The Ultimate Mindset
I speak to different salespeople and leaders each week and ask many of them the same question:
What’s more important for success - sales skills or mindset?
The overwhelming majority of responses are versions of ‘Both, but mindset is the most important’.
Now, seeing as nearly everyone agrees that mindset is key to success in sales (myself included), the natural follow up is to ask how your mindset can be improved.
After all, if it’s one of the most important factors in our success, let’s make it better!
This article therefore seeks to answer three fundamental, and potentially life changing, questions for you:
What is your mindset made of?
How important is your mindset to your life?
Can your mindset be changed and, if so, how?
What is the Ultimate Mindset, and how do you create it?
What is your mindset made of?
Mindset is a collective term covering a range of processes. It operates like a computer, running on programs and patterns based on all your life experiences. Everyone’s mindset is unique, although common themes appear.
To make it clearer, I’ve broken it down into ten different areas:
1. Beliefs
Core Beliefs: Fundamental assumptions about ourselves, others and the world that we hold to be true.
Self-Beliefs: Beliefs about our own abilities and worth, such as "I am capable" or "I am not good enough".
2. Attitudes
General Attitudes: Overall outlooks towards life, such as optimism or pessimism.
Specific Attitudes: Attitudes towards particular aspects of life, like work, relationships and challenges.
3. Thought Patterns
Automatic Thoughts: Immediate thoughts that come to mind in response to specific situations.
Cognitive Biases: Tendencies to think in certain ways that can deviate from rational judgement, like confirmation bias or negativity bias.
4. Emotions
Emotional Responses: Feelings that arise from our thoughts and experiences, such as joy, anger, fear or sadness.
Emotional Regulation: How we manage and respond to our emotions.
5. Expectations
Self-Expectations: What we expect of ourselves in terms of performance, behaviour and outcomes.
Expectations of Others: What we expect from others in our interactions and relationships.
6. Habits
Behavioural Habits: Routine actions that are performed automatically.
Mental Habits: Regular patterns of thinking, like habitual worry or habitual gratitude.
7. Motivations
Intrinsic Motivation: Drive that comes from internal rewards, such as personal growth or satisfaction.
Extrinsic Motivation: Drive that comes from external rewards, such as money or recognition.
8. Values
Core Values: Deeply held principles that guide our decisions and actions, like honesty, integrity and compassion.
Priority Values: Values that take precedence in our decision-making process.
9. Goals
Short-term Goals: Immediate objectives we aim to achieve in the near future.
Long-term Goals: Larger, overarching objectives that guide our long-term efforts and planning.
10. Resilience
Coping Mechanisms: Strategies for dealing with stress, setbacks and adversity.
Adaptability: Ability to adjust to new circumstances and challenges.
As you can see, your mindset is a complex set of different processes and patterns that runs automatically. Your ability to excel at your job and live a happy life is therefore clearly going to be affected by your mindset in any given moment.
Next you’ll find out by just how much.
How important is your mindset to your life?
Consider this: what have you ever experienced outside of your mind?
It’s the only place that anything ever happens: all your thoughts, emotions, sensations, and perceptions. Every situation you’ve ever been in, every person you’ve met, every love, every loss, every triumph, every failure – all experienced through your mind.
Think the world is cruel and full of suffering? That’s what you’ll see.
Think your life is a wonderful adventure? That’s what it’ll feel like.
Your mindset is the subjective lens through which you see an objective world. Without your mindset, there is no experience of the world. It would literally have no meaning. Based on this understanding your mindset is the biggest influencing factor on your experience of life.
Want to sell more and live a happier life? There’s only one place to look.
Can your mindset be changed and, if so, how?
You only have to reflect for a few minutes to answer the first part of this question.
You know that you don’t have the same mindset as when you were a child, for example, otherwise you’d still be scared of the dark, monsters under the bed or the creature from NeverEnding Story (just me?).
Your mindset is constantly changing, often at a glacial pace. Big changes or sudden shifts are rare, and usually occur through significant changes in our life’s circumstances.
The process for changing the ten attributes that make up our mindset is not so much of a mystery however, and can be described in a simple three stage model:
Information - Assimilation - Action.
1. Information
Becoming aware of something new: a word, an idea, a story a belief.
Example: Did you know that your feelings are only ever a reflection of your thinking?
2. Assimilation
Reflecting on the information, considering its truth, and pondering its implications.
Example: Reflect on a time when you felt a strong emotion. Was it really the situation causing the feeling, or your thoughts about the situation?
3. Action
Taking your new idea out for a test drive in the real world.
Example: Next time you feel a strong emotion, check where your thinking is at and see what happens when it changes.
By consistently applying this model, you can achieve significant changes in your mindset.
How to take action
To change your mindset, follow the three-step change model: Information - Assimilation - Action.
Disrupt your existing thinking
Change doesn’t come from your comfort zone. Be bold and head towards the unknown.
Read books, listen to podcasts, and watch documentaries you wouldn’t normally.
Engage with new people and communities that challenge your current conventions.
Consider new ideas
Mull them over, challenge them in your mind, and adopt them temporarily to see how they feel.
Introduce 1% of doubt into something you believe 100%.
Take action
Implement new ideas in the real world. This is where change really happens.
Hire a mentor or coach to challenge your mindset and hold you accountable for taking action.
What is the Ultimate Mindset, and how do you create it?
Your mindset is not fixed and can change at any time. It’s influenced by many factors, most of which are beyond your control (upbringing, life events, biology etc.). However, you can take clear actions to change your mindset by seeking out new ways of thinking, considering them and taking action to test them in the real world.
Most people don’t take action or implement new ideas. This is what will set you apart and accelerate your growth and change. Embrace hanging out in the unknown and trying new ways of thinking, doing and being. Fundamentally, I think this is what life is all about.
The path to growth and change is never linear, but it always starts within. See your mindset as the creator of your life, and treat it accordingly - invest in it, respect it, honour it and marvel at it, even if it doesn’t always give you what you want. This in itself is a chance for insight and change, as our mindset can only create the things we ask for.
A few key reflections and understandings can help shape a mindset rooted in openness, curiosity, humility and truth:
Live in the moment
Become aware that you have thoughts. You are not your thoughts; you notice them coming and going. This insight helps you shed old thinking and embrace a new way of being.
Know that you have beliefs
Challenge your beliefs to see if they’re true, especially if they don’t serve you. This can be challenging alone; a coach or mentor can be invaluable.
Create rather than react
Remember, you are new in every moment. Choose to create rather than react to situations based on habitual thinking.
Emotional intelligence and self-awareness
Understanding your feelings helps you understand your conditioning. Accepting all emotions leads to a calmer, more settled mindset.
Live from agreements rather than expectations
Create agreements with people in your life - and honour them. This reduces conflict and keeps you grounded in reality.
Understand the habits that run your life
Optimise your habits and systems to align with your purpose and authentic being. Consistent action towards an authentic goal leads to sustained success and happiness.
Create authentic goals based on your version of success
Ensure your goals are truly yours, not influenced by others. Intuition guides you to clarity so you can focus on what’s truly important.
Know your values
Align your life with your values for more flow and integrity. Values guide decisions and keep you honest about who you are.
Resilience
True resilience comes from accepting reality as it is and taking action with a clear mind, rather than fighting reality.
Know who you are
The more you know who you really are, the more freedom and enjoyment you will feel, as your identity will not be attached to your sales performance.
Conclusion
For salespeople, the benefits of a great mindset are profound.
A positive mindset can lead to increased resilience, better handling of rejection and the ability to maintain motivation and enthusiasm. By leading with curiosity and humility, you can better understand your clients' needs and serve them more powerfully.
When you enhance your emotional intelligence, you can build stronger relationships with clients, as well as connect better with your friends and loved ones.
By living in the moment and focusing on creating rather than reacting, salespeople can adapt to client needs and market changes more effectively. Stress and anxiety is also greatly reduced, as this is only a product of a mind living in imagined future scenarios with an attachment to specific outcomes.
Furthermore, understanding and aligning with your values ensures that your sales approach is authentic and genuine, building trust with clients. Authentic goals keep you driven and focused, not just on hitting targets but on achieving meaningful success that transcends money and career advancement.
In summary, cultivating the ultimate mindset is essential for salespeople. It empowers you to face challenges with resilience, build genuine relationships, stay motivated and achieve authentic success.
Invest in your mindset, and you’ll create the life and career you desire.
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If you have any comments or questions, or you’d like to develop your own Ultimate Mindset, please send me a message via my Contact page.
