The power of positive thinking

In sales, a positive attitude is a necessary component of a successful career

By Tom Reilly -- Industrial Distribution, 10/1/2005

Your price is too high. I can buy this cheaper somewhere else. We must put this out for bid in spite of your hard work. We aren't making any capital expenditures this year. We will be outsourcing this business function to another location. We are shipping our manufacturing overseas. We are consolidating our purchasing with another location and using their source. Things are a bit slow right now.

These are just a few of the daily realities salespeople encounter. This much stress can be wearisome; it taxes even the most positive mental attitudes. Yet, salespeople cannot submit to the challenge of the environment in which they sell. As an old sales dog put it one day, "If the sun's not shining, I'd better be."

The motivational fuel for salespeople is their positive mental attitude. It's the juice that enables them to get out of bed every day and face the challenges of creating business where there is none. It strengthens them to face the adversity and rejection that come with the territory. The ability to control one's attitude is the ability to change one's future. The neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl said that the last of human freedoms is the ability to choose one's attitude regardless of the conditions in which we find ourselves.

There is a moment between stimulus and response that is pregnant with choice. Something happens, and in an instant, we choose how we will respond. That choice determines our stress level and effectiveness. We may not be able to control the circumstances in which we find ourselves, but we do control our reaction to them. We cannot control the outcome—only our input. That is freedom of thought and expression.

People who cultivate a positive way of viewing life practice it daily. They wake up in the morning and reflect on the things for which they are grateful. They understand that the battle may be great, but they are grateful for the opportunity to fight it. They understand what makes them happy. They derive happiness from working in a profession that enables them to make a difference in another's life. They think about things they do during the day that make them proud. They are proud of their efforts to serve customers and their companies. These are positive emotions that are intertwined with positive attitudes. And all of this comes from the choices we make when we wake up in the morning.

When we choose to live with a positive attitude, we unleash the power of creative intellect. When we choose to live a life filled with negativism, we crowd out any hope for creativity.

Cynicism is a complete waste of a perfectly good imagination. We are most negative when we choose to focus on the obstacles versus the opportunities. Negativism in any job is hazardous, but in sales, it's disastrous. Negativism compounds the obstacles salespeople face.

With all the competition you have on the street, do you really need to battle the demons inside your head?