Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him. – James Allen

This quotation from James Allen (I advise you to read his 1902 As a Man Thinketh probably free on Kindle) is from the chapter on ‘Responsibility’ from Weldon Long’s The Power of Consistency. (Today’s Reading: The Power of Consistency: Prosperity Mindset Training for Sales and Business Professionals by Weldon Long)

‘Responsibility’ is the fourth part of Long’s 4 step model for developing a more effective and consistent habit of making high quality decisions:

1. Focus – Create a plan
2. Emotional Commitment – Become tied to that plan through a daily practice of reflection on the results and elements of accomplishing the plan
3. Action – Taking the consistent actions required by the plan and imprinted on your mind and heart by the emotional commitment.
4. Responsibility – Take responsibility for everything within your control. Economic ups and downs, others’ decisions, and the weather aren’t in our control. Spend time focusing on the decisions we can make in spite of all these things vs. blaming the conditions.

Our responsibility is to focus our thoughts on the things that we can affect. In a sales setting, we can’t ultimately force a prospect to make a decision, but we can improve our processes and skills. We must take responsibility for improvement on those areas vs. blaming prospects for their decisions. Over time, the results will fall our way on a more consistent basis.

This idea of taking responsibility really is a freeing thing. Even if somebody has done something really horrible to us, we can still take responsibility for our responses. We don’t have to be victims or live in suffering. Obviously, some things require some major work, but committing to the major work is part of learning to take responsibility.

Today’s Action Item: Spend time with my family (it’s Saturday) and define my sales process. 

One of the key elements in this section of Long’s book is to focus on the sales process and improve each element. Subsequently, the sales process must be clear and defined so that I can focus on each element and improve each part.

Now on to part one of today’s action item – hanging with the family. Y’all enjoy your Saturday.

Until tomorrow…

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This blog is a response to Dan Miller’s unintentional challenge from his podcast on August 15, 2014: If you read or listen to 30 minutes of quality content a day, you’ll double your income. 

From September 1, 2014 through March 1, 2015, I will be doing the following:

1. Listening or reading to 30 minutes of success, growth, business, spiritual, or other mindset-shifting, skill-sharpening content.
2. Selecting one action item from that content (with some leeway to select an action from a previous day’s content).
3. Doing that one action.
4. Writing about the action or some other idea from the reading and listening of the day.