There is nothing I love more than seeing my clients’ dreams form into reality. The interesting thing is that most of my clients decide to work with me because they want to reach their sales goals. Then they quickly realize that there’s so much more to our sales training and coaching programs than they ever imagined.
My clients know there is something missing regarding why they aren’t reaching their goals, but they aren’t sure what it is. They don’t know why they keep getting stuck or reaching the same sales results every month. There are often key things that are missing from how they are moving from their sales goals to their dream goals. I find, as humans, we often start from exactly where we are. We set mediocre sales goals that get us “just enough” and then wonder why we aren’t getting anywhere.
But that’s backward.
You have to start with the end in mind. I know you’ve heard that before, and yet habits don’t change automatically. If you’ve always done things one way, you have to dig deep into yourself to change how things have always been and how you’ve always done them. There is safety in the status quo. Believe me, your brain doesn’t want it any other way. There is safety in staying exactly where you are—right in your comfort zone. Yet, there’s an entire world waiting for you out in your new Belief Zone. I define your Belief Zone as that “place” outside of your comfort zone where you believe your goals are possible, even if it feels like a stretch. Our job is to become aware of our limiting beliefs so we can release them and shift them into more positive beliefs (more on that below).
So, your challenge is to let go. Release your old habits. Release your status quo. Release your old thoughts and limiting beliefs about what is possible or not possible and start to dream again.
The only way to reach the sales goals you’ve been thinking about is to create the dream life and the goals you REALLY want. These are the dreams you think about right before you go to bed—the dreams you think about right when you wake up. They are those thoughts and dreams you push down because you don’t think they are possible. You believe they are so far outside of what you’ve ever accomplished in the past.
When you do that, when you allow yourself to discover the dreams that have become dormant, then you finally begin to head in the right direction.
But wait, there’s more work to do.
Here are the 5 steps you can take to not only reach or exceed your sales goals, but also to create the life you have been dreaming about for a long time.
Step #1: Dream. First, you have to dream again and get clear on your goals. Go to a coffee shop, go to the beach, go somewhere that inspires you and begin to dream! I have a favorite coffee shop in Minnesota that I love to go to. The coffee shop was actually a house from the early 1900’s that has been renovated (really cozy and it has cool vibes). It’s where I go to dream and to write. It’s where I go to really get inspired about what I want to create next. Whenever limiting beliefs come up I check into them and ask myself what’s not true about them. When you go through this process, do the same. When limiting beliefs come up, do the same thing. Check in and ask yourself what’s not true about them and begin to poke holes into the belief. Once you do that, the limiting beliefs will start to evaporate because you’ve allowed your conscious mind to see that it’s just your ego trying to keep you safe.
Step #2: Plan. Realize that money loves a plan. Ooooooh, this is so big and I want to make sure you take a moment to “get” this. I remember one of my clients grew his business really quickly from $3M to $5M. When I asked him why he thought this had occurred, he said, “Money loves a plan. You can’t just make it without telling it where to go.” Years later I heard Dave Ramsey, famous radio show host, financial expert and best-selling author, say the exact same thing. When I look back, the times when I reached my sales goals the fastest was when I had a really clear plan for my money. The next step for you is to move beyond dreaming and move into planning. Once you know what you want, how much is it going to cost? Build projections for your sales and business and then build a budget for both your personal and professional life. You will be amazed at how quickly your sales begin to grow when you have a clear plan.
Step #3: Connect. Your sales plan must be connected to your dreams. For a lot of people, there’s a major disconnect with this. They create the dream life and goals, but they never connect it backward to their sales plan. The key here is to determine how much money you need to make to create the sales plan. Now, remember, I am assuming in all of this that you are serving your clients at the highest level and that you are only working with clients whose problems you can solve. In other words, this entire plan only works if you are coming from a place of complete integrity. Assuming this is true, then break down the exact number of sales you need every month to live your dream life. Break it down one more step by determining how many clients (on average) it will take each month and how many appointments you need. Once you know that, you can determine how many sales calls you need to make to reach your appointment goal. Yes, it’s painful to break it down to that granular of a level. But once you know that information, you have freedom and you are on your way to reaching your dreams!
Step #4: Decide. You’ve heard me say this before, but you have to get all in! Burn the back-up plan. Get 100% committed to the new plan you’ve created. If you don’t do that, it’s very difficult to have things easily fall into place for you. Some people are in multiple businesses and need to just get into the one they are most passionate about. Others need to stop saying, “If this doesn’t work out, I’m just going to get another job.” When you are splitting your energy like this, it shows up in your sales results. When you make the decision to get all in and close the door on everything else, get ready to take a roller coaster ride to your destination.
Step #5: Move. Okay, you’ve got the dream life plan. You’ve created your sales plan and it’s connected to your dream life. Beautiful! Feeling free yet? Okay, there’s one more step. Well, wait, there’s many more steps because you have to get moving! You will find, though, that by having this clear plan, the inspired ideas to move forward begin to show up. But then, it’s up to you. You have to take that first step in front of you, which will be out of your comfort zone. I’m telling you, you probably won’t want to do it, but it’s the exact step you have to take.
I’ve given you the five key steps that WILL help you move into your 2016 dream life. Now it’s time for you to make the decision to get all in. Often people get very excited when they get this information, but when they realize what it’s going to take, and that it’s going to take them out of their comfort zone, they stop.
In the words of the amazing Brian Tracy, “Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”
Don’t stop! Please, don’t stop. The path will unfold before you once you get going. Take it!
