How many of us can go an hour or a day without having a negative thought? If you are completely honest with yourself, the answer would be that you could not or with great difficulty.
Have you ever benefited from a negative thought? Has it helped you achieve great business results or a happy personal life? Has it made you feel excited or made you feel good about yourself? I do not think so. So why do we have negative thoughts and persist in them?
Unfortunately, the vast majority of people think and speak negatively without realizing it. Maybe it’s our social conditioning and we’ve become insensitive or for some people it’s to seek attention or fit in? Negative thinking can become a habit and have a detrimental effect on your energy level and happiness, as well as weaken your immune system.
Be careful what you think most of the time because it will attract you, whether it is positive or negative, wanted or unwanted. The law of attraction is at work and has no judgment ability and will give you what you want whether you believe it or not. For example, if you used the phrase “I need more business” repeatedly over time, the result would be “I need more business.” This negative thinking will prevent any change, such as actual sales, from happening. Start by changing your mindset, such as “I’m taking positive steps to build on the business I already have.” Focus on what you have and not on what you don’t have.
In the short term, positive affirmations will clash with your belief system. Your belief system determines how you think, feel, and behave. If you are already a competent salesperson and want to change your sales results, you need to eradicate the beliefs that create the negative result. A belief is a statement that you say over and over again that you think and feel is true to some degree about a current situation. Although a belief can be strong, it is often not based on concrete facts or experiences.
Write down and repeat the positive affirmation every time you get the chance until you create a new belief system. For example, if you are used to responding to a customer who has asked you “how are you?” with “good” why not use more uplifting language like “excellent”. Now wait, I hear you say, I don’t feel very well and that would be lying. It’s a lie? Do you have to act how you feel every time or can you change your mind? If you knew you would create a better first impression by using more uplifting language and end up feeling better and more energized, why not use words like “cool…wonderful…fantastic?” If something prevents you from changing, it is your current belief system.
So where do you start?
1. Become aware of your thoughts
Set a time frame like 1 day and watch your thoughts. You may be surprised at how many negative thoughts you have, but don’t worry, you’re on your way to a major change in your sales career and in his personal life. If a negative thought occurs, notice it and then let it go and avoid saying it out loud. For example, “Business is really tough.” You may consider changing your mindset to “The business environment is challenging, but I’m up to it.”
2. Change your way of thinking
Once you have become aware of your negative thoughts, replace them with positive ones and always make affirmations short, specific and realistic. For example, “I really wasted that opportunity” to “I’m glad to know where I can improve, I’ll ask more probing questions.”
3. Change how you feel
This is the hardest thing to do even when you are thinking positively. To unfreeze the feelings you want to replace and refreeze the new ones, start by visualizing the outcome you want. The result should be seen and felt in great detail. Do this repeatedly until the new thoughts and feelings are part of your new belief system.
4. Take affirmative action
Without action nothing will change. Be active in your daily work and apply what you have learned. It’s hard at first, but it will get easier with practice. You will get the results you need and you will feel better about yourself. What a great new belief system.
As sales professionals, we are expected to handle rejection on a daily basis, which makes it difficult, but not impossible, to stay positive. Negative thoughts can easily appear. Start today by becoming aware of your thoughts. It’s the first step in the right direction to take control of your thinking and lead a happier, healthier, and more productive life.