Dear Past Me,

B2B sales isn’t for the faint of heart. You’re going to face rejection. A lot of it. And you’ll meet challenges you didn’t see coming, making you question everything—your approach, your persistence, even your sanity. It’s going to feel, at times, like you’ve got hooks in your back, constantly pulling you in different directions, demanding more from you with every step.

It's a difficult path, but it's our path. We're still here, still pushing forward, you’ve already figured out what so many don’t. There’s something cathartic about this struggle.

B2B sales isn’t the glamorous world people make it out to be. There’s no fast track to success. The grind is relentless. You’ll spend hours crafting the perfect pitch, and it’ll land on deaf ears. You’ll deal with prospects who are unresponsive, uninterested, or difficult. And the pressure? Don’t even get me started. When you’re not hitting targets, the questions start. Doubts will creep in, and the weight will feel unbearable.

But here’s the thing—this hardship, this rejection, the constant uphill battle? It shapes you. It sharpens you. It forces you to dig deeper into what drives you. You’ll get your teeth cut, no doubt. It won’t be pretty, but you’ll come out stronger. When you finally break through and see the results of all that effort, it won’t just feel like success. It’ll feel like catharsis. The payoff after all the effort, the sweat, and the late nights will be worth it. You’ll know that you stuck with it when everyone else might have quit.

Sure, it can feel like an endless cycle of rejection. But once you get past that noise, once you accept that setbacks are a part of the process, you’ll begin to appreciate the small wins. Those moments when you turn a cold lead into a loyal customer. When you close a deal after weeks of objections and roadblocks. When you see the light at the end of the tunnel and realize it was all worth the pain.

What people often don’t tell you is that the hardest part of B2B sales isn’t the rejection. It’s the emotional resilience to keep going. It’s about accepting that, no matter how good you are, not every prospect will see the value you’re offering. And it’s about continuing to fight through when you feel like you’ve hit a wall.

But if you can weather those storms, if you can keep moving forward, there’s a real satisfaction in this struggle. It’s not about how many times you fall—it’s about how many times you get up. And when you do, you’ll realize that you’re not just stronger for it; you’re more skilled, more resilient, and more capable than you were before.

So, past me—when you’re in the trenches, feeling the weight of the grind, remember this: it’s all part of the process. It’s messy, frustrating, and not always pretty. But when you find success, when you see the tangible results of your efforts, you’ll understand exactly why it was all worth it.

And that feeling? That’s what makes every hook in your back worth it.

Keep pushing.

— Phil