In an excellent session with my mastermind coaching group, I put this question on the agenda. Are you in the results camp or the show-up and work camp? The results camp is a tough place to be. The results camp puts the goal up on the board, stares at it, and continually measures where they are against where the goal is. Inherent in this process is always feeling like your less than because the only measurement is the goal.

A lot of managers manage this way, holding the carrot and cracking the whip until the goal is hit. The show-up and work camp also have a lofty goals, but they set them up and set them aside. Then they go to work. They understand the work that’s needed to achieve the goal, but rather than measure against the goal constantly; they measure the work.

It’s like being up at bat with bases loaded, down by two. You’re aware of the score, but if you focus on the scoreboard exclusively, you’ll likely strikeout. Conversely, if you focus on the next pitch, there’s a much better chance you’ll even the score. We need to set the goals, but more important is setting up the steps necessary to achieve the goals; the key performance indicators that lead to achievement. Whether your goal is to make four sales this month, lose four pounds, or get to four miles on your run, it’s the same. If you show up and do the work, you will shatter the goals. Let’s take the run. Let’s say that you currently run three miles three times per week but want to increase to four; that’s a 25% increase, which is substantial. You could try to run four miles each day instead of your usual three and fail. Imagine how defeated you’d be after a week or two of that? Conversely, Imagine building a plan of 10% increases. If you ran 3.3 miles for each run in week one, and increase your mileage to just 3.5 for your week two runs, then went for 3.8 in week three, you will hit, and pass, your four-mile run in the last week of the month. This works because you can celebrate wins each week and build your confidence muscle so that when week four comes, even though you’ve never run four miles before, you’ll feel certain that you can.

Own Your Sales Gene…