6 AM Workouts (Yes, I’m One of Them) & Finding vs. Convincing in Sales
Matthew Barton
Co-Founder at BRUK | & Sales Growth Advisor @MB& Co | Sharing Growth Insights through Writing & Podcasts
Intro
Welcome to my weekly newsletter, Iterations, where I discuss random thoughts, ideas, and stuff from my trials and errors that might hopefully be useful to one or two others.
Quote of the Week
“Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.”
Winston Churchill, Speech in the House of Commons, 31 March 1949.
Entrepreneurship is difficult, careers are difficult, and success is temporary, as failure is. All very cliché, I know, but I’m working through finding opportunities from certain failures in my business and personal life right now, so I am writing this as much for you.
Behind the Scenes (Projects and Thoughts)
Sales is more about finding than it is about convincing.
Sales often invokes ideas of convincing people to buy your product or service, and whilst some convincing might be involved, to me, this has too many connotations of arm-twisting or battling against another’s will.
In my opinion, sales is more often about finding people who need (and will gain benefit from) what you are selling. Our job is not to convince those who do not have a need and will therefore not gain a benefit, but rather to speak to enough people to find the ones who are looking for what we are selling.
Once we find the people who have an interest, then what we mistake for convincing is asking enough questions (sometimes tough ones) for the people we engage with to be able to figure out for themselves that they need what we are offering and to become excited enough about the outcome.
What I’m Experimenting With
The 6:00 am weekend workout
I know what you are thinking! Here comes another one of the plethora of early-rising, cold-plunging w*nkers about to profess the benefits of the above for the 100th time.
My desire to work out early is mainly driven by a hatred of busy gyms, as opposed to a passion for getting up so early. I was also forced to switch my regular exercise to the mornings shortly after my daughter was born when I realised that training after work was depriving me of time with her.
That routine has stuck with me. Typically, a 6:00 am start, a quick breakfast, ready to arrive at the gym at 07:00. The issue though, and this is where the experimental part comes in, is that my gym opens at 08:00 on Saturday and 09:00 on Sunday.
I’ve tackled this by joining another gym (a second gym) that opens at 06:00 so I can get my training done and then get in that precious time with my family. For whatever reason, the opening of the gym has become my target time. Just because they open at that time, I see it as a challenge laid down for me. Who knows why, but hey, I’m happy to use that as fuel.
Can I extend this to weekdays too? I’m not sure I need to. The 07:00 start to my training is sufficiently early enough, and I can walk to my weekday gym, whereas on weekends, it’s a 15-minute drive away.
Other benefits of a second gym.
Keeps things fresh. When you have been training for a long time, training can become like Groundhog Day. Same gym again, same workout for the 100th time. Changing the environment, different machines, different weights, or even the same ones but just in a different space is quite refreshing.
Podcast/Video Recommendation
For a while, I had heard the name Dan Carlin and Hardcore History pop up, and it came up again when Shane Gillis mentioned it in his podcast, recommending Dan Carlin’s coverage of the battles on the Eastern Front in WW2.
I have a reasonable amount of knowledge of WW2, but mainly centred around the European and North African conflicts and, of course, the Holocaust. However, I hadn’t really gone down the rabbit hole of the Germans vs the Soviets.
This three-part podcast is incredible, engagingly recounted, and enlightening as to what happened from the build-up to this part of the war through to its aftermath and the subsequent downfall of Hitler when the invaders became the invaded.
Book of the Week / What I am Reading
Inspector Imanishi Investigates
It′s a Japanese detective novel, a genre I have never read until now.
What I am getting out of fiction reading, for someone who has a proclivity to read non-fiction only, is the following:
? Reading without having to engage (as much) brain power as I would with many of the challenging non-fiction books I am typically drawn to, but still getting reading hours in.
? Staying power, doing things I find hard and am not necessarily good at, to build discipline.
? Learning through storytelling. I recommended a YouTube video in one of my earlier newsletters that shared an important takeaway from fiction reading over non-fiction, which is that we can potentially learn more from lessons in stories.
? Becoming a better writer by observing how the best novelists write and structure their work.
Keen to get back into non-fiction again next week though, with Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Skin in the Game next on my list.
As always send me a direct message or comment if you want to add your say on any of these topics.
Have an incredible week ahead. Keep iterating, keep trying, and keep learning!
Yours faithfully,
Matthew Barton