It’s time to talk about you. How are you doing? Are you having fun at work? If not, do you know why not? Do you feel too overwhelmed? Are you making more excuses than you are appointments? What’s your sales mindset? We all go through some dark times, and sometimes it can be difficult to find our way back. It’s time to look inward.

In this episode of INSIDE Inside Sales, Darryl speaks with rockstar Consultant, Author, and Host, Jeff Bajorek. Darryl and Jeff discuss your mental approach to sales, quite possibly one of the most overlooked aspects of personal growth. They delve deeply into understanding the importance of staying in touch with knowing why you do what you do, as well as offering tips on how you can avoid being overwhelmed while working effectively! Learn how to prioritize your wellbeing, here on this episode of INSIDE Inside Sales!

Not in the mood to listen? No problem, you can read the transcriptions below.

Host:  Darryl Praill, VanillaSoft

Guest: Jeff Bajorek, JeffBajorek.com

 

Get Your Head In The Game

Darryl Praill: All right folks, welcome back, my friends. Another week has passed, and here we are. How you doing? How you been keeping? It’s been a good week for me. I got a question for you, and it’s a selfish question. I fully admit this, because it’s kind of where I’m at right now.

Darryl Praill: How you feeling in the sense of, and that’s not a mental health question, by the way, it’s not a are you on death’s door question, it’s just like, you know, where are you at? How are you doing when it comes to your job, when it comes to your job? The reason I ask is all, let me share a story.

Darryl Praill: So, a few weeks back, month or so ago, we had the annual Christmas, you know, holiday. And normally, I don’t take a lot of time off. I might take a week off. And don’t ask me why, it’s just what I’ve always done. Well, the why is probably because I get worried that I’m going to get too far behind, and I hate coming back to a million emails, and a lot of action items to follow up on.

Darryl Praill: And I know I got momentum happening, I got mojo happening, I got deals happening, I got meetings happening, we’re moving the bar forward. I know that, and the last thing I want to do is to lay on that so that it just stops, it just crawls. And then all of a sudden you spend a week or two, or three, or four trying to resurrect that mojo, that happening. Some you might lose altogether. Now of course, many of you are out there listening to this and go, yep, I get it.

Darryl Praill: And the reality is that I’m actually full of crap. because you and I both know, deep down in our hearts, that everybody else is taking time off, too. Yeah, it might take a couple days to kind of get the wheels of motion back in as we all catch up, we all catch our breath, but it’s not going to die.

Darryl Praill: So, we tell ourselves this lie, I tell myself this lie. I mean, I’m projecting upon you only because I kind of think you’re a lot like me based on my experiences talking to so many of you one on one. But that’s me, that is me, that’s Darryl. You know, so this year I did something different.

Darryl Praill: I was actually approving some vacation time for one of my employees, and I happened to see my own vacation allotment. And I could see that I had a boatload of vacation days that I hadn’t used and had rolled over. Yada yada yada. I’m like, oh my gosh, I got to use some of these because I’m lose them when the new year comes along.

Darryl Praill: So, I said, okay, fine, I’ll turn my one-week time off into two weeks. And I did that, and it was amazing, brilliant, I came down. It was really the right thing for me to do. But then happened the malaise. Can you agree with this? I get back to work and, you know, I’m just not in it. I am doing it. I’m going through the motions. At three of four in the afternoon, I’m saying when can I go home. I never think that, I’m a guy who’s here to seven, eight, nine at night. When can I go home? And then I got, okay, I got to do social media, because social media is part of the brand, it’s part of the voice, it’s part of the reach.

Darryl Praill: And I just cannot get myself motivated to do social media. I think did a post, one post in the first week. So, here we are, you know, fast forward, like, you know, three or four weeks, and I did my second post two days ago. I found I am getting into it again, I’m finally getting built up, I’m finally getting all my momentum back, I’m finally getting into the groove again.

Darryl Praill: And I did a post yesterday, and I’ll do a post today. That’ll be three days in a row, and life is good. But you know, why I share this? Why I share this is because we tell ourselves these lies that affect, in the end, our own well-being. And if we’re not operating in an optimal way, at least for me, I’m speaking for me here, then I’m not doing anybody any good. I’m not doing anything for my family, I’m not doing anything for my employees, I’m not doing anything for the company, I’m not doing anything for you guys, my tribe.

Darryl Praill: And I think why, why do I get stuck in this? And I don’t give myself permission to relax, to wind down. And in fact, you know what happens? What happens is when I do that, I realize that maybe, just maybe, I’m not having fun. And if your job’s not fun, then why are you doing it? There’s lot of bad jobs out there you can do. But your job, your job has got to be fun. Is your job fun? Seriously. Can you relate to what I’m saying? I suspect you can relate.

