⚡️ Today’s level up ⚡️

In this edition, I’ll talk about the constant barrage of “noise” sellers face each day that is deteriorating your mental health, and subsequently, hurting your sales performance. Then, I’ll share a simple system to block out that noise so you can elevate your sales craft. As a bonus, I’ve linked up with Sales Health Alliance to offer a 25% discount on the Sell More, Stress Less program (more details below).

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Hey everyone 👋 ,

There’s so much noise we face as sellers – from inner negative chatter, to sales leaderboard Slack messages, to a flurry of social media notifications, and much more. The bad news: it’s only getting worse.

The good news: Today’s system is all about helping you turn down the noise so you can focus on the meaningful work – connecting with customers and driving revenue.

Let’s go!

Read time: <5 minutes

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Lessons from the beautiful game

“I play best when I’m happy inside. And that comes from me working on myself. When I take care of myself emotionally and physically, I perform better. So success isn’t an accident.” – Landon Donovan

The U.S. Men’s National Team secured a place in the knockout round at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last night.

Needless to say, I’m a happy man (for those of you who don’t know, I’m a former soccer player and had aspirations to play professionally in Europe before that dream was cut short due to injury at age 20).

It got me thinking about the time Landon Donovan, one of the most capped (cap = an appearance for the national team) and best players for the U.S. Men’s National Team, took a 3 month sabbatical to Cambodia when he was in the prime of his career back in 2013.

On the outside he was successful, but on the inside he was struggling and needed a break.

The extended break gave him an opportunity to refresh and come back to find the love of the game he had lost.

Upon his return, he started playing some of the best soccer of his career with the L.A. Galaxy and was awarded with a contract extension that made him the highest paid player in Major League Soccer at the time.

It’s too noisy in here

I know many reading this right now can relate to that feeling – something you once loved now feeling like a burden.

You might not have the luxury of taking off for a 3 month sabbatical in an exotic country, but there are small things you can do to nourish yourself each day and continually find the flow state that feels so good in sales.

It starts with tuning out a lot the noise we face daily:

• • Bad news
• • Inner chatter
• • Leaderboards
• • Comparison to others
• • Constant social media notifications
• • Distractions (Interruptions occur every 11 minutes)

This perpetual noise has a cumulative effect and it chips away at our mental health.

Because when we’re unwell, it’s hard to sell.

The catalyst for change

Back in early 2020, I was coming off of the biggest year in my career, having closed more personally than entire regions of our organization (I closed more than double what the whole APAC team produced and was on par with what the whole EMEA team delivered in ARR).

That meant I had a big target placed on my head – the largest in the company.

I was also working on net new business at the time, which got completely decimated when Covid hit. It paid to be a Client Partner, but it hurt as a new logo hunter.

After 3 quarters in a row of $0, the noise started to build – both internally and externally.

Our company had instilled a new sales leaderboard Slack channel and every Monday morning we got an email and graph showing where every seller stood in the rankings.

It was tough being in the red every week.

Besides that, it felt like the world was falling apart at the seams at that time.

The mental toll was tough, and I needed to make some changes.

How to turn down the volume

After doubling down on my interest in Stoicism and reading 4 books that redefined my thinking on how to work better – The Perfect Day Formula, Deep Work, Atomic Habits, and Indistractable – I started operating in a completely new way.

This new way of operating culminated with a multi-million dollar deal closed during an 11 day sales cycle in December, 2020 helping to salvage a large portion of that huge quota and kickstart a prolific 2021.

The foundation to this personal operating system was putting high energy into high value activities and stripping away all the other bullsh*t.

It helped me discover 5 simple ways to tune out the noise during key moments in my day.

And when I had one good day, I could repeat it, and over the course of a year, it made a huge impact.

Here are the 5 key insights:

#1 Wake with a focus

The old way of waking would have been me hitting the snooze bar a few times on my phone and then scrolling social media for about 20 minutes in bed before switching over to email.

Usually I’d read something that would immediately put me in a bad mood and set me off course before I’d even get out of bed.

The new way:

I change my alarm to say MORNING FOCUS.

This was a reminder as the first thing I see to get up and start my daily start routine.

→ If you’re on iOS, go to Clock > Alarm > Pick a time > Label > Type what you want

#2 Start work with an intention

The old way of working once I got to my desk would have been opening my inbox or Slack or LinkedIn for a few quick dopamine hits.

However, what I was telling myself with this behavior was that I valued other people’s time above my own.

The new way:

I developed a gratitude practice.

There is a lot of science behind the benefits of a gratitude practice and it was a good grounding exercise before I dove into work.

→ To make it easy, buy a journal and keep it on your desk so it’s the first thing you see. (I really like this series)

#3 Complete the MIT (Most Important Task) before your first meeting

The old way of operating would have been working in constant reactive mode right from the start.

Before I’d know it, it’d be lunch time and I wouldn’t have anything valuable to show for it.

The new way:

I always define my MIT the evening before and make it a game to complete it before I have my first meeting for the day the next morning.

→ Try using a tool like Sunsama and set up a daily ritual centered around completing your MIT at the same time each morning.

#4 Reconfigure your phone to be smarter

The old way would have been my phone buzzing, pinging, and ringing from every app I had installed.

This would have pulled me into the hamster wheel with every vibration or ding.

The new way:

I completely redesigned my phone to work for me and not the other way around.

→ The big noise filter will be turning off badges on social media and only getting badges from VIP contacts

#5 Build in distractions

The old way would have been me trying to be disciplined when it was time to be flexible, and flexible when it was time to be disciplined.

Distractions are ok, as long as they are scheduled at the right time.

The new way:

After getting my MIT done while my energy is at it’s peak, that meant when I start to hit my energy dip in the late morning or afternoon, that’s the perfect time to get into the inbox and clean it up, check in on Slack, or get a little lost on social media.

→ Schedule 2 – 3 “buffer blocks” so you can allow yourself to be distracted so the pull isn’t as strong when you need to be focused

BONUS:

I have found that building in learning as a part of my daily routine is a great way to stay fresh. Even just 10 – 15 minutes a day can make a big impact over time, whether it’s reading a book or working through a course.

That’s why I’m excited to be partnered with Sales Health Alliance and Jeff Riseley to offer his course, Stress Less, Sell More at a 25% discount to the community.

I really love the work Jeff is doing around the correlation between better mental performance and stronger sales performance.

It’s a masterclass to help sellers avoid burnout and become a true corporate athlete through improving the mental game. Here’s how to get it:

• • Click here
• • Watch the free preview
• • Hit “Get Started Now”
• • When you’re ready to check out, click “Add Coupon Code”
• • Type ‘BRANDONF’ and receive 25% off before clicking the “Buy Now” button

See you next time!

🐝

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When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Get the exact system I’ve used to go from earning $200K to over $1M a year in SaaS sales without burning out here. (2,500+ students)

2. Join a community of Purpose-Curious™ sellers in the Make More Hustle Less Club where we develop a personal operating system together here. (400+ members)

3. Book a 1:1 strategy session map out your best year in SaaS sales here. (My hourly rate increases to $1,000 on January 1st)