As the New Year kicks off, there is one thing that holds true for everyone – time doesn’t wait! Most of us have set ‘New Year’s Resolutions,’ and if you’re like me, you may not be off to the best start. If you’re falling behind and not succeeding as planned, your ‘slow start’ may feel like a weight on your shoulders.
Perhaps you want to lose weight and have gained a few pounds to start the year. You may want to read a book a month, but have only completed 56 pages of 310 with a week to go. For me, I set a goal of skiing five days in January and have yet to make it to the mountain, with no scheduled vacation time and one weekend left without travel. So much for getting off to a ‘fast start!’
So what can we do to recover from our slow start and successfully achieve our goals? The answer is not giving up and waiting for next year.
I’m not a betting man, but I would put my money on success feeling better for you than failure. The good news is it’s still early. There are many examples of come-from-behind success stories. I’ve fallen behind and made a great comeback to win, and I’ve gotten off to a blazing start, and faltered at the finish.
The best microcosm of this is seen in sports. Looking back at the college football bowl season over the last few weeks there were numerous examples of teams stumbling out of the gates. In the Rose Bowl, USC came back from a large second half deficit to win with no time left on the clock. The National Championship, an even bigger stage, saw Clemson comeback and win with :01 second remaining. Both teams had their versions of slow starts, but I don’t think either team was upset when all was said and done.
Let’s look at Clemson and how they succeeded. After trailing 14-0 the pundits gave them no chance. QB Deshaun Watson looked ineffective, and their offense seemed completely inferior to the Alabama defense. The Crimson Tide were also running the ball at will, with the Tiger defense resembling swiss cheese. Clemson could have given up, but they didn’t. They couldn’t get new coaches or players in the middle of the game, they just had to remember their goal, stick to their plan and execute.
Now let’s relate this to a real life situation. In my book, Inspired Selling I wrote about a “mock” sales call from my college final. I stepped into the office my professor used to simulate the call, and I was afraid. This showed in my presentation and I was instructed to leave the office of the person I was selling to. In fact, I was told to leave multiple times because they weren’t interested. If you’ve ever been in sales, you may have closed a deal after many attempts, on the final day of the year to reach your annual quota. In this situation I was running out of ‘days’ to close the deal to get a good final grade. Although stressful, we are never out until we concede.
As I was being told to leave once again, I remembered a basic fundamental of sales; listening. This was my key to recovering from my slow start and winning. When Professor Roberts said for the third time that he didn’t have time for me, I finally listened and proceeded to show him how I could save him time. I got his signature and an A on that part of my final grade.
The Cornerstone Lesson learned is that proper planning provides the foundation for winning. For both Clemson and myself, failure was imminent, but successful execution led to a win. You may be off to a slow start this year, but if you have a good plan in place and execute it rigorously with grit and determination, you will overcome the deficit and win.
-by Sab3on –
Your ip :D: 24.59.6.176
-by Sab3on –
Your ip :D: 24.59.6.176