Sales Is a Mental Sport - Habits Make the Difference

21C. I couldn't get into a swimming pool unless it was at least 21C. And I needed at least a few minutes to get in. Last year when I started developing Curiosity, I had to put in place a life discipline that allowed me to be as resilient as possible to the adversity to come. Between the Covid crisis, confinement and setting up a business with no safety net (yes, I'm based in London so there's no unemployment benefit like there might be in other countries like France or other European countries), I had no room for errors.

In the course of my peregrinations, I discovered this story about Wim Hoff, this amazing Dutchman who swims in icy water. And his stories about breathing exercises (his motto is "breathe f***er"). So I set about establishing a lifestyle that included meditation to live in the moment, not to panic. Regular breathing exercises. And, of course, cold showers in the morning.

At first, I couldn't hold my breath for more than 20 seconds and then I went up to 2 min 48 which I have to say blew my mind (did you know that the reason we find it hard to hold our breath is not the need for oxygen but the need to release the CO2 that builds up?)

But it's mainly the cold showers that have become part of my routine. Every morning, a direct cold shower. The energy you get out of it is amazing. And then the cold showers, with this habit every day, started not to be enough...

So I started going swimming in an open-air pool. If you're familiar with London, my local pool is Tooting Bec Lido. A fantastic open-air pool. And at the end of November, as it's not heated, the temperature was 4.3 degrees. I'd never have thought I'd be able to get into water at that temperature. And yet, I got in with no problem. I didn't stay for hours, just between 5 and 10 minutes. But I'm looking forward to the next session.

What does this have to do with sales?

Good question. Sales is a muscle and a mental sport. The importance of habits and attitude is fundamental. And our limiting beliefs too. There are tons of things we don't think we can do. And yet, when you work at it little by little, you develop a resistance, a muscle. Just like my lifestyle, at work I rely on my habits. Even though I have a vision of what I want to do with Curiosity in the medium term, I'm on my own at the moment, so it's crucial to develop habits that I can rely on. Here are a few of the ones I'm practising:

1- Prospecting. The ABCs of sales. I set myself a target of 100 cold calls a week. My DISC profile is at 40% C so I'm very critical of myself and I tell myself that 100 isn't enough. But it allows me to develop Curio5ity at a good pace.

2- Daily journal I have a daily journal which is fundamental. I use it for different things, but in particular to combat my limiting beliefs and to strengthen my communication skills. For example, every day I write down phrases that I use at different stages of my sales process. These phrases don't necessarily come naturally to me at first and go against my DISC profile. But by writing them over and over again, they get into my head. And become second nature in a prospect situation.

3- Cold shower. No surprise there. It hasn't been easy, but it's a way of life that I link to my work. The energy I get from it in the morning helps me to be efficient when I start work.

4- Sales Ops. Prospecting requires a certain amount of organisation, whether you're working alone or as part of a team. So every week I add leads that I can start contacting. It's not really fun work. But it pays off.

5- Blog publishing My philosophy has always been that a sales person should be able to write content. It gives a voice to who we are, what we do and helps develop a rapport. As I'm on my own these days, publishing a blog post on a regular basis takes on all its importance. And it will give me a basis for the SEO work planned for 2022.

6- Publication on Linkedin I have to admit that Linkedin annoyes me (edit in 2025: it's not getting better). But it's a necessary evil. I try to publish, I've set myself goals but I can't reach them. But it's one of the habits I'm trying to develop.

7- Call preparation and debriefing Obviously, before each call, I spend about 50% of the call time (one-hour call => 30-minute prep) rehearsing what I'm going to say, visualising the call, writing down the questions they're going to ask me, the answers I'm going to give and the ones I'm going to ask. And of course, I listen to my calls afterwards. What worked, what could have worked better, what I need to correct, etc... And, strangely enough, it's this regular listening that allows me to be more effective.

Habits are very powerful. We do not control our future. We control our habits which, in turn, control our future and are the basis of our success. There's an English expression I like which is essential in sales: "Control your behaviour, the rest will follow". Measuring habits is actually part of the programmes and team and individual coaching that I put in place (you can download the white paper on the 7 keys to effective coaching from this link).

And you, what habits are you putting in place in your personal or work hygiene?