My favorite example of a person keeping a journal and succeeding in his profession is Robin Sharma. I have subscribed to his mails and videos – and trust me, he reveals some remarkable and magical results of keeping a journal. Journal could mean different things to different people; for some, it having a noteapp on their laptops, for some it is keeping a paperback notebook; and for some, it is keeping a diary in which they write their thoughts, emotions, future plans – or simply for writing their professional, personal, and spiritual goals.
Now, you must be wondering how a salesperson can benefit from keeping a journal? The answer is: whoever keeps a journal definitely sketches, or draws, or simply writes how much money they want in their bank accounts, how many assets he/she wants to acquire, what kind of a health and personal life he/she envisions, and the list could go on and on. So the real genesis of keeping a journal and committing pen to paper increases our likelihood of achieving our goals against the deadlines we have mentioned for ourselves, according to a Yale University study.
Michael Hyatt rightly mentions, ‘when it comes to setting compelling goals, we get more out if we put more in.’ And what better way to record your daily minutiae than keeping a journal? Journaling makes us more focused and enlivened our professions. It words as a motivational driver to help us realize our goals, sooner!
Now coming to my favorite part: top salespeople write and write and write their sales targets to discipline themselves to achieve their respective quotas – and in some cases overachieve in a way that becomes second nature to them. Their personal working style reflects in their professional disposition: of keeping a notepad, a noteapp or a diary in which they record their minutest of details to keep track of their progress.They realize that if you can measure it, you can manage it, seamlessly (over a period of time).
In reading Jill Konrath’s piece on the hidden power of gratitude in driving sales, journaling is perhaps the best way of transcribing your small wins – say if a prospect’s voice sounds affirming to buy your product, or say you closed the call with a positive next step, or you get a referral business from one of your top clients, or you write an e-mail and you got an ‘eureka’ response from the prospect – well, it could be anything that drives you forward in your sales cycle.
Via articulating your gratitude in a journal, you become more empathetic, warm, and personable. Your prospects tend to trust you more when you practice journaling and authenticity in your life. With that being said, via journaling you have a penchant for being regimental and more productive in your working hours – you don’t waste time on tasks that don’t yield tangible results. You start working like a millionaire and start treating time as a currency, which never comes back. You develop a mindset of achieving mastery in goal setting and personal success in ways that make you unstoppable.
So what’s stopping you? Buy that journal and start writing your way to success – and winning more sales!
Image courtesy of BrandonSigma. at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
