The most important sale is selling yourself on yourself!

Are you off and running pursuing your goals and objectives for March?

In my role as personal coach I have had the opportunity to observe many top producers, actually spending entire days with them while they worked. I have also tagged along with quite a few underachievers. I noticed that many top producers tended to act differently than did the underachievers in a few particular but important ways.

Let me share with you three of the biggest differences in characteristics that helped to separate the top producers from the underachievers.

The first and most obvious difference between top producers and underachievers is that top producers tended to exude positive attitudes. What do I mean by a positive attitude? Someone has a positive attitude when he or she focuses on opportunities rather than potential drawbacks. Somebody has a positive attitude when they focus on solutions rather than on problems.

Let’s look at the opposite side of the coin. What’s a negative attitude? A negative attitude is a strong focus on obstacles instead of opportunities. Someone who has a negative attitude tends to dive in and find problems when others find solutions.

The second difference is top producers demonstrate confidence, frequently called the “swimming pool phenomenon.” It works like this: even if a top producer isn’t a good swimmer, if they are asked to jump into the middle of a swimming pool and swim to the side, they won’t let on they don’t know how to swim really well. Instead, they will jump into the middle of the pool, somehow figure out how to swim to the side, and get out, never fully letting on that they didn’t know how to swim. Top producers consistently exude more confidence than underachievers do.

The third difference is top producers say “I will” and underachievers say ‘I’ll try.” I’d like you to think about a time when youtried to do a project. Think about a time when you tried to finish a project. Do you realize it’s absolutely impossible to try to do anything? Either you do it or you don’t do it. You really can’t try. If you finish the project, did you try to do it or not? No, you actually did it. As I spend time with top producers and underachievers, one of the things that was fascinating was how often underachievers used the words, “I’ll try.” Underachievers used the words “I’ll try,” an average of eight times each day. Eight times a day! In sharp contrast, the top producers said it an average of only once per day.

Now, that’s a huge difference between top producers and underachievers. Underachievers are much more likely to try to do something, top producers actually do it. It’s a little bit like being pregnant. Either you are or you aren’t. Either you do or you don’t.

Decide which characteristics you are going to demonstrate, because the choice will likely determine your future.