This blog often discusses how to succeed in sales. I thought it might be interesting to turn that idea around — and write about how to fail. After all, if you don’t know what causes failure, it will sneak up and bite you in the behind, sooner or later.
With that in mind, here are three very common beliefs, that ALWAYS create failure. Please note that these aren’t the beliefs that come out of your mouth; these are the beliefs that the little voice in your mind tells you when you’re feeling blue. Here they are:
- FAILURE BELIEF #1. My self worth is based upon what others think. Some people define themselves based upon how they guess that their boss, their co-workers, their relatives and friends see them. Convinced that people think poorly of them, such people suffer from low self-esteem and lack of confidence.
- FAILURE BELIEF #2. My past failures limit my future performance. Some people find failure so unpleasant that they try to avoid it at all costs. As a result, they avoid any situations where failure is a risk. Because any meaningful sales effort entails risk, such people seldom, if ever, accomplish anything significant.
- FAILURE BELIEF #3. My destiny is controlled by the supernatural. Some people believe that their status in life and potential as a human being is determined by luck, fate or divine intervention operating upon the circumstances of their lives. This allows them to deflect the blame for failure and robs them of initiative.
I don’t think that you can believe any of these things and really be successful in sales. They come from a conversation I had recently with Omar Periu, a well-known motivational speaker. He’s big on building beliefs that make you more successful, as well as expunging the beliefs that cause you to fail.
