Lessons Far Larger than the Office

Yesterday, I found myself involved in a fairly epic apartment moving project. I had thought that I was volunteering to help out for a couple hours with many other people. I discovered, as I was riding in the truck, which was the only way for me to get back to my car and which was not going back to my car until it was unloaded, that almost everyone else who was supposed to help had bowed out. This meant that the moving team was myself, a man of moderate strength, another slightly stronger than myself, and a roommate of limited carrying capacity but a great deal of pluck.

Did I mention that the closest place to park the truck was about 150 feet from the door?

It was during this adventure that I found that my time at American Income Life had well prepared me to tackle the unloading of this truck. What I might have seen as an impossible task a year or two ago was tackled in a reasonable period of time.

Every Obstacle is Merely a Challenge to Be Overcome

AIL has taught me that in any situation, there is a way to win, no matter how difficult it looks. The key is to focus on success in the task rather than focusing on the obstacles to the goal. A year or two ago, I would have been quite frustrated finding myself in a situation where we were expected to do more than anticipated with less resources than we should have had. Yesterday, I simply applied myself to solving the problem.

It Never Hurts To Ask

One concept that is very important to train in a new salesperson is the idea that it never hurts to ask. Most people will not be upset if you ask them for something, as long as you are willing to accept a negative answer with a pleasant smile. Thus, when I encountered a curious neighbor, I immediately asked him for assistance and he provided us with a second dolly.

Work Smarter Not Harder

When we looked at some of the things that we would have to move and the distance we would have to move them, I first thought it would take all night and possibly result in the removal of my arms. Then, I applied my large human brain to the project. By using the dollys and other tools available we were able to make short work of an impossible task.

I am not trying to suggest that my time at AIL has prepared me for a successful future in the moving industry. Rather, the concepts of pushing myself and my limits, having faith that people will help me, and being smart about how I work apply not just to creating my success in the field and in the office, but have made me a better and more successful person in all aspects of my life.

I Jogged Today

I went out jogging today. It wasn't impressive. I jogged around a building, paused at my door for a four minute breather before making the run again. I suspect I that I went about 300 yards if that. Not exactly a marathon runner's work out.

When I don't exercise for too long, I start to get what I can only describe as a clogged feeling in my chest. It is like a car that is constantly driven at low RPMs which accumulates gunk which can be cleared by taking it up to 5000 RPMs for a bit to flush everything out. I have not had time to get to the gym, so I figured I might as well take advantage of the gym that nature provides.

This got me thinking about other things that I should make a habit of. You see, I am in the terrible habit of taking my hands off the steering wheel of life. I get too caught up in the day to day distractions and worries that I forget about the long term. It's not a new year, but this weekend does start a new quarter, and in business, a year is too long to wait, so let's make some resolutions for 2011Q3.

Jog Every Morning (when it is not so hot as to cause heat stroke)
The great thing about being out of shape is that exercise does not take very long at all. Even with my breather, my jogging adventure took all of 8 minutes. As I get better, it will take a little longer, but I suspect that I can get up 30 minutes earlier to get a bit of exercise.

Make a Blog Post at Least Three Times a Week
I enjoy writing, and I have heard unsubstantiated rumors that some people like reading this. I have not written much lately, not because I have had nothing to say, but because I have not believe that I had the time. Again, I suspect that this post will take all of 20 minutes. Obviously, I can find 60 minutes per week to write.

Listen to More Sales, Leadership and Inspirational CDs
My new car has a CD player, and since I got it, I have been listening to various CDs which I will link to at the bottom of this post. My closing ratio has nearly doubled since I have started doing this. Speakers like Zig Ziglar remind me of the attitude I should be carrying in my work which I occasionally forget.

Get Back on the Video Blog
I stopped my video blog for two simple reasons. My rechargeable batteries stopped holding a charge and I never got around to getting new batteries. I suspect I can surmount that mighty challenge and return to video blogging. The other issue was that I started trying to do things that required more editing, and by more I mean any editing. I got too busy to actually edit them together, so I never uploaded them and didn't record one for the next day because I had one pending. When one is busy enough, it's all to easy to be stymied by stupid things.

There we go. Four simple things for Q3.