To become better at sales (or anything) you have to kick old habits and introduce new habits.

Sow a thought, and you reap an act

Sow an act and you reap a habit

Sow a habit and you reap a character

Sow a character and you reap a destiny

– Samuel Smiles

Charles Duhigg, author of the Power of Habit, says you can’t just kick a habit, you have to replace it with a new habit to make the change permanent.

Watch this video to learn how habits are formed so you can switch them with new empowering habits.

[embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H0fTwtPLfo[/embedyt]

Kick old habits

When you understand how habits work you can do something about them rather than letting them control you.

[0:40] How habits are formed

[0:52] what triggers a new habit

[1:05] How to track what triggers your disempowering habit

[1:27] Discovering the routine where the habit takes place

[1:50] The most important part of forming a new habit

[2:12] What is the essence of the habit?

[2:49] Replacing the old habit with the new

Thumbing away from the present

My bad habit was social media. Too much social media. A few thumb taps before starting my day; likes at 11; retweets at 2. I’d reach for my phone while waiting for a plane, standing at bus stops, sitting on the train. I think you get the picture. Every time I reached for my phone I took myself away from the present moment. As a result my patience declined, anxiety increased, and productivity collapsed.

Digital detox

After deciding enough was enough, I uninstalled social media apps from my phone and reset my desktop passwords so I couldn’t just get on the website with one click. I replaced social media consumption with mindfulness exercises such as focussing on my breath, feeling my footsteps, or listening to my surroundings, and by that I don’t mean eavesdropping 😉 Eavesdropping tends to keep you firmly in ego because all most people do is complain. Now I listen to things like people’s feet scuffling or breaks screeching. I decided to listen to the real twitter instead of the social media platform – you’ll be amazed at how much you can hear when you turn off distractions and listen to your surroundings. Since making these changes my focus sharpened, procrastinating withered, and creativity boosted.

I’m not completely off social media, I had to stop it completely for 7-days and then reintroduce it by regulating my time scheduling “community management and engagement” times during the day.

Two empowering habits for mindful sales

1. Next time you’re out for a walk, instead of thinking what you must do that day, replaying conversations from yesterday, or thinking about something, listen to your footsteps and feel your feet touching the floor as you walk. Developing the ability to get out of your head and connecting with your senses is the key to mindfulness.
2. Ask more questions: our education and socialisation squeezed our question asking out of us. Kids ask lots of questions, but we’re merited on answering questions or told “it’s rude to ask questions”, so slowly we stop. Developing a habit of asking more questions will make you excellent at selling.

What habits are you kicking this year or introducing to help you sell more (mindfully)?