Female Sales Professionals: Take Out Your Head Trash!

If you are a woman who sells for a living, let me suggest that you begin 2019 by taking out the trash. I am referring to your “head trash” – those limiting beliefs and notions that lead to self-doubt, remorse, and subservient, and generally wimpy sales behavior. This is something I can’t do for you. You can’t get anyone else to get rid of your head trash. You have to do it for yourself.

What I can do, though, is point you toward the best tool for taking out your head trash: a journal.

You really can begin to shift your disempowering beliefs toward a more productive, empowering perspective by incorporating journaling into your daily routine. Using just a few minutes of scheduled journaling time to you start your day from a place of optimism and possibility will have a dramatic positive impact on what transpires through your day. Why not start your day on the empowering side?

Grab your coffee and your notebook and jot down the answers to the following questions first thing each morning. If you prefer, you can use your smartphone to voice record your journal entry on your morning drive to work.

What am I grateful for today? Journal about something good in your life. It could be your cat, your family, your garden, Netflix – anything that makes you smile counts!

What is my empowering belief toward myself, and my sales role? Journal about a specific empowering belief. For instance: “I have every right to be a saleswoman because I not only know my stuff, I am excellent at getting to the real problem at hand. While not everyone has a need, for those who do, I will make a difference.”

What will I do to show courage, or step out of my comfort zone today? Journal about a clear commitment to move outside of a routine that is comfortable for you … but is holding you back. For instance: “I will begin my sales meeting with clarity of purpose and a clear spoken agreement of what we wish to accomplish in our meeting.” Or: “I will walk away from business that is not a good fit for me, and be OK with that.”

How will I “lighten up” today? Journal about something you can do to not be so serious, and stop worrying about being “perfect.” For instance: “Sometime today, I will decide that a challenge I am facing is not all that important in the grand scheme of things.” Another great option is voicemail. I find leaving myself a voice message complimenting me on how amazing I am puts me in the right frame of mind every time!

While you can’t control many things in sales, you can control how you perceive yourself, and you can control how you react to situations that are bound to come your way. “Head trash” makes you less grateful, disempowers you, keeps you mired in routines that don’t support you, and makes you take yourself very seriously indeed. Journaling helps you take out the “head trash” and reverse those patterns.

One thing is certain – you will always perform in a manner consistent with your self-concept. In 2019 and beyond, use journaling to remind yourself that there is no need to apologize for being a woman, or for selecting sales as your career of choice! Respect yourself first … and others will respect you.

About the Author

Lorraine Ferguson is author of The Unapologetic Saleswoman: Breaking The Barriers, Beating The Odds. Ferguson is a dynamic trainer and coach who accelerates growth in companies by focusing on the right behaviors, attitudes and techniques that drive success. She has brought the Sandler Selling System to hundreds of selling professionals and businesses. Companies and individuals have transformed their business development ability by working with Ferguson.For more information, please visit this link