Between Pressfield's Resistance and Selling Like You

I’ve been obsessed with Steven Pressfield lately. 

I was first introduced to The War of Art about ten years ago when Seth Godin referred to it in The Icarus Deception. It was impactful, and I knew the concept of Resistance (with a Capital R) was a big one, but that was barely the tip of the iceberg.

I’ll paraphrase Pressfield’s own words, but Resistance is a negative form of self-sabotage that will work against us any time we try to move from a lower level to a higher level: ethically, morally, creatively, etc. That negative force is universal, and it keeps us from doing our best work. 

The secret to overcoming it is to “turn professional,” sit down, and get to the work you’ve been procrastinating. For most salespeople, that’s prospecting. Seems pretty simple, right? You’ve heard that kind of messaging from my colleagues and me for years.

So why aren’t more people doing it? We’ve got selling pretty well boiled down to a science by now. There aren’t many (if any) stones left to be turned over in that arena. You know what to do. You’re just not doing it.

So it must not be that simple.

There’s got to be something bigger getting in the way of you doing your work. Your Resistance goes beyond a lack of skills, it’s because of a lack of belief.

Where does this come from?

When you consider that this universal force is ever-present, the last thing it needs is fuel for the fire. Any inkling of doubt is magnified by time spent on the Internet, where anyone and everyone is ready to tell you you’re doing it wrong.

It’s no surprise, then, that the people who best overcome this kind of friction are the ones who spend the least time reading about their careers online (another reminder that message boards won’t help you hit your number).

So is the answer as simple as putting social media away? Well, it’ll help, but you need to do a little more than that.

Doing the work means trusting yourself. It means paying attention to the voice inside your head that tells you what you know you should be doing, but you’re too afraid to trust it. It means putting yourself out there, being vulnerable, and being willing to fail, especially if failure means progress.

It means sitting down and getting started because sometimes it isn’t until you get started that you realize how much fun it is. 

Deciding to #SellLikeYou isn’t a cataclysmic shift. It’s the little steps you take along the way that start to create some momentum. Momentum that shows you some things. Momentum you can learn from. Momentum you can grow with.

All of a sudden, things start to click. Before you know it, you’re succeeding beyond your wildest dreams.

Sellers are expending tremendous amounts of time and resources trying to get their customers to trust them more. The real key to turning pro is trusting yourself.