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Practice Management > Building Your Business

My motivational touchstone

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Whenever I think about sales motivation, I remember a chance meeting at a networking event years ago. A stranger handed me his business card. When I glanced at it, I was surprised to see that it didn’t have the standard name, company and contact info. Instead the card said simply, “Never believe in never! — Robert H. Schuller”

When I commented that his card wasn’t at all what I was expecting, he just smiled and said the message was more important than his mundane contact information. We chatted briefly and he disappeared into the crowd. I never saw him again.

How it’s impacted my life

The man I met wasn’t actually Robert H. Schuller. He was merely sharing the message of this popular televangelist. But this business card had a huge impact on my life. When I got back to the office, I tacked it up on the wall in front of my phone. Every day I stared at it, and soon the message wormed its way into my thinking: Never believe in never!

Instead of letting myself get down when I faced a tough situation, I accepted reality. Where I was at any given moment in time was simply my new starting point. I might have been behind, but that didn’t mean I had to stay there. The roadblocks were simply challenges, not obstacles that could never be overcome.

My challenge to you

This mindset was my impetus for learning something new, whether it be information or a skill, anything vital to my future success. I still have this card on the wall in my office. After so many years, it’s tattered and battle-scarred — not surprising since it’s been with me my entire career.

This saying informs everything I do. It keeps me growing and learning. It focuses my thinking and inspires me to be better today than I was yesterday.

As you move forward in your own sales career, I invite you join me in the practice of never believing in never.

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