Growing up, I heard my parents say more than once how lucky we were to have a roof over our head and food on the table. My father often quoted, “Health is wealth.” I didn’t realize it at the time, but these reminders served as a foundation for creating an attitude of gratitude in my personal and professional life.
My first book, Growing Great Sales Teams, Lessons From the Cornfield, was published in 2006. The final chapter was focused on the power of gratitude. Thirteen years later, I find the principles shared in the book haven’t changed.
- Be thankful when you have a “pit’ at the bottom of your stomach during a sales call. It means you’re taking risks, experiencing failure and learning how to grow and improve.
- Be thankful for tough prospects. They REALLY remind you to appreciate your great clients.
- Be thankful for good competitors. They prevent you from becoming complacent.
- Be thankful for tough bosses. Their high expectations of you help you stretch and achieve your full potential.
- Be thankful for being tired at the end of a workday. Many unemployed would give anything to walk a mile in your shoes.
- Be thankful for failure. The lessons are priceless and learned only through experience.
- Be thankful that you live in a country where you can still “show up and try.”
- And…be thankful for the profession of sales. It’s one of the few where you are still paid for your personal performance and perseverance.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
