful realities and confident enough not to quit.
Your Future Is Yours To Create and Claim
Most of us aren’t geniuses, and that’s okay. But this reality doesn’t mean we can’t do extraordinary things — ordinary people become high performers every day by following a basic four-part sequence. Their success proves that we have enormous power to manifest the future we want. Decide what your own future should look like. Then go out, with no apologies, and grab it.
