“Read books that change the way you think about everything, not just about the way you do what you do professionally.” – Jeff Bajorek in today’s Tip 511
What is your favorite book?
Join the conversation below and go check out all the links!
Chosen Vision
Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Radical Candor by Kim Scott
The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
A Perfect Union of Contrary Things by Sarah Jensen with Maynard James Keenan
Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]
Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today Jeff Bajorek is back. Here he is:
Jeff Bajorek: My tip for you today is to take a break from reading sales books. Yes, I’m a guy who writes sales books. Yes, I have friends who write really good sales books. I’m telling you that while those books are valuable, while that information is golden if you spend time just reading about selling. You’re going to develop tunnel vision. You’re going to be too focused on the tactical nature of what you do and not on the other roadblocks that get in your way and prevent you from doing it.
Now, as I work with clients and as I speak with salespeople and sales leaders, what I’ve come to realize is that there are only two things that you can do to sell more that is spend more time selling and make sure you’re advancing in those sales processes when you’re in them. You’ve heard me talk about that before, but what are the things that get in your way, they almost always have to do with mindset and perspective and thinking about things in a different way. Approaching subject matter from a different angle.
So what I’m going to challenge you to do is read books that change the way you think about everything, not just about the way you do what you do professionally. And when you think about things that make overarching changes in your thought processes, that’s when you have impacts everywhere, not just in your business life, but in your family life, in your personal life and in your spiritual life as well.
So read books that make you think differently, like the seam to lab and Malcolm Gladwell are brilliant. They take subject matter that you may have held dearly for a long time, and they attack it from different angles to challenge those beliefs. And if your beliefs stand up to those challenges, then you’re in great shape. But in almost every situation you’re going to think differently. And that has far-reaching consequences. Books like Radical Candor from Kim Scott. Books, like anything that Renee Brown has written over the last half dozen years. Read biographies by people, you respect.
Watch their journeys, watch their challenges, watch the things that they’ve faced, how they overcome them. You can almost always see a parallel to your own life and it’s impossible not to be inspired by the fact that these people overcame tremendous adversity to reach the levels of talent and accomplishment that they have. Read things through your spiritual mind, read things for your, that’s the Bible for some people or other religious texts, depending on what you practice or celebrate, or Hey, maybe even all of them so you can learn or any of them. So you can learn about other people’s belief systems and maybe get a different idea of where they’re approaching things from.
There’s so much out there that you can read, and you’re not going to be able to get it all, but I’m want to caution you that if you’re too hyper-focused in any one direction or nat one subject matter, you’re going to be missing out on the bigger stuff that can in the wider perspective, that will help you in so many ways to remove the roadblocks that will make those tactics so much more effective when you’re able to really get involved and dig in.
So expand your horizons a little bit, read a couple of sales books and make sure you’re not ignoring those things, but to make sure you’re well-rounded, there’s so much out there that can help you, even though you may not suspect it right away. And I hope you take me up on that challenge.
Scott Ingram: If you value and appreciate Jeff’s tips the way I do, then please click over to DailySales.Tips/511. In addition to all of the usual stuff, there’s also a link to support Jeff’s favorite cause, Chosen Vision. Every year Jeff does something really special and valuable to help them raise money and this year is no different. Check out that link, see what Jeff is offering and I hope you’ll consider joining me in contributing.
Oh, and all of those books that Jeff just mentioned. They’re all listed there as well. DailySales.Tips/511
Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!