Darryl Praill: So, when you think of people who aren’t fun, automatically you go to Jeff Bajorek, right? I mean, that guy’s just a stick in the mud. And I say I got to get Bajorek on the phone. I got to talk to him about how lame he is, and maybe I’ll feel better about myself. Nah, I’m actually just having fun.

Darryl Praill: You guys met Jeff Bajorek? Man, this guy’s a rock star. He’s been on the show before. We’ve had him on some webinars. This guy’s two things I love about, well, actually maybe three things. He is A, a fricking brilliant nice guy. He is B, got awesome recording gear, so he’s going to sound amazing.

Darryl Praill:  And he has C, an incredible voice that makes me very, very jealous, because I’m insecure about my voice, and that guy just brings it every day. Beyond that, you can check him out, jeffbajorek.com. He does speaking, he does seminars, he does training, he does workshops. I like to think of him as the sales guy’s sales guy. Now, another thing about this, full plug here, two plugs, his podcast is killer.

Darryl Praill: It’s the About the Why and the Buy podcast. And he has a co-host, you know, Christie Walters. And I almost think of them as like Howard Stern and his companion Robin. You know, they’re that good, they’re that dynamic. Actually, I’ve been on it, and it’s really annoying how good they are. But I’m also jealous, because the contest is great, they’re funny.

Darryl Praill: Check it out, About the Why and the Buy podcast. And it’s not often I plug other podcasts, but that’s one you got to do. So, another reason we got Jeff on here is he’s going to be one the main speakers at the OutBound Conference. Have you signed up yet, the OutBound Conference? Outboundconference.com, we are sponsoring it. But that aside, this is a conference you guys got to hit up, you got to attend. All right?

Welcome, Jeff Bajorek

Darryl Praill: You got people like, you know, beyond Bajorek, you’ve got, like, Colleen Francis, Shari Levitin, you got Mark Hunter, Jeb Blount, Anthony Iannarino, Victor Antonio, Andrea Waltz, Kenyetta v Gordon. I mean, the list just goes on. So, he is in rarefied air, and he’s blessing us today with his presence. Jeff, welcome to the show, my friend.

Jeff Bajorek: Man, it’s a good thing that’s recorded. I may listen to that every morning when I wake up. It might be in my alarm now.

Darryl Praill: You don’t really want to wake up to Darryl Praill, trust me.

Jeff Bajorek: And yeah. All right, well, and maybe your producer can, like, take your voice out and record, you know, put, like, a different voice in. Just say the same thing, right? Thank you for the kind, warm, very Canadian introduction. I really appreciate that. I’m thinking because I was listening, believe it or not I was listening to what you were saying about taking time off. And let me ask you a few questions. I know this is your show, I don’t want to flip the script too much here, but is your vacation, can you sell your vacation time?

Darryl Praill: Can I sell it? What, like to other employees or something?

Jeff Bajorek: Can you sell it back to the company? Can you sell it back to the company? Can you–

Darryl Praill: No, I can’t. What we do is we have some, a percentage will carry over to the next year, like upwards of 10 days, but the rest you lose.

Jeff Bajorek: Okay, so if you don’t use it, you lose it. And we’ve established that there’s no value to it monetarily.

Darryl Praill: Right.

Jeff Bajorek: Right? Yet the company insists on giving it to you.

Darryl Praill: Yeah, they’re weird that way.

Jeff Bajorek: So, they feel that it’s important. And so, you kind of have a responsibility to use it, right? Which means you have a responsibility to shut down, right? Which means you have a responsibility to hit that reset button, that hard reset button, so that you can ease back into things come the beginning of the year, or come the beginning of August, or whatever, you know, if you take the summer vacation, you go somewhere.

Jeff Bajorek: That hard reset is undervalued, underappreciated, and it is priceless. And I say this as someone who understands that, but also doesn’t take vacation very often, okay? But every time I do, I renew myself and I re-establish and remind myself of the value that it has. My boss is a real tough one to work for, right? because you’re talking to him. You know?

[bctt tweet=”But every time I take a vacation, I renew myself and I re-establish and remind myself of the value that it has. 🎧 Listen as @JeffBajorek explains. #SalesLeaders #SalesProductivity” username=”VanillaSoft”]

Jeff Bajorek: Your boss at least gives you vacation time and says if you don’t use it, you better lose it. Or, you better use this or you’re going to lose it, rather. And so, you are really doing yourself a disservice. And everybody around you but you, knows it if you don’t use it. So, think about it that way. If you could sell it, then, hey, look. Hey, that’s money, that works, I like working, that’s fine.

Jeff Bajorek: But you’re supposed to rest, you’re supposed to recharge. You’re supposed to understand that you do your best work when you’re in the right shape to do it. And, you know, we talked in the Green Room before, and, you know, you mentioned you were getting back into social media a little slowly. Did you miss it? And if you didn’t miss it, how important was it to you?

Jeff Bajorek: And is there may be a better way to do social media? Look, we have to use these channels, right? But is there a better way to engage than the, you know, what we’ve been told? So, that’s, I don’t know, those are things I’m thinking about, Darryl. I don’t know if that’s where your head’s at, too.

Darryl Praill: So, you said a couple things that are kind of interesting there. Which is a first, because Bajorek doesn’t say a lot that’s interesting. But just total sidebar. You said you have a responsibility to yourself. They give it to you; you have a responsibility. See, and my mind goes to, and I’m sure everybody listening to this call, this podcast, their mind goes to I have a responsibility to hit quota, I have a responsibility to hit my activity numbers, I have a responsibility to drive revenue.

Darryl Praill: Nowhere in that list is do I have a responsibility to take time off. But your point is valid. It’s kind of like, you know, this is an example of a pro athlete, right? We don’t hesitate when they say, yeah, they’ve having a personal day, they’re having a maintenance day, right?

Darryl Praill: Or they’re only going to be on the ice for an hour of practice, as opposed to, you know, even though they’re paid millions a year, four hours, or eight hours practicing, or, you know, on the field, or in the gym, or whatever. They know that’s, yeah, we get it. They have to pace themselves so that when it’s game time, they can bring it and really, you know, kick ass.

Darryl Praill: Yet we don’t give ourselves that same grace. So, when you said you have a responsibility there, my mind just went, whoa. I hadn’t thought of it that way, and you’re right. But in the same breath, you know, I want to be honest, I also feel like I have a responsibility to bring the bacon home for the family and provide. And if I’m not closing deals, or working partnerships, or making noise, or driving leads, then I’m abdicating that responsibility, so I have conflict. I’d like your thoughts on, but hold that thought, I’m going to talk about the conflict of competing priorities.

Darryl Praill: The other second part there you said that you asked me a really interesting question. You said did you miss social media. And here’s the irony. I love social media, I love sharing, I love the engagement, I love the debate. But, you know, being self-aware, and I’ve shared this before so this shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, I am an introvert.

Take that Vacation

Darryl Praill: And so, like, when I took time off, that’s two weeks off. And then it took me, like, I had to ramp up, I had to build up my energy and say, okay, I can, you know, I can do this. It’s not anxiety, it was just like it’s an effort. I have to get out of my natural self and say I got to put myself out there. And sometimes I just don’t want to make that effort.

Darryl Praill: So, did I miss it? No, I didn’t miss it. I missed the interaction, I missed the people, I missed the chuckles. I didn’t miss the grief, didn’t miss the name calling, didn’t miss the slander, didn’t miss the pettiness sometimes. But, no, I didn’t miss it. And so, those are my two things I have for you. I have conflict when it comes to my responsibility. And to answer your question, I didn’t miss social media.

Jeff Bajorek: Okay. Let’s say you’ve got a big keynote presentation coming up, because I saw an article recently that you were one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the sales and marketing world. Congratulations.

Darryl Praill: Thank you, sir.

Jeff Bajorek: So, before that keynote, how much sleep do you get?

Darryl Praill: Oh, the keynotes don’t bother me. I’m one of those weird guys, it doesn’t bother me.

Jeff Bajorek: That’s not what I asked, that’s not what I asked. So, before that keynote, how much do you prepare? How much do you rest?

Darryl Praill: Ah!

Jeff Bajorek: How much do you block out other distractions? How much do you prepare yourself to be at your best?

Darryl Praill: You know where I stress? I stress on those sides on the content. I stress on pulling it together. I often will get a writer’s block, and I know this content. And if you were to hit me up at a coffee shop or an elevator, I’d go blah blah blah blah blah without even thinking. But now I got to put pen to paper? And then as the date’s getting closer, yeah, I’m freaking out.

Jeff Bajorek: Not so much your mental state, but in terms of what you do to make sure that your body is ready, to make sure that your mind is right, you give yourself the space to perform at your best.

Darryl Praill: Oh, do you see what he’s doing there, folks? He’s leading me. That was really well done, Bajorek, I like that. You’re right, you’re right. I give myself permission to be at my best, right? I know, I get, it sounds stupid, but before I go onstage, even though it doesn’t freak me out, I do go, I visit the room, I have a routine, I understand, I make sure I know where my tech is, I know where my fallback is. I have a game plan in my head, I get in mind. I give myself permission to be successful and do what I need to succeed.

Jeff Bajorek: How much more creative are you when you’re in a place where you’re not distracted? How much more effective are you when your brain works right? You know, there are studies after study. I won’t quote the actual stats, because there’s so many studies and I’ll probably say something wrong or whatever. But they’ve said that the concept and what sticks is if you are, you know, sleep deprived for a couple days in a row, your mental acuities are the same as if you’re, like, three times the legal limit intoxicated, you