The single best motivator for any and all sales people is finding your “why”.
Your ‘why’ is what’s going to keep you motivated when times get tough. It gives you purpose, and can help sharpen your decision making skills.
The Short Game
I’ll be honest. I have re-written this post several times now. It’s hard to put into words just how important this is to me, and should be to you. A trap I always found myself in was playing the short game. Playing the short game is focusing only on your next steps, without paying attention to which direction you’re going. Me, I was only looking at the next paycheck. I see it all around me too. People living check to check, with no real mission or goal in life. When you’re only thinking about the short game, it becomes too easy give in when the chips are down. Believe it or not, I didn’t actually step into sales for the money. I came into sales because of my desire to be an entrepreneur. I took my current job because I wanted to see if I was cut out for the life that I said I wanted. The life of risk and uncertainty. The life of unlimited potential, and unlimited failure. The money was just a consequence of the journey (a pretty friggin’ good consequence, to be fair). I get it, though. Life is expensive. So by no means am I saying that money isn’t important. All I’m saying is that the money isn’t everything.
Throughout my career, meeting all sorts of people, I have really had my eyes opened to what is important in life. I have met clients who were livin’ lavish, but were miserable. And I’ve also met clients who were living humbly with just enough, but were some of the happiest people I’ve ever seen. I remember one client; he was 72 years old and living on a farm with his wife. Despite growing up on a farm, he started a technology business. He and his wife built their farm house and stables themselves from scratch. I have say, I have NEVER met anyone so content with their life. As he showed me the custom jewelry that he designed with stones from all over the world, he went on to say that he has absolutely no regrets in his life and he would do it all again. Honestly, I was blown away. And that’s when I realized it. What made him so happy was his sense of fulfillment. He got what he wanted out of life, and didn’t need anything more. Not once did he ever mention the money that he made, or was making. His motivation wasn’t the money, it was the ‘why’. Playing the short game is just focusing on the money, but the long game is thinking about why you want the money, and where it’s going to take you.
Money can’t buy happiness. It’s just another tool that you can use to get there.
My WHY
Everyone has something different that they want out of life. We all have a different ‘why’. Our ‘why’ is what keeps us going. It’s what makes life worth living! So without further ado, here is mine:
In my post about Tattoos, I mentioned that the first tattoo I got was a quote “Do What Thou Wilt”. It translates to Follow Your Will. While the meaning is up for interpretation, my philosophy behind the quote is two fold: We should all try to live our lives trying to find our Will, or our mission (rooted in love). And once we know what it is, we should live our lives surrounding that mission. Every step we make and breath we take should be in the name of our Will. The truth is that with so much going on in the modern world, people are too distracted to really put enough thought into what they truly love to do, and what they want to do. But through lots of honesty, introspection and reflection we will all eventually find it.
What’s my mission? I’ve always asked that question, and my answers were the same: I love music, I love learning, and I love spreading the knowledge and wisdom that was passed to me. Recently I finally figured out what they had in common. My Will, and my mission, was to become a messenger. Not only to become a messenger, but to also become the message. My message was always in striving for and achieving freedom. I was lucky enough to have people in my life who passed that same message of achieving freedom (financially, mentally, etc.) onto me. Everything that they’ve taught me is what I intend to pass on to those around me. Thus, every move that I have made since has been in accordance to that mission: Becoming an entrepreneur, my fitness journey and starting this blog.
I have a whole lot more to learn. I have a lot more to share. And that’s what motivates me to keep pushing each and every day.
Do you guys agree, or disagree? What are your missions in life? COMMENT down below!