"Success in any endeavor does not happen by accident. Rather, it's the result of deliberate decisions, conscious effort, and immense persistence... all directed at specific goals."

We can never bring anything to us unless we are grateful for what we have. In fact, if somebody was completely and utterly grateful for everything, they would never have to ask for anything, because it would be given to them before they even asked.

That is the power of Gratitude.

"A vision is a clearly-articulated, results-oriented picture of a future you intend to create. It is a dream with direction."

Hope can be a tough concept to define. In terms of its definition, it can be either a noun or a verb and thus either passive or active. As a noun, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, hope means "a positive expectation and desire for something to happen." As a verb, its definition is "to intend, if possible, to do something." The keys for sales managers who want to create a hopeful sales environment are honesty and responsiveness. Make it easy for your team members to hope that something good will come of their hard work, today and every day.

"Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."

Don't allow setbacks to set the agenda for you. If you do, then you haven't yet learned to develop the resolve to stick to your plans for success. When you face an inevitable disappointment, learn from it. Find a way around it, over it, under it, or through it. Don't passively accept defeat. When you react with passivity or defeatism, you weaken your ability to do something positive instead. If you learn from your setbacks, however, you set yourself up to handle similar situations differently in the future. You'll grow and learn to face challenges with confidence and positivity.

"I don't think that once you get to one level, you can relax. You've got to keep pushing. "

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

If you want to learn something, ask questions. That's the best and most straightforward way to get information and uncover opportunities that you didn't know existed. When salespeople don't ask enough questions, it means they're talking too much. You might think you have a lot of valuable information to impart, but know that the more you talk, the less room you have to discover new things. The next time you feel the urge to talk, ask a question instead, and see where it takes you.

In the doldrums of winter, our energy starts to flag. Cold and gray days can start to seem like an endless loop. Remember that winter always gives way to spring eventually. The same is true of our work life. Businesses also have seasons; some months are plentiful and full of new projects and activity. Other periods are lean and relatively inactive. No matter what the conditions are, stick to your goals and plan your time wisely. During down periods, you might be able to accomplish tasks and projects that would be impossible during busy seasons. Make sure you use your time to your advantage, no matter what the season.

"True grit is making a decision and standing by it, doing what must be done."

"It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it."

If you have trouble thinking of things to be grateful for, start keeping a list. It is a well-known principle of success that the act of writing something down can have a powerful effect on our unconscious mind. It's important in life to count your blessings and cultivate an awareness of what you're most grateful for. If the days slip by without any recognition of what's good in your life, take the step of recording them in written form each day. At the end of the month, you'll see tangible evidence of all the things you have to be grateful for.

"Successful people make money.
It's not that people who make money become
successful, but that successful people attract money.
They bring success to what they do."

"Goals are dreams with deadlines."

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."

"There is no such thing as natural touch. Touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls."

We all make assumptions, especially in our close relationships. We assume the people we value most will make good on their promises, be available in a crisis, and generally support us no matter what. The problem with assumptions is that things are left unsaid, and when important sentiments of appreciation, love, and respect are left unsaid, resentments or misunderstandings can start to build. The ability to make assumptions is the gift of a strong and healthy relationship, but don't overlook opportunities to communicate gratitude and appreciation. That is the way we take care of our relationships and keep them strong and healthy.

"Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude."

Big change is often accompanied by a sense of displacement. This can be disconcerting for sales professionals, especially if the change threatens to interrupt short-term gains. Maybe you're moving to a new job or territory, or a new style of management. Maybe the team has seen some new hires. Maybe corporate leadership has shifted. There is change you can control and change you can't control. If you feel yourself starting to become anxious or resistant, figure out which type of change you're dealing with. There is always something small but significant you can do to retain your sense of purpose and focus.

"Determine never to be idle. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing."

Most people assume that the path to success starts at the bottom and moves increasingly upward, but this is not the case. The path to success is never a straight ascension. Not only will there be setbacks, but there will be backtracks, digressions, and periods of aimless stagnation. The important thing is never to remain stuck in any of these states. That is why it is so important to examine your progress routinely in relation to your goals. Setbacks are easy to identify, but digressions and stagnation are more insidious obstacles. Never allow these circumstances to cause you to fall short of what you have set your mind to achieve.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our mind growled like our stomach does
when it is hungry?”

"Your power is in your thoughts, so stay awake.
In other words, remember to remember."

"High expectations are the key to everything."

Research suggests that our brains are wired in a way that makes us inherently social creatures. What are your social initiatives, either personally or in your corporate culture? Are you reaching out to prospects on social media and using social networks to listen and gain a greater understanding of what their needs and wants are? Sales teams have the most to gain from being socially connected to customers and prospects. Yet many sales leaders continue to think social media is just for fun or a waste of time for business; however, social business can and does create customers. Be open to social ways of selling. The benefits might surprise you.

"People spend their lives in the service of their passions instead of employing their passions in the service of their lives."

"Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly - until you learn to do it well."

After years of executive and management experience in sales, many become proven and well-respected leaders; however, experience itself is not the mark of a successful leader. Many sales managers and leaders with extensive backgrounds are, in fact, not very effective at what they do. The path to success in a sales career is marked by dedication to constant improvement and growth. The sales profession changes very quickly. Just sticking around is not enough to live up to the constant challenges of leading a sales team.

"If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build, end up building us."

Ask, Believe, Receive – just three simple steps to create what you want. However, very often the second step, believe, can be the most difficult one. And yet it is the greatest step you will ever take. Believing contains no doubt. Believing does not waiver. Believing is absolute faith. Believing remains steadfast despite what is happening in the outside world.
​
When you master believing, you have mastered your life.

"One of the virtues of being very young is that you don't let the facts get in the way of your imagination. "

It is important for every person to practice small indulgences every day. This is why we take vacations, watch funny movies, sing in the shower, and order dessert. What are some of the ways you relax, laugh, and enjoy life? How often do you indulge in these things? Without small and routine outlets for pleasure, stress and worry build up and leave us vulnerable to indulging in bloated and damaging excesses. A daily and healthy outlet helps everyone stay balanced and on course.

"Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish. "

"Money will always match your mindset."

“The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years.”

"All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim and have fixed their gaze on a goal that is high--one that sometimes seems impossible."

You don't have to be great to start - but you have to start to be great!

Every ending is the start of a new beginning. Think of the end of every year, month, week, day, and hour as an opportunity. To create the ideal version of yourself, bear in mind the principles of new beginnings. Keep an open mind and open heart. Refuse to listen to those who say you can't or shouldn't. Don't take disappointments personally (they happen to everyone). Make your decisions with the conviction that you have considered your options well and carefully. When something comes to an end, find the seed of the new thing that awaits.

"Only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road."

There's nothing worse than making a problem worse with negative energy. When you face a tough situation, remind yourself that everything is fleeting. You've been scared, tired, angry, frustrated, and disappointed before, and guess what? You got over it. Don't make things more difficult on yourself by wallowing in negativity. The more time you spend in a negative state, the harder it is for positive energy to bloom and restore balance. There is nothing to gain by keeping negative feelings around. Find a way to resolve those feelings quickly, and your problems will soon be replaced by solutions and improvements.

How well do you communicate your value as a sales professional? Start by thinking in terms of other people, not yourself. What is important to the people with whom you're trying to establish relationships? What do their problems, hopes, and successes look like? You can't start a relationship without some give and take. Even if you believe you can solve a person's problems with your eyes closed, hold back. Resist the urge to let your enthusiasm run wild at the expense of opening up the conversation. If you listen closely, you're already providing value.

"Every time we've moved ahead in Business, it was because someone was willing to take a chance, put his head on the block and try something new."

Sales and marketing teams usually excel at the courtship stage of customer relationships. That's the time they get to trumpet new features, designs, and promotions. But flash won't help strengthen a relationship with a customer who experiences problems at other stages, such as signing, delivery, and implementation. As author Lior Arussy says, not every customer touch point needs dazzle: "Sometimes the customer says, 'Just make it work.'"

"How am I going to live today to create
the tomorrow I've committed to?"

"Never forget that it is the spirit with which you endow your work that makes it useful or futile."

"Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life - is the source from which self-respect springs."

"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere."

"The only limitation is
that which one sets up in one's own mind."

"Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more. "

As a sales professional, how are you using social media to enhance your core selling activities? In a social-media world, sales managers fear that their reps will end up wasting time chasing the wrong customers down rabbit holes. Your goal on social media should be, first and foremost, to listen, and listen carefully. What are your customers saying about you and your competition? What are their concerns and worries? Jump in with an answer only if you have relevant, useful, and targeted information to share. Nothing will increase your chances of being ignored faster than an obvious sales pitch. In order to make a successful connection on social media, you must first listen.

"Learn something new. Try something different.
Convince yourself that you have no limits."

"The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it."

If you want to improve your conversations with customers, lose the jargon. The next time someone asks you what you do (or what your company does), watch to see how many insider industry terms you drop. Corporate-speak is generally more confusing than helpful to someone who's asked you a straightforward question. Plus, jargon limits your reach to folks who already understand those phrases and terms. What about the people who could use your solution or service but don't know it yet?

"Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance."

Sometimes salespeople can get so caught up in the day-to-day grind that they forget to stop and look at the big picture. Today, check your long-term goals and plans (these should be written down somewhere). Are you on track to meeting these goals? Do you need to modify anything or change your daily behavior in order to attain what you most want in life? Which goals are no longer relevant or need to be updated? At the end of every week, month, and quarter, salespeople are hustling to make their numbers. In the never-ending race to the finish line, don't neglect to take the actions that will help you achieve the larger goals in work and life.

"One might think that the money value of an invention constitutes its reward to the man who loves his work. But speaking for myself, I can honestly say this isn't so... I continue to find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success."

Do you ever dream of success? Pay attention to those dreams. They are talking to you and telling you exactly what you're on track to create for yourself. Think about the many people who push their dreams to the side. Their dreams of success never come to pass because they're not given the attention and nourishment they need to grow. Your dreams are as unique and special as you are. If you don't pay attention to your dreams of success, who will?

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

"The worst thing you can say is ‘I want $X for this job,’ leaving no opening for negotiation by the other side. Better language is ‘I hope to earn between $X and $X.’ That gives the other party more flexibility."

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity."

"Only through curiosity can we discover opportunities, and only through gambling can we take advantage of them."

To create your tomorrow, go over your day when you are in bed tonight just before you fall asleep, and feel gratitude for the good moments. If there was something you wanted to happen differently, replay it in your mind the way you wanted it to go. As you fall asleep, say, “I will sleep deeply and wake up full of energy. Tomorrow is going to be the most beautiful day of my life.”

Good night!

"Any person who selects a goal in life which can be fully achieved, has already defined his own limitations."

To ensure happiness in the workplace, empower your salespeople. Those who feel trusted and enjoy autonomy feel more motivated and confident. This increases well-being and productivity. If you've trained, coached, and managed your salespeople properly, you can afford to let them find their way on their own until they ask for help. If they do well, reward them with incentives and praise. Make sure they share in the profitability of your company. The happier and more empowered your employees feel, the more successful your business will be.