Ever have one of those days where you simply dreaded a particular task? If you do what I do, you probably do everything on your list BUT that task and wait until either there is no more time left in the day, or you have exhausted every other task and are forced to finally tackle the dreaded job!
We all need to take a page from the article (copied below). It is entitled “10 Habits You Must Quit to Be Happy”…. or as I am going to title this blog….. “10 Habits You Must Quit to Be Successful in Sales!”
So, let’s address each one professionally (you can take the original article and apply it to your personal life if you feel the urge):
- Quit procrastinating. Putting off a task never makes it go away…. it still lingers on your “to do list” often causing even more stress. Tackle it FIRST and then it will go away. Never leave your least desired task for last. (By the way – this is my greatest “I must quit” point.)
- Quit passing the buck. If you think someone else is going to do your job for you, then you are sorely mistaken. If you don’t do the job you were hired to do, you won’t have to worry – someone else really will be doing your job.
- Quit trying to avoid change. There are just times where you must change with the times. Embrace change. Embrace technology. Keep striving to learn something new every day. I often say that if I didn’t try to learn something new every day then I would work my way out of a job. Don’t become obsolete so that your property leaders start looking for a newer model sales person. Even seasoned veterans need to educate themselves every day.
- Quit trying to control everything. You are in charge of sales. If you feel like you need your fingers inside everyone else’s pie then you will lose control of your pie. Focus on your mission and stick to the plan. (Now I do not mean you abandon every other aspect of the hotel – of course you will assist when needed. Just keep things in perspective. Don’t be a control freak just because you think you know best. Allow other department heads and associates the opportunity to shine.)
- Quit thinking success isn’t possible in your market. Success is earned. Keep your focus on your roadmap and push forward. Success doesn’t happen overnight. You write a plan and follow it. If the plan isn’t working, change the plan.
- Quit worrying about everyone else. Head up – move forward. Put your thinking cap on. Learn from other’s mistakes – more importantly, learn from other’s successes! Mimic leaders you admire and respect. If you keep doing the same thing every day you will get the same result (good or bad).
- Quit being afraid. Sales is scary. It takes practice. You don’t become an expert overnight…. heck you probably won’t be an expert in your lifetime. Just do your best and ask for help when you need guidance. Find a mentor and schedule weekly conversations! Read. Take classes. Do what you need to do to hone your craft. If you look in my digital library you will find a multitude of self-help books. Start your own library. If you look at my email daily you will see at least 10 different sources of hospitality-related experts that I subscribe to to help me (help you)! Start your own subscriptions.
- Quit living in the past. We can’t sell the rooms we didn’t sell yesterday, today. Our product has an expiration date so we must be proactive. Keep organized. Be mindful of your your traces and look for business on every avenue. The only past you should be looking at is the one that will give you repeat business! Look at the next 6 months. What companies held meetings or events in your hotel during that timeframe last year? Have you called them yet to ask if they would like to book this year?
- Quit trying to re-create the wheel. Some of the best ideas are stolen. Keep a file of “items to be stolen from later”. Build on the foundation of ideas you like and make them your own! The same goes for your conversation/sales presentations. Take the foundation of a presentation and put it in your phraseology and voice cadence. You are not a robot…. you are your own person!
- Quit being ungrateful. No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.
Happy being happy!
Linda
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10 Habits You Must Quit to Be Happy
When you quit doing the wrong things, you make more room for the things that make you happy. So starting today…
1. Quit procrastinating on your goals.
Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it. Action and change are often resisted when they’re needed most. Get a hold of yourself and have discipline. Putting something off instantly makes it harder and scarier. What we don’t start today won’t be finished by tomorrow. And there’s nothing more stressful than the perpetual lingering of an unfinished task.
The secret to getting ahead is simply getting started. Starting, all by itself, is usually sufficient to build enough momentum to keep the ball rolling. So forget about the finish line and just concentrate on taking your first step. Say to yourself, “I choose to start this task with a small, imperfect step.” All those small steps will add up and you’ll actually get to see changes fairly quickly. ReadGetting Things Done.
