One thing I’m sick and tired of hearing is stories that start with “back in the day I used to kill it.” Every time I hear someone say that, I think to myself “why did you stop killing it then?” Because let’s be real, no one ever says “I want to be successful for a short period of time” That’s not how the game we play works. I have a theory on why “back in the day” stories are plenty and present day wins are few. Hear me out.
Winning isn’t easy. If it were easy, there would be no losers. Winning takes hard work, focus, dedication, time, pain, and finesse. Often times, when someone has put in the work to win, they fear starting over and winning again. After all, it’s hard work. It’s like those folks who peaked in high school or peaked in college. They won one championship and celebrate it for the rest of their life, even though they gave up on going to the big leagues.
Sales is full of people who’ve won in the past, but have given up on winning in the future. I hear people say “but the rules changed” or “it’s not possible these days” and it’s all bullshit. It’s much easier to win once and retire, than it is to remain the champ for the rest of your life. Guess which pays better, retirement or championship?
What’s even worse, and what I notice the most, is that those who have won on the past refuse to be coached on how to win in the future. It’s as if past wins have impacted their ego so much that they refuse the help to win again, even if it’s helping themselves. The phrase “I know that” is one of the most dangerous phrases to use. While most people know everything, few choose to implement knowledge. And as I always say “knowledge + action = success”
I work with a lot of mortgage loan officers. Often times, when I get on the phone with one, they talk about how good they had it prior to 2009. Which is complete bullshit, because everyone had it good in mortgages pre 2009. Money was everywhere and unregulated. If you could breath you could get a loan. When shit stopped being easy, only champions pushed through. Most gave up and just accepted it as if their peak had past.
Yet here we are, 8 years later and many people in the mortgage business have never out earned their pre 2009 incomes, although we live in the best time to be in the mortgage business ever. Their past success is hindering their future earnings. It’s a huger upper limit, mental block. It’s not just loan officers either. I hear it from damn near every sales profession.
The good old days are now, the sooner you realize that the better.
You’re afraid of the work: When you win the championship, you must turn around and defend the title. It’s a lot easier to win it once, than it is to defend it all the time. Most people, maybe even you, relish in the point that you won once, when you need to be focused on how to remain the champ.
You think you know it all: There is no winning champion who doesn’t have a coach. Knowing it all is not the problem, lack of application and action are. Just because you know what to do, doesn’t mean you’re actually doing it. You need a coach to help you do what you know.
You don’t believe it’s possible: Most people think what was possible back in the day is no longer possible now. We live in a time of advancement, not regression. Anything that was possible in the past is only more possible and easy in the present. It’s all a matter of mindset and making the shifts over time, instead of fighting them.
Are you reading this thinking I’m describing you? Did you crush it in one place or another in the past and just can’t seem to overcome the past wins and start winning again? I feel you, it’s a mental block that most salespeople must face in their lives. It starts with mindset. You have to belive that your past wins were simply training exercises for your future championship. You must belive you deserve to win and are willing to do the work and lastly, every champion has a coach. You gotta be coachable.
The moment you think you know what it takes and decide not to do it, is the moment you shift from winner to loser. I know it’s sometimes a hard pill to swallow, my job is not always easy. But some of you reading this needed to read the truth and the truth is you’ve decided not to win again. You’ve decided to relent. That’s not the real you, that’s the scared version of you, you’ve let you become.
Maybe it’s time you shift your thinking from past wins to future success. Let’s start by building up wins in the present. Where and what can you win right now? Can you win top producer? Can you win over 5 more clients? Can you win over the boss and patch things up there? Where can you get a few small wins in your life right now? Identify those wins and go after them. Use the small wins to gain momentum with big wins.
It’s time for you to forget about past accomplishments. It’s over and done with. No one is no longer proud of that phase of your life. If you’re not winning in the phases of life you’re in now, you’re doing this phase of life wrong. You weren’t put here on Earth to talk about some shit that happened 10 years ago, for the rest of your life. It’s time you do the work my friend. The past is over, it’s time you create a future.
