In my early sales years I remember going to a training at Sports Area in Point Loma, San Diego. It was called Get Motivated. During one particular session, led by the sales legend, Zig Zigler, something happened that I have not forgotten since.
Inside of his session, Zig called up a volunteer sales person from the audience. He then asked the man what grade they would give themselves as work (with “A” being the best, and “F” being the worst). He said what most people in the room would say. “I would give myself an A!”
When Zig asked him why he said, “because I set goals consistently and work hard to reach them every single day.” That was a good answer!
Then Zig asked him “what would you give your home life?” The man paused and then said, “what do you mean?” Zig then responded with, “well, do you do any of the same habits you do to excel at work? Do you set goals constantly for your home life and work constantly to improve them? Or do you just let things happen?”
The man shook his head and then replied, “I would have to give myself an F.” Zig follow up by saying, “then your life is a C (the average of an A and F grade).
I’ll never forget that realization when I learned that there’s so much more to life than just work. That brings us to step one of how to have a balanced life.
What grade would you give yourself?
Self awareness is the first step towards any method of improvement. Take the time to consider how you would answer.
Is it possible to have a balanced life when you’re in sales?
Yes, I believe it is possible! However, it is a challenge that you must work on every single day.