Mindset

Have you ever thought about going back to get a degree in your topic here?

I have. Many times.

Yet, I have never been able to personally justify spending tens of thousands of dollars to get a formal degree that may or may not provide a return on that investment. I signed up to do an MBA program several years ago with the University of Illinois, but ended up never taking a single class when I found out that most graduates with that degree don’t make significantly more than their non-MBA degree holding peers.

I recently read the book The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. If you are unfamiliar, it is an overview of Adlerian Psychology, also known as Individual Psychology.

I’ll admit that I had never heard of Alfred Adler or the psychology he was a proponent of, but I am glad that I gave this book a read. Unlike many psychology or self-help books, this one is written in the form of a narrative dialogue between a student and a mentor, which makes it very easy to read.

How do you react when difficult circumstances arise?

Life isn’t always fair. It’s not easy. Difficult circumstances will arise for all of us from time to time. The question is how will you choose to respond during tough times?

It is tempting to give into our emotional response and allow that to dictate how we react. This, however, is not good. Emotions are fleeting and driven by hormones flooding your body. They are indifferent to reality outside your current circumstance. They have no perspective.

Mindset is everything.

Sales is arguably a mindset game and most salespeople get it wrong.

Let me tell you why…

Most sales reps I have spoken to over the last decade have told me that the reason they went into sales to begin with is to make more money. There’s no doubt that making commission is a massive upside to working in sales - but the issue arises when the initial motivation becomes the focus of your daily mindset.