Hard work beats talent any day of the week.
I’ll hire a young guy or gal who’s hungry and driven before I’ll hire a Harvard grad with pedigree and entitlement.
I need to see a burning desire in their eyes. I have to. I have to see that they are willing to outwork everyone around them, including me.
“But Johnny-Lee,” you might be saying, “I can’t possibly work harder than everyone on my sales team… let alone my boss.”
Yes, you can. And you must.
Don’t worry, I’ll make a strong case for it today and show you the steps to make it happen. Let’s get rolling.
The Stakes Are High
Pop quiz. What’s the difference between living your dreams or being just another washed-up sales person with mediocre pay, mediocre impact, and a mediocre lifestyle?
The answer, no surprise, is your WORK ETHIC.
Thankfully, the bar is set SO low these days that you can outwork everyone around you without hardly breaking a sweat.
And look, if you’re happy with mediocrity, that’s fine. The rockstar sales guys and gals need people like you to measure up against (and tower over). You make us look good!
But I’m writing this manifesto for those who want to squeeze every ounce of potential out of their lives. And if you’re still reading, I have to assume that’s YOU!
Why You Must Outwork EVERYONE in Sales
The world is FAST – The world doesn’t wait. So it’s best to work hard and cement yourself as a big-league player early in the game. This will set you up for huge success later in life.
The world is SMALL – Everyone knows everyone. Make an impression on a colleague or manager today, and in 5-10 years, you could be partners with them in building an 8-figure firm. The point here is that people never forget the hardest worker in the room.
The World is YOURS for the Taking – You can have just about anything you want in life… if you work for it. Doesn’t that spark a flame of curiosity in you? A strong work ethic will take you places. Guaranteed.
Outwork Your Friends and Family
Let’s start with the easy one. Can you outwork your friend Mark who still works for his dad, eats pizza three nights a week, and parties on the weekends? Sure. But can you outwork your semi-successful friends who are grinding in their 9-5 corporate jobs? Of course. Here’s how.
- Set quarterly goals. Write down three career goals and three personal goals on a sheet of paper. Look at them daily. And set daily micro-goals to help you accomplish your bigger, quarterly goals. Trust me, your brother-in-law isn’t doing this.
- Be disciplined. Some days you won’t feel like putting in hard work. These are the days you must work extra hard to prove you were made for this. Become a student of discipline. Learn what it means to show up even when your mind and body aren’t in it.
- Have a backbone. Simply keep your word and have a backbone and you’ll outperform almost everyone in your social and family sphere. Again, the bar is pretty low here.
Outwork Your Coworkers
Let’s kick it up a notch. Now it’s time to outwork your entire sales team. Follow this simple game plan and you’re golden:
- Be first into the office and last to leave. Work remotely? Be the first person making sales calls at 7am when your colleagues are still sleeping but C-level executives are at their desk or the dry cleaners with a fresh cup of coffee.
- Make more calls than the best guy or gal on the team. It’s really that simple to get ahead. Just put in more sales activities, make more calls, send more emails, follow up with more prospects than the next best guy. I recommend making 50x-100x the calls above and beyond, this will make a statement and absolutely bury any competition. So if Josh the rockstar is making 250 calls a day, you start making 500 calls a day. Every day.
- When you go home at night, sharpen your skills. Sharpen your skills — or sharpen your sales weapons — in your free time. The progress or net-effect won’t be noticeable tomorrow or next week, but it WILL compound over months and years to totally transform you.
Outwork Your Boss
It’s now time to level-up and outwork your sales manager or boss.
Stay one step ahead of your boss at all times. Make that follow-up call, write the sales report, or innovate some new prospecting method before he or she even asks for it.
Also, focus on becoming a life-long learner. Read sales books and articles on the art of selling. Take courses and workshops. There’s a wealth of knowledge in the world, and much of it is free. But don’t be afraid to invest money into your continued success. It’ll pay back in dividends.
Again, this might not amount to a big difference overnight, but on a long enough timeline, you’ll be outpacing your boss who may have decades of experience on you.
The net-net here is that you’ll make a lasting impression on your boss, and you WILL be promoted and your pay/commissions WILL increase. Or, if you work for a toxic manager, maybe you’ll be let go. But so what? You’re a millionaire in the making, and you’re better off with a company that values drive and determination. You may even get headhunted by top firms.
Outwork Your Heroes
Once you’re on track to outworking your boss, it’s time to outwork your heroes.
That’s right, I’m talking about Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Christiano Ronaldo, Oprah Winfrey, Kobe Bryant, Taylor Swift, PBD. All of these top performers have a work ethic for the history books. And now you can emulate their daily habits and routines to become more successful than you ever thought possible.
Study their moves, watch every single one of their videos, read their books, attend their conferences, and chart the path.
OK – now you may be thinking you’ll never outwork the likes of Ronaldo or Kobe. So what? Just try. Why not shoot for the moon, as they say, and land on the stars? You’ll be forever transformed in the process, I promise.
Finally, Outwork YOURSELF
This is perhaps the most important one. To get ahead in sales, business, or life, all you have to do is work a little harder and smarter today than you did yesterday. Just 1% harder. This takes a mindset shift, a personal resolution or contract with yourself. And there’s no better time to ink this contract than today.
Resolve to close this browser and pick up the phones to work on revenue-generating activities. No more busy work or distractions. Make the calls that will make you fortunes. Remember, the world is YOURS for the taking. Now go and take it.
Until next time…
Johnny-Lee Reinoso