It is often said the “Change is not the hard part, it is the resistance to change that is hard”. The resistance creates a tidal current working against you. Once the decision and commitment to change is made, the tide changes and the current is with you. As a successful professional sales advisor your success required effort, commitment and overcoming obstacles. Taking your business to the next level will need similar efforts.
As you commit to these changes you will feel that downstream current to help achieve those new goals. The practice of constant improvement will be more fulfilling and create longer term and more sustainable success. These small, consistent, changes are designed to become important parts of your success program.
Live, learn, laugh and improve, are the four tenets in which I try to live my life. By living these concepts, I get the most out of each day and I am able to be my best for myself and others.
I want to learn and improve to better serve others. Learning and improvement intertwine as I search for growth and excellence. In the past, the improvement phase often began with setting longer term goals of 3, 6, or 12 months. However, what if we start thinking different about improvement today? What if we start thinking of improving just 1% each day? What if we work on our business thinking about continuous improvement, or “kaizen” each day.
The term “kaizen”, which is a Japanese term for “change for the better” or “continuous improvement”. Tony Robbins, Life Coach and Motivational speaker, brought kaizen to the public with his Unlimited Power programs. Robbin’s developed the acronym: CANI “Constant And Never-ending Improvement and has made it an important part of today’s business lexicon.
Let’s take a look at real life situations and continuous improvement. Small choices don’t seem important at the time, but add up over the long term. If I commit to writing in my journal every time I get up from my chair during the day it is not a big deal that day. but over the course of the day and week, it adds up. My thoughts, my ideas, are on paper and my writing skills improve. Over the course of a month, not to mention a year, and I will be seeing results!
In the same way, if I miss a few days of writing, and then keep missing few more days it will add up over time, become a problem, and get in the way of my planned growth.
Success is a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgement repeated every day
~ Jim Rohn
As you make those small 1% improvements each day, the changes will occur over time. You gain confidence, experience, and joy in the process. Your efforts will lead to the success you want. The skills and confidence in your networking and presentation skills will grow if you follow your plan every day Consistent small behaviors create long term results.
The excitement of this program is the success you have each day if you execute your commitments. Your 1% growth each day, is your reward, knowing you have put in the effort on your plan. To begin the process make a list of what is important to you for personal or professional growth. Here is a sample list that is often suggested by Coaching professionals from Tony Robbins to Craig Ballantyne:
Daily Accountability
· Prepare and Think through your Day and Week; Plan for each Day the night before
· Get and use a professional Coach
· Start with Priority#1 each day. Do not put off the most important task of the day.
· Stay off e-mail as a time waster as long as possible. Use 9:00am as your goal.
Get and Stay Focused
· 5-10minutes of meditation
· Practice Gratitude: Make a list of 3 things each day you are grateful for
· 2 random acts of kindness each day will create a positive mind set
· Create that checklist
· Meeting the Right People: make a List of 100 people you want to Contact /3 per day
· Send some note or email / thanks or ask to meet
· Find positive people to be in your Social group
Use Personal and Daily Incentives
· Treat yourself to celebration on your successes
· Avoid procrastination; recognize your wins
Create your own Deadlines
· Have a deadline to get to the office and leave the office each day. You will get the same amount of work done, push yourself against the deadline
· Deadlines will help you avoid procrastination, one of sales professional biggest sins
This is the list that makes sense for me now. A little more reading and writing, and a little less TV, but all in due time. 1% a day on a few things is better than trying to do a lot of things and do nothing on a lot of things.
The key to the program is that: Change isn’t hard, it is the resistance to change that is the hard part. The commitment to start the process of improving by 1% more each day is a reasonable proposition. It even makes sense to those of us who do not want to commit.
We get our minds working towards the goal thinking this way: “ I should be able to do that. “Yes, I will do that.” . ” Yes, I am doing that.” “Yes, I am going to keep doing this.” When I do those little steps today, it feels great and I want to do it again tomorrow. Gain that momentum, we can use that current to help take us downstream.
Let’s all make a list and a 1% pledge. Each day, make those small steps to our larger goals. Stay in the moment, stay in today, and we will see a great tomorrow. I promise.
Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens-and when it happens, it lasts.
~ John Wooden
