Why are some people relentless in the pursuit of accomplishments, while others hardly react to the word stimuli?

During my career, I was privileged to work with some of the best salespeople in the SME world. These folks were true achievers. Every single day, no matter how they felt, they pushed themselves toward the completion of the next accomplishment. They worked intelligently hard without ever showing signs of burning out. The harder they worked, they more energy they seem to draw from an unlimited power source located deep in their minds.

I often ask, What drives you?

The pursuit of perpetual challenge. Every new relationship brings a new cycle of servicing, incremental transformative development and referrals.

New relationships require constant improvement on factual knowledge (differentiating content that benefits the client), without which field excellence is impossible to achieve. They also require experiential higher knowledge that is derived from the discipline of field retention experiences and interactions.

Great salespeople always seems to start by telling the audience what they are going to share with them. Then they proceed to do exactly that. After, they close by reminding the audience of the next steps into the relationship.

  1. Always tell their clients who they are.
  2. Tell them what they are there for.
  3. Tell them what they have for them.

These great achievers never speak extemporaneously. On the contrary, they know what stories and benefits they will share with their audience; they’ve practiced their scripts and stories out loud in front of their mirrors. They have played hundreds of objections over and over again in their minds, added twists and unsurmountable obstacles to overcome. They stay up all night pondering, wondering and seeking answers to the most complex scenarios and rejoice when they uncover a solution that can be perpetually upgraded and improved upon.

Great achievers build their greatness by enhancing the following 5 steps.

  1. Write down factual stories and examples that resonate and impact with their clients.
  2. Practice, practice out loud.
  3. Each story becomes a “link” of connectedness like the link of a chain.
  4. During the presentation the links are connected in the appropriate order that seems to be a progressive natural conversation.
  5. Achievers work hard at adding new links to their web-like, ever-evolving matrix chain of persuasion.

Top achievers understand that their skills need to be improved continuously, but most importantly they work relentlessly on honing the sophistication of their innate talent to improve and intellectualize every minute decision. They force their instinct to not follow the path of least resistance to create near perfect performances. These achievers are always in close contact with their mental yearnings, and they act on their signals. They learn rapidly to satisfy their curiosity and share the newly-acquired knowledge with their clients.

Here are 10 strengths that I observed in these overachievers.

  1. Action oriented. Action leads to performance. You cannot grow if you have nothing to react to. Make a decision, take action, evaluate the results, learn and then repeat.
  2. Plan the future but adapt based on the needs of the moment. There’s a willingness to feel alive by stretching in different directions and away from the plan if it’s the best course.
  3. Back their words up with data, knowing that their client will challenge them to validate and prove their logic. The achievement of goals requires methodical thinking delivered softly.
  4. Belief with faith. Have enduring core values that facilitate trust and provide guiding direction to get through all the challenges and frustrations that get in the way.
  5. In Control. Take calculated risks; accept work discomfort and restlessness as part of the process to draw people to their presence. They take charge and command during most situations.
  6. Compete to win. Their performance is the ultimate yardstick; they compete to win. Winning justifies everything. Losing means self-reflection and adjustment, while winning means increased enhancements and improvement.
  7. They have the humility to share what they know to create better enriched connectedness to tap into the collective knowledge of others’ experiences.
  8. Success is derived from specific predictable actions that are ordered and planned.
  9. Goals and actions are the compass to achieve a sought after outcome. Achievers are laser focused on their future and the best outcome for their clients.
  10. Achievers are great students. They are energized and excited by the steady and deliberate journey of self-enlightenment.

These achievers taught me how anyone can achieve massive growth and change by starting an inner dialogue and leveraging the inner wealth of untapped innate resources.