Pay-off: improve more easily, steadily and realistically
Investment: 1.5 minutes
There’s a costly and simple mistake many of us make when trying to improve or develop new habits, behaviours or levels of activity.
If you’re finding it hard and frustrating to improve at anything in particular in your work or life, it could be down to the reason I’m about to explain.
If you find yourself failing more often than succeeding at improving your levels of activity in any area, and finding it hard not to give up, you could be focusing on the wrong thing.
On the other hand, if you want to set yourself up to win more easily and far more frequently in whatever you do, feeling better for it each day, and strengthening your position and likelihood of further success over time, a simple shift in your focus can make all the difference.
So, what’s the common mistake many people make?
Trying to beat your personal best
Trying hard to beat your personal best sets you up for a likely short-term fail.
Think about it. It’s understandable why people use their ‘personal best’ as a benchmark or target to beat. It appears to make sense, it’s one simple number, it’s usually memorable and enhances your focus. And it may appear motivating to start with.
But if you focus on that as a general rule, you’re going to fail plenty of times and not taste the smaller successes along the way that serve to drive us forwards. Consider what this does to your motivation, drive and energy.
So what’s the shift we could make to set ourselves up to win more often?
Trying to beat your personal average
Focus on beating your personal average and you’ll win in both the short-term more often, but also the long term too.
Why?
Because your personal average will naturally increase as you progress. So if you stick to the daily rule of beating it, your progress will improve steadily, incrementally, more easily and most likely more sustainably. You’re more likely to spend each day feeling like you’re winning. And that’s important to win in the end.
You’ll need to collect some data of course and determine your daily average. But once you’re tracking that figure, you’re on your way.
Whether trying to build a sales activity habit like reach-outs per day, or something non-sales related, spend 5 minutes working out your personal daily average over the last few weeks, and schedule to beat that tomorrow just by one.
Then repeat.
For more tips, insights or support around sales for non-sales or technical sales people, you can contact me here.
