To help, I\u2019m sharing the five key tips that helped me get better. For those feeling dark, know that your brightest days are around the corner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Join the Salesblazer movement<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\nTip 1: Focus on inputs, not outcomes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe biggest stressors are between our ears as we obsess over outcomes. Will I hit my quota? Is this deal going to close<\/a>? These questions fill our days with constant worry.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI remember staring at the leaderboard back in my dark days, my face heating up with frustration. The emotions became so intense that I was showing up to meetings with commission breath, desperate to make a sale. Customers could smell it a mile away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis kind of stress will kill your negotiations,\u201d said Anita Nielsen<\/a>, sales expert and owner of LDK Advisory Services. \u201cIf we\u2019re in a place of negative self-talk, we\u2019ll be tempted to leave money on the table.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nI couldn\u2019t take the discomfort anymore. First, I worked on detaching from the outcome and focusing only on what I could control: revenue-generating activities. I made a daily list of top priorities and took things one task at a time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Customers started responding, and deals were advancing. I felt productive and could sleep well at night knowing I was doing all I could to get the results I wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To improve outcomes, we have to improve our daily inputs. Think about your top priorities for the day, the steps you can take to move your biggest deals forward, and the difficult conversations you can have that you\u2019ve been avoiding. Those are the things you can control and take action on.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bill Walsh, the former San Francisco 49ers coach who won three Super Bowls, calls this process thinking. \u201cConcentrate on what will produce results, rather than on the results, focus on the process not the prize,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tip 2: Good now beats perfect later<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nOne of the biggest struggles I see in my coaching clients is perfectionism. They avoid taking action because they think their work isn\u2019t good enough, or they don\u2019t feel prepared enough. This leads to a snowball effect, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and paralysed by inaction as their tasks pile up. As a result, they experience feelings of shame and stress from not taking the right actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had one client who was just promoted to enterprise sales and was speaking with C-level executives for the first time. She clammed up in meetings, intimidated by the titles in the room, fearing that even the tiniest slip \u2014 a wrong word, a pregnant pause \u2014 would spell disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My advice to her: There\u2019s no such thing as perfect. Aim to do your best. What\u2019s most important is that you focus on helping and serving your customers. The only way you\u2019ll learn to command a high-stakes room is from experience and practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s true of anything. We have to learn by doing, whether it\u2019s writing emails, giving presentations, or negotiating. Good now beats perfect later. (Or more likely, perfect never.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\tDrive pipe faster with a single source of truth<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Discover how Sales Cloud uses data and AI to help you manage your pipeline, build relationships, and close deals fast.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tLearn More<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/eu\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/salesforce-blog\/dist\/images\/offer-block\/offer-illustration-layout-one.png\")
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\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\nTip 3: Improve your mental health at home first<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe root cause of mental health in sales will actually be found in your personal life, not your professional life. I emerged from my rock bottom because I learned I had to go to the source. I needed to work on myself before I could work on my career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I realised I had a bad relationship with my quota, allowing it to dictate my self-worth. The worst part? I was doomed either way. If I hit it, I felt great for a day, and then I had to start over. If things didn\u2019t go well, I felt awful. This is a vicious roller-coaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I escaped with a mantra: \u201cI am not my number.<\/a>\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nI then set out to find joy and fulfillment outside of work. For example, I now spend an hour every day eating lunch with my wife and son, no matter what else is going on. I stop work by 6 p.m. every evening and spend nights and weekends with my family. I exercise four to five times a week and have successfully completed two marathons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Establish rewarding personal objectives outside of your job. Start small with goals you can easily hit. Confidence comes from consistently keeping your word to yourself, so give yourself some personal wins that boost your self-esteem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make more phone calls to family, help a friend, or take up a hobby. Daily exercise, meditation, walks, sunshine, and time with loved ones go a long way. You can\u2019t pour from an empty cup, and it\u2019s important to do the things you love to keep it full. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tip 4: Give yourself grace<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWe’re often our own harshest critics. We hold ourselves to impossibly high standards, and when we don\u2019t reach them, we feel shame and beat ourselves up. This makes us feel even worse, causing us to repeat the same destructive behaviors we feel bad about. This what’s\u00a0often referred to as the Cycle of Shame<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve found that a key to improving mental health and breaking this cycle is to give yourself grace on a daily basis. You are doing the best with what you have, and that\u2019s all you can do. Some days will be better than others, and every day brings a new chance to start over, one day at a time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A simple practice to get started: Acknowledge one thing you did well today, rather than ruminating on what you did wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also (and this is simple but important) get back up quickly after you fall down. It’s normal to have days where you don’t feel or perform your best. We are human beings, not robots. Recognising and accepting that we are imperfect allows us to strive to do better tomorrow when today wasn’t great. This grace allows us to get back up quickly and keep moving forward, one day at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tip 5: Get help<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re having concerns with your mental health, don\u2019t try to address it alone. Seek help. There are professionals, communities (like Salesblazer<\/a>), and resources available. For example, you could reach out to your company’s employee assistance program (EAP) for guidance and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGet better to sell better<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhen we feel bad, our performance suffers. Sellers who rated their mental health as good or great significantly outperformed sellers who ranked their mental health as fair or poor, according to the recent State of Mental Health in Sales Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe message is clear: If you\u2019re having mental health concerns, focus on you, not your sales targets. And always remember that success follows happiness, not the other way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember staring at the leaderboard back in my dark days, my face heating up with frustration. The emotions became so intense that I was showing up to meetings with commission breath, desperate to make a sale. Customers could smell it a mile away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis kind of stress will kill your negotiations,\u201d said Anita Nielsen<\/a>, sales expert and owner of LDK Advisory Services. \u201cIf we\u2019re in a place of negative self-talk, we\u2019ll be tempted to leave money on the table.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I couldn\u2019t take the discomfort anymore. First, I worked on detaching from the outcome and focusing only on what I could control: revenue-generating activities. I made a daily list of top priorities and took things one task at a time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Customers started responding, and deals were advancing. I felt productive and could sleep well at night knowing I was doing all I could to get the results I wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To improve outcomes, we have to improve our daily inputs. Think about your top priorities for the day, the steps you can take to move your biggest deals forward, and the difficult conversations you can have that you\u2019ve been avoiding. Those are the things you can control and take action on.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill Walsh, the former San Francisco 49ers coach who won three Super Bowls, calls this process thinking. \u201cConcentrate on what will produce results, rather than on the results, focus on the process not the prize,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest struggles I see in my coaching clients is perfectionism. They avoid taking action because they think their work isn\u2019t good enough, or they don\u2019t feel prepared enough. This leads to a snowball effect, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and paralysed by inaction as their tasks pile up. As a result, they experience feelings of shame and stress from not taking the right actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had one client who was just promoted to enterprise sales and was speaking with C-level executives for the first time. She clammed up in meetings, intimidated by the titles in the room, fearing that even the tiniest slip \u2014 a wrong word, a pregnant pause \u2014 would spell disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My advice to her: There\u2019s no such thing as perfect. Aim to do your best. What\u2019s most important is that you focus on helping and serving your customers. The only way you\u2019ll learn to command a high-stakes room is from experience and practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s true of anything. We have to learn by doing, whether it\u2019s writing emails, giving presentations, or negotiating. Good now beats perfect later. (Or more likely, perfect never.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Discover how Sales Cloud uses data and AI to help you manage your pipeline, build relationships, and close deals fast.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The root cause of mental health in sales will actually be found in your personal life, not your professional life. I emerged from my rock bottom because I learned I had to go to the source. I needed to work on myself before I could work on my career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I realised I had a bad relationship with my quota, allowing it to dictate my self-worth. The worst part? I was doomed either way. If I hit it, I felt great for a day, and then I had to start over. If things didn\u2019t go well, I felt awful. This is a vicious roller-coaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I escaped with a mantra: \u201cI am not my number.<\/a>\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I then set out to find joy and fulfillment outside of work. For example, I now spend an hour every day eating lunch with my wife and son, no matter what else is going on. I stop work by 6 p.m. every evening and spend nights and weekends with my family. I exercise four to five times a week and have successfully completed two marathons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Establish rewarding personal objectives outside of your job. Start small with goals you can easily hit. Confidence comes from consistently keeping your word to yourself, so give yourself some personal wins that boost your self-esteem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Make more phone calls to family, help a friend, or take up a hobby. Daily exercise, meditation, walks, sunshine, and time with loved ones go a long way. You can\u2019t pour from an empty cup, and it\u2019s important to do the things you love to keep it full. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We’re often our own harshest critics. We hold ourselves to impossibly high standards, and when we don\u2019t reach them, we feel shame and beat ourselves up. This makes us feel even worse, causing us to repeat the same destructive behaviors we feel bad about. This what’s\u00a0often referred to as the Cycle of Shame<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve found that a key to improving mental health and breaking this cycle is to give yourself grace on a daily basis. You are doing the best with what you have, and that\u2019s all you can do. Some days will be better than others, and every day brings a new chance to start over, one day at a time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A simple practice to get started: Acknowledge one thing you did well today, rather than ruminating on what you did wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also (and this is simple but important) get back up quickly after you fall down. It’s normal to have days where you don’t feel or perform your best. We are human beings, not robots. Recognising and accepting that we are imperfect allows us to strive to do better tomorrow when today wasn’t great. This grace allows us to get back up quickly and keep moving forward, one day at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re having concerns with your mental health, don\u2019t try to address it alone. Seek help. There are professionals, communities (like Salesblazer<\/a>), and resources available. For example, you could reach out to your company’s employee assistance program (EAP) for guidance and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we feel bad, our performance suffers. Sellers who rated their mental health as good or great significantly outperformed sellers who ranked their mental health as fair or poor, according to the recent State of Mental Health in Sales Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The message is clear: If you\u2019re having mental health concerns, focus on you, not your sales targets. And always remember that success follows happiness, not the other way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTip 2: Good now beats perfect later<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Drive pipe faster with a single source of truth<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\nTip 3: Improve your mental health at home first<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip 4: Give yourself grace<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tip 5: Get help<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Get better to sell better<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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