PLANNING - The discipline of regular review and planning.

by Dave Kahle

Navigating your way through complexity in a rapidly changing, information-saturated world  Part 5

The pace of change has increased, the growth in complexity has multiplied, and information has proliferated at an unprecedented pace.  We are in extraordinary times.  And unprecedented times call for unique and disciplined approaches if we are to survive and thrive. In this fourth of a series, I unpack a set of recommendations for strategies, processes, attitudes, habits, and disciplines to build into your lives and businesses – things I call sails and keels – to help us survive and thrive in these unprecedented times.  In this post, I describe the next keel – the discipline of regular review and planning.

Discipline   

First, a few words about discipline.

For much of my professional life, I’ve observed that a lack of discipline is the primary reason why some people are successful, and others are not. It is one of those bedrock characteristics that shape our lives and enable us to acquire the skills and knowledge it takes to succeed. So, it’s a big deal.

     Let’s drill down into it.  The dictionary lists these synonyms: self-control, self-restraint, mastery. Wikipedia defines self-discipline this way: [discipline] is about creating new habits of thought, action, and speech toward improving oneself and to reach institutional goals. 

What’s the single best thing you can do to expand your B2B sales?

Invest your selling time where it will get the best results.

And that means that you methodically and systematically rank your accounts by their potential and then adjust your investment of selling time.

In over 30 years of working with over 500 sales organizations, I’ve developed a system to do that and taught it to hundreds of sales teams. 

Join me on October 6^th, at 12:30 Eastern, for a one-hour webinar, and I’ll teach it to you as well.

It will be the best $47 you have ever spent.

My definition:  An act of will whereby we engage in activities that are designed to improve ourselves and/or our organizations regardless of whether they are pleasant or not.

     Here’s my best example.  I am a morning lap swimmer.  I started 30 years ago when I discovered that swimming laps relieved the pain in my back.  I’ve been swimming a few times every week ever since.

     For many of those years, I lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Imagine getting up at 6 AM in the middle of January.  Driving to the swimming pool in the cold and dark.

     After having located a parking spot on the street, stepping into slush and snow, and then slipping and sliding into the building with a single-digit temperature and the wind and snow swirling around you.  Then, imagine changing out of street clothes and into a swimming suit, and then jumping into a lap pool which is kept considerably cooler than regular swimming pools.  For the next 30 minutes, imagine swimming mindlessly back and forth in what is the most boring exercise known to mankind.  You can’t talk to the guy next to you, you can’t watch TV like you can on a treadmill – you just must gut it out.

     I don’t like it.  And, the truth is, I’d rather not do it.  But, for 30 years I’ve done it – once or twice a week. It’s a discipline ... CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE.

Listen to my response to this question:

Dave, I’m a salesperson. I feel really conflicted between the culture of the job and my commitment to Christ.  Do you have any suggestions as to how I reflect my Christianity in my job?

There are lots of challenges and great opportunities in the role of a Christian Salesperson. In this video, I share some wisdom from 30 years of sales.

 We’ve all seen the news coverage on the restaurant in Virginia who cancelled a banquet reservation by a Christian group because the employees didn’t “feel safe.”  Let’s think a little bit deeper about it.