Last month I had the opportunity to sit in on a conversation with our CEO here at XINNIX, Casey Cunningham and Krish Dhanam —acclaimed author, CEO of Skyline Success, Global Ambassador for the Ziglar Group of Companies, and motivational guru. They talked about how to stay motivated when we’re facing challenging times, and the conversation broke down into five key points that I just have to share based on what Krish defines as the five key principles for staying motivated during difficult times—the A, B, C, D, and E of motivation. Last week, we talked about A, an Attitude of Gratitude. Today, I want to go a little deeper into B, the Behavior of Belief.
You Are What You Think
During our annual planning at XINNIX, our leadership team always comes up with a Word of the Year. This word both anchors us and drives our success as a company. This year, the word we chose is “Believe.” Why this word? According to Casey, “If you don’t believe in yourself, your company, and your destination, you will never achieve greatness." Top producers don’t live in self-doubt. This doesn’t mean they never doubt themselves. We are all human, and we all have days when we feel like we might not have what it takes to climb the mountain, especially during challenging times. The most successful businesspeople aren’t delusional about their own shortcomings. Instead, they are intentional about their thinking. According to Krish, top performers say, “You know what? I don’t want to be wandering generality. I want to be meaningful and specific. I want my thoughts and ideas to be ones that positively control my behavior and habits.”
Input Determines Output
But how do we make the switch? How do we become intentional in our thinking? How do we begin believing in our own success? Krish points us to a quote by author and positive-thinking expert Dr. Shad Helmstetter: “You cannot go from a negative-thinking person to a positive-thinking person without changing your input from negative to positive.” Intentional thinking starts with intentional input. Take a moment to examine your day. What are you watching, reading, and listening to? Are you looking to mentally check out, or are you looking to sharpen, encourage, and prepare your mind for success? It comes down to this—are you looking to escape or arrive? Krish says, “I read, on average, at least one book a week. I have for the last 27 years. On my way to work, I’m always listening to information that will help me where I am arriving. That means I don't listen to endless stock radio or music that would be debilitating to me. This might make me seem fairly boring, but the principle I try to use in enforcing behavior is this—don't just sit there to get there. Sit there to arrive more informed than the others.” When we spend our time taking in information and training that we need to succeed, we combat our stress and feelings of inadequacy. At XINNIX, we’ve seen countless sales professionals completely transform their businesses by changing their input. After all, learning leads to confidence.
Find Your People
Our focus should not only be information, however. There’s another element to achieving a mindset of success as well. Casey says, “One of the reasons our XINNIX students are so successful is because they receive a double portion of positive input. First, they fill their minds with the knowledge they need to be successful. And second, they are being encouraged every step of the way. With the coaching aspect of what we do, our students have someone in their corner, assuring them that they can reach their goals, take production to the next level, and be the rockstar they were born to be.” The people you surround yourself with will have a massive impact on your belief and, subsequently, your behavior. If you listen to people who only ever bring up your limitations or complain about how unfair things are, those thoughts and attitudes will find their way from the lips of your co-workers into the reality of your business. How will you stay motivated if you feel like you will never be good enough to reach your goals and that the obstacles you face are simply too hard to overcome? Instead, find people who believe in you. You’ll find that they make it much easier for you to believe in yourself. When you’re looking to build your community, search for people who will not only encourage but also teach you. In the world of sales, we can start to view everyone else as competition. If we’re not careful, we can miss out on what we can learn from those who have achieved great success. Krish gives this advice: “It’s okay to be in someone’s shadow if you’re learning. When they move, the light will fall on you. We can be in such haste to be number one right now, but most of the people who are on that pursuit without the right foundation seem to be miserable on their journey. The loneliest place in the world is reaching the pinnacle of glory when you don’t have anyone to celebrate with. Contrarily, when you face tough times, and you have the right people around you, they will never let you fall.” Finding people to lift you up, challenge you, and inspire you is vital in establishing your behavior of belief. When you see others who have succeeded, you can believe that success is possible. When you begin to learn from them, you believe that success is possible for you. To learn more about the 5 key principles for staying motivated during difficult times, read the first entry on an Attitude of Gratitude, and be sure to check back next week as we talk about a Character of Completion! Want more from Krish Dhanam and Casey Cunningham about motivation? Read our recent article, How to Turn Challenges into Opportunities and Improve Sales Performance.