Hey Sales RX'ers,

Sales is a tough but rewarding game, even in today's economy.

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However, we often face a paradox: the choice between three types of pain. These aren’t just abstract concepts—they’re real experiences that impact our effectiveness, our well-being, and ultimately, our success. Understanding these pains can help us make better decisions and improve our sales performance.

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The Problem is Balancing Productivity and Effort!

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Salespeople are constantly juggling multiple responsibilities, from meeting with clients to strategizing for growth. Especially in a world where plenty of AEs have had to go back to prospecting and self-generating their opportunities.

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The Pain of Hindsight: This type of pain stems from not meeting your expectations. Imagine you have a meeting that no-shows. You know this time should be spent advancing deals or generating new opportunities, but instead, you get sidetracked by distractions or low-value tasks. While it may not seem like much at the beginning, these tiny losses of productivity stack up.

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By the end of the month, you're looking back at that Wednesday afternoon a few weeks back when you could've spent an extra 30 minutes cold-calling instead of browsing LinkedIn. Could that time have produced an opportunity that would've put you in a better place at month's end than where you stand?

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The Pain of Doing: In contrast, the pain of doing is the discomfort associated with tackling the challenging tasks that drive real progress. This includes activities like sending personalized video follow-ups to your A-tier accounts, and conducting strategic outreach to deals that are stalled instead of just "checking in". This kind of work is mentally taxing and often does not provide immediate gratification. The effort involved can leave you feeling drained and exhausted.

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The difference between the pain you feel when you actually DO the work and the pain when you DON'T makes the case for doing the work easy.

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The Pain of Comparison: Did you know it's the thief of joy? Half the reason I'm not on LinkedIn much anymore these days is that I see all these "gurus" claiming to have a level of unrivaled success, but I'm also in tune with the grapevine and know it not to be true. However, if I didn't have that BS meter to gauge from, I would probably fall victim to my wins that in comparison do not rank near theirs.

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Steps to Overcoming These Pains

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Step 1: Set Clear Priorities

Allocate specific times for high-impact activities and stick to them. Don't send follow-up emails and videos during prime prospecting hours. I only do admin twice a day, once in the morning (inbox triage and response), and once at the end of the day (notes, priorities for tomorrow, follow-up emails, etc).

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Step 2: Schedule Distractions

Create a specific time when you will allow yourself to browse LinkedIn, check on your fantasy football team, or watch TikToks (clearly stuff I do during my "distraction blocks").

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Step 3: Break Down Tasks

Divide larger projects into manageable steps to make them less overwhelming and commit to a routine that includes time for deep work. Take an hour on the weekend to learn how to use your own free project management tool like Notion or Airtable and use that if it helps!

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Step 4: Reflect

At the end of each day, review what worked and what didn’t, how it made you feel, and then adjust your strategy to avoid repeating mistakes. This is also a great way to plan and prep for the next day to get done what you didn't today.

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Step 5: Seek Support

Leverage mentors or colleagues for guidance and encouragement to stay motivated. Reach out to others who have high-functioning processes and significant accomplishments. Learning through others and having someone to lean on is crucial.

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Sure these pains can provide massive challenges, but also come with great rewards. Remember, to whom much is given much is expected. Jim Rohn used to say you can't have a level 10 life with a level 5 commitment.

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Let's get prescriptive ya'll 🩺

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