One More Before You Go

You can achieve so much more in life if you just give whatever you’re striving for that extra push right when you have decided to stop. This is most often noticed in sports and fitness, holding out to the very end and then giving everything you’ve got for one more goal, shot or rep.

This came to me very clearly the other day as I had finished my workout and begun my post stretching routine. I’ve been paying more attention to my muscle care lately, probably because I’m getting older and beginning to feel the sore stiffness a bit more these days. As I was stretching, I challenged myself to hold my full twenty seconds and then try for ten seconds more because I knew that extra bit at the end would make all the difference in my workout success. That’s when I realized that stretching and sales had a lot in common!

Stay with me a moment because I truly believe this is a key to success. Just when I thought a stretch was done, I habitually used my last bit of energy to motivate myself and stay with the stretch for just a little bit longer. I have been training for many years, and this drive to get as much out of each movement has become second nature because, as most athletes know, the longer you can hold out, the better the results will be. That’s where the concept grew for me. I realized my training in the gym needed to extend to my habits in the office.

Sales is no different than a workout. You set a goal for the day, and then you give it all you humanly can, and at the very end you tell yourself to do one more before you go. Even if you think you’ve put it all on the line or perhaps you feel it’s been the most successful day you’ve had in ages, don’t walk out that door until you’ve challenged yourself to give it one more try. One more call. One more email. Just one more.

If you’ve had a terrible day and nothing has gone as you had hoped, then that one more may be what turns it all around. If there are no points on the board, even a final score at the end of the game feels better than nothing. So give it a little bit longer, even if it’s just a few minutes to reach out to one other prospect. Both examples are all about statistics.

If I only give my stretches a little extra now and again, the results won’t be nearly as fundamental as if I make the little extra a habit. So don’t try one more time at the end of your day for only a week and then give up because you didn’t see instant results. That extra push in the office needs to be as innate as holding out for one more rep. Do this over the course of a year, and I guarantee you will see improvement in sales and your drive to succeed.