Friday, February 15, 2008

Procrastination - Fear of Failure

I was thinking recently about some of the reasons why a person chooses not to succeed in business specifically sales. Sales is one the careers with unlimited income potential and yet many in sales choose to limit their income. They tend to procrastinate achieving the results until the last minute. Then anxiety sets in, sleepless nights, irritability, and that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. How many of you have endured such a state?

I can hear it now. “I don’t wait until the last minute. Customers are not buying now." I was on a conference call the other day where the Sales Executive asked the question about why sales were down. There were many reasons: It’s an election year. The economy is bad. There is a lot of illness. It’s the holidays. The reasons are all true and perhaps even valid. However, they are only excuses for not increasing your income. We have all used them at one time or another, haven’t we?

What is it really? I believe it is procrastination. There are so many reasons we procrastinate: Fear of failure, fear of success, perfectionism, feelings of unworthiness.

Fear of failure is huge. So many believe they will fail that they never start. It is easier on the ego if we blame events outside of ourselves for not succeeding then to have started and not finished. Someone shared with me the other day that their plan was too high and this person believed he could never achieve it. So, I asked why. The economy is struggling, the product is low, people are holding on to their money. This person wanted to be successful, but his fear was that he wasn’t going to be and he is struggling with even starting. The increase in plan is a gift, an opportunity for more income.

The reality is, especially in sales, that we are in charge ultimately of our own success. If you struggle with fear of failure, and many do, then you might want to consider not looking at the big picture. Break down your monthly plan into daily goals and only focus on achieving that daily goal. Achieve the daily goal and experience daily success. Focusing on daily goals eliminates the feelings of being overwhelmed by the whole plan. It decreases your anxiety and strokes your ego. Most importantly to you, it will increase your income!

Author: Mary Auda