Sales

 

In the quest for the right attitude you can’t discount the importance of your physical health. Incidentally, it is impossible to separate the physical, mental, and emotional (spiritual) aspects of attitude. I’ll spend more time on the physical because most salespeople neglect this area. A number of superb books give you a considerable amount of information on the subject.
As a physical fitness devotee since the early 1970s, I can tell you that taking care of your health will pay you enormous dividends in increased energy and fewer days spent in sickness. Your extra energy will produce increased revenue for your family. We will never be able to accurately calculate the billions of dollars in lost income American salespeople suffer every year. Think about what happens because the salesperson is simply too tired to get an early start in the morning, ran out of gas before the day was over, or had that “inevitable energy drop” after eating a heavy noon meal.  For these salespeople the idea of making “one more presentation” before they call it a day becomes a physical impossibility. Their energy bucket is drained.
So what are some keys to taking care of physical health? Let’s begin with discipline, which is critical but often neglected. One hundred and seventy-five CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies are former United States Marines. Six of our last seven presidents served in the military. Obviously, our armed services teach discipline, loyalty, commitment, and personal responsibility, along with a host of other positive qualities. As I said before, “When you discipline yourself to do the things you need to do when you need to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.”
The discipline starts with an early morning wake-up call. For you and your mate to arise together would be ideal. A few minutes spent together planning the day’s activities, just being with each other and relaxing, will do wonders for the relationship, and this procedure will also do wonders for starting the day in the proper frame of mind. If there are no children, husband and wife could take a walk, jog, or enjoy a cup of coffee together. This will vary with individuals because some are morning people while others are night people. I share some specific ideas on the importance of this time together and how it can best be spent, but the key is this: If you start your day in the proper manner, it sets the “tone” for the entire day. You are accepting responsibility for your health—mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Establishing the tone for your day will make it much easier to follow through on the most important aspect of your physical health program. The key to a healthy heart (which is where the healthy body is centered) is this: Several times each week you need to choose an activity that causes your heartbeat to be accelerated into the “target range” recommended by your physician and keep your heart working in that range for a certain number of minutes. Now, I know that sounds somewhat vague, but please read on—your life (and your success) depends upon your attentiveness!
Let me urge you not to accept the tables in any of the books on the subject that show heart “target ranges” based on age, body frame, and level of fitness. We are not good personal diagnosticians, so ask your doctor to tell you what your “target range” for exercise should be. Your physician can also help you choose an activity that will fit your personality and your life-style—an activity that accelerates your heart in a healthy manner.
Once this is determined, you will work toward keeping your heart rate within that certain range for the period of time your physician recommends. The few dollars and few minutes you invest in discussing this with a physician will benefit you in many ways. Dr. Ken Cooper is the expert I believe in strongly, and he says that to maintain our fitness level, we need to work out three times per week; for minimal changes over time, we need to work out four times per week; for maximum changes in fitness, we need to work toward (not begin with) working out five times per week.
Dr. Cooper has me keeping my heart rate up for twenty minutes, and my activity is walking. I walk for thirty to sixty minutes (never for distance, always for time) using the first four to eight minutes to accelerate my heartbeat into the target range, the next block of time to maintain, and the last four to eight minutes as a “warm-down” (a time for my heart to gradually return to the normal rate). I do my best to arrange my schedule to walk three consecutive days, take a day off, then walk for two consecutive days, and take another day off. At my age and with my habits (including a special fondness for sweets, which I limit to one major dessert once each week with a few little nibbles in between), working out five days is best for me.
This schedule does remarkable things for controlling weight, reducing stress, and lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, not to mention what it does for maintaining my energy level. The late afternoon or early evening walk works best for me.
When it is too cold or rainy to walk outside, I walk inside the ballroom of the hotel, up and down the corridors of the hotel, or go to the exercise room and work out on the rowing machine, stair steps, or whatever is available. In short, once you’ve made the commitment and started disciplining yourself to do these things, it gets to be a habit, and what a wonderful habit exercising becomes.
Many sales executives choose the first part of their lunch hour for a brisk walk or jog and feel dramatically energized for the rest of the afternoon as a result. In my case, the energy surge after exercise extends from two to four hours, and my creativity goes up. My energy level is higher and my endurance is greater. Exercise is not something you spend time doing; it’s something you invest time in—with enormous immediate and long-range rewards!