2. Quit blaming others and making excuses.
Stop blaming others for what you have or don’t have, or for what you feel or don’t feel. When you blame others for what you’re going through, you deny responsibility and perpetuate the problem. Stop giving your power away andstart taking responsibility for your life. Blaming is just another sorry excuse, and making excuses is the first step towards failure; you and only you are responsible for your life choices and decisions.
3. Quit trying to avoid change.
If nothing ever changed there would be no sunrise the next morning. Most of us are comfortable where we are even though the whole universe is constantly changing around us. Learning to accept this is vital to our happiness and general success. Because only when we change, do we grow, and begin to see a world we never knew was possible.
And don’t forget, however good or bad a situation is now, it will change. That’s the one thing you can count on. So embrace it, and realize that change happens for a reason. It won’t always be easy or obvious at first, but in the end it will be worth it.
4. Quit trying to control the uncontrollable.
If you try to control everything, and then worry about the things you can’t control, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of frustration and misery.
Some forces are out of your control, but you can control how you react to things. Everyone’s life has positive and negative aspects – whether you’re happy or not depends greatly on which aspects you focus on. The best thing you can do is to let go of what you can’t control, and invest your energy in the things you can – like your attitude.
5. Quit talking down to yourself.
Nothing will bring you down quicker than berating yourself. The mind is a superb instrument if used right, but when used incorrectly, it becomes very destructive. Be aware of your mental self-talk. We all talk silently to ourselves in our heads, but we aren’t always conscious of what we’re saying or how it’s affecting us.
As Henry Ford once stated, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” One of the major causes of why we fail is due to self-doubt and negative self-talk. The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful. Listen to your self-talk and replace negative thoughts with positive ones, over time you will change the trajectory of your life. Read The How of Happiness.
6. Quit criticizing others.
The negativity you bleed out toward others will gradually cripple your own happiness. When you truly feel comfortable with your own imperfections, you won’t feel threatened or offended by the imperfections you see in other people.
So stop worrying about the flaws you see in everyone else, and focus on yourself. Let the constant growth and improvement in your own life keep you so busy that you have no time left to criticize others.
7. Quit running from your problems and fears.
Trust me, if everyone threw their problems in a pile for you to see, you would grab yours back. Tackle your problems and fears swiftly, don’t run away from them. The best solution is to face them head on no matter how powerful they may seem.
Fears, in particularly, stop you from taking chances and making decisions. They keep you confined to just the small space where you feel completely comfortable. But your life’s story is simply the culmination of many small, unique experiences, many of which require you to stretch your comfort zone. Letting your fears and worries control you is not ‘living,’ it’s merely existing.
Bottom line: Either you own your problems and fears, or they will ultimately own you.
8. Quit living in another time and place.
Some people spend their entire lives trying to live in another time and place. They lament about what has been, what they could have done, or what might become. However, the past is gone, and the future doesn’t exist. No matter how much time we spend thinking and lamenting about either, it doesn’t change anything.
One of life’s sharpest paradoxes is that our brightest future hinges on our ability to pay attention to what we’re doing right now, today.
We need to live more in the moment. Living in the moment requires active, open, intentional awareness on the present. Don’t fantasize about being on vacation while at work, and don’t worry about the work piling up on your desk when you’re on vacation. Live for now. Notice the beauty unfolding around you.
9. Quit trying to be someone you’re not.
One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love you, and you’ll love yourself more too. The Road Less Traveled.
10. Quit being ungrateful.
Not all the puzzle pieces of life will seem to fit together at first, but in time you’ll realize they do, perfectly. So thank the things that didn’t work out, because they just made room for the things that will. And thank the ones who walked away from you, because they just made room for the ones who won’t.
No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.
Post written by: Angel Chernoff