How To: Survive Your First Year In Sales

So you chose a career in sales? Perhaps you studied business and want to try out those sales strategies you learned about? Maybe you studied marketing and want to start analysing consumer trends? Or you come from the social sciences and are ready to build human relationships?

Whatever the reason, welcome to working in sales!

Sales is challenging, especially during your first year in the industry. It will test your mental toughness, resilience and perseverance, in some cases to an extreme level.

That "Wolf of Wall Street" image is still largely present across major key players in all areas of tech (and outside of it!)... and whilst there are numerous leaders changing this and moving away from traditional sales environments you often still end up in one... especially when looking for a starting job!

So how do you balance your work responsibilities alongside learning? How do you become a top performer but yet maintain a positive work-life balance? How do you manage the constant pressure and still keep your mental health... healthy?

Its about finding balance. And hopefully this article will either support some of your current habits or give you new ideas to explore and try! Please keep in mind these are things that have helped me to get through a challenging first year in sales and the beauty of being human is our differences, it comes down to trying to see what works and doesn't for - you.

Starting nice and easy. Day Plans and Checklists!

My friends and colleagues can really attest to the fact that my days are planned from the moment I am awake to when I go to bed.

Having a structure is key and having a checklist ensures that you do not miss important to do items.

Atul Gawande's "The Checklist Manifesto" is a must read! Although it is focused on the medical industry the applications and the effect of having a simple daily checklist is mind-blowing.

My Tip:

Create a habit: 10 minutes before the end of your work day start planning and writing down your most important items to be completed for tomorrow.

Generally you can also do this before you brush your teeth and get ready for bed - spend 10 minutes writing a to do list for the following day. You can divide the sections into work and personal life and include clear and achievable targets.

Make sure you write precise tasks and not general goals, habit formation is all about being specific and it is important to set realistic targets (if you have never read a book don't suddenly put to read an entire book in your weekly to do, instead start small, target 10 pages to read a day!)

Habits!

The previous point leads nicely into this, creating some good habits is an absolute must and if you are struggling to structure your days/weeks why don't you give Atomic Habits a read? The book is full of practical suggestions, has templates to follow and simplifies the science and rational behind habit creation.

Having a diverse day which focuses not just on your 9-5 helps to maintain a healthy mindset and often improves your physical health which leads to my next point.

I currently start my day with a few habits that help me to prepare for work: I make my bed, I shower and take care of my skin, I have a smoothie, I read one page of Daily Stoic and I do not let myself leave the flat until I have finished one lesson of Duolingo!

Exercise.

For me personally this is the absolute backbone of my week, my mental and my physical health.

I currently workout 6 days a week and I do weight training at a gym near our office. The key to building an exercise routine is to start by assessing your current level and building an improvement plan. It has to be small but simple steps in how you can improve on your current level. Don't suddenly commit to a 5 day routine if you usually go once a week - aim for 2 days first and same principle can apply to the actual exercises you do.

Don't like being at a gym? No problem. Embrace walking, running, cycling... anything that moves you and puts you in zone of movement which is outside of standard walking or sitting.

But overall this is important for so many health aspects and mental health wellbeing. Exercise moderates neural levels and helps manage the stress you may experience at work especially when working in sales!

Setting Goals and Journaling.

I started 2024 by having a plan in place - I broke down my goals into profession, exercise, travel/social and educational. I promised myself to take each month as it comes but have a rough idea of what I would like to improve on this year.

It is so important to keep in mind the bigger picture, don't lose yourself in your role - your identity is defined by so many aspects of life, achieving balance across work and external activities is what will shape you to be a well-rounded individual.

And take time to journal, check-in with yourself - how are you feeling right now? How are you progressing in your goals? What are you struggling with and how could you resolve it? What are you proud of?

It's so important to take some time to reflect.

My final point is around the power of NO.

Starting your career you naturally feel the pressure of wanting to prove yourself, achieve your goals and grow professionally as quick as you can. We tend to start comparing ourselves to professionals in the industry and often develop this mental schema of what the ideal career path would look like. So then of course we take on extra projects, we work crazy 60-70 hour weeks and we sacrifice the weekends to sit in front of the laptop and pray that the lead we chase works out...

The solution?

No, thank you.

One of the hardest things to do in life is to say no but there is a huge problem here, if you aren't careful, the more things you take on the more your life becomes overwhelmed with them.

Don't ignore your mental and physical health for work related sacrifice, your older self will thank you.

I hope this has given you some reassurance on the things you may already be doing or in some cases has given you some new ideas!

Whatever stage of your career - be proud of your journey.

P.S. Julia Child wrote her first cookbook at 50 ;)

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