The Takeaways from the “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do” Series    

“Pragmatic Sales Psychology” short episode series, writing #27

Here are the topics for the second five chapters and blog notes providing the main takeaways. This is some very good, to the point substance not only for newbies but for experienced sales professionals to review and be mindful of. 

#6 Don’t Fear Taking Calculated Risks Where would the world be without calculated risks? In business, on the battlefield, in relationships, in science…not where we are today, that’s for sure! “Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” –  Ralph Waldo Emerson  

#7 Don’t Dwell on the Past If you find yourself frequently ruminating on the past, this is a safe assumption: you are not spending enough time in an excited frame of mind planning for the future. All the re-rehearsing of the past only makes sense if you are looking for great ideas to apply to your future sales and marketing strategies. That is their only “moving forward” value. “We do not heal the past by dwelling there, we heal the past by living fully in the present.” – Marianne Williamson 

#8 Don’t Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over Again You will be more effective if you are creative enough to make new mistakes to commit. Don’t be afraid to stretch out and try new things, mistakes are part of a healthy progression to your next higher level of performance; just don’t make the same ones over and over again. I wanted to end with this quote: “Every end of every day is the most important time of that day because you confront with your past and you obtain a chance for tomorrow not to repeat your past mistakes!”– Mehmet Murat Ildan  But I decided to end with this one from my grandfather who served in WWII and worked on the railroad for 45 years: “I guess if you go through the whole day and don’t make a mistake…you stayed in bed” – Jacob Klinefelter 

#9 Don’t Resent Other People’s Success  The most successful business operators are most concerned about being the best version of themselves; they do not spend a significant amount of time and energy being overly concerned about what the competition is doing.  “Resentment is the cocaine of emotions. It causes our blood to pump and our energy level to rise. But, also like cocaine, it demands increasingly large and more frequent doses.” – Max Lucado
“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies” Nelson Mandela           

#10 Don’t Give Up After The First Failure  History, on a grand scale, is littered with examples of massively successful business people such as Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) who was rejected by over twenty publishers before writing some of the most well-known children’s books of all time. The music industry is full of examples, too many to mention, of artists who had to overcome rejection and failure before making their mark.“Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success”  – Robert T. Kiyosaki

These second five are very powerful! If we merged them all into one business person’s profile they would be a business person who didn’t:  fear taking calculated risks, doesn’t dwell on the past, doesn’t make the same mistakes over and again, doesn’t resent other people’s success and doesn’t give up after the first failure. That sounds like a recipe for a successful sales professional. I encourage us all to study the ingredients of a person with this makeup. And therefore, I’ll leave you with this quote from actor Tommy Lee Jones,”I’ve worked with some very good directors and some very bad ones. I learned a great deal from both. From the bad, untalented people, you learn what not to do. And when you work with very highly talented people, you want to emulate them.”

Jack Klinefelter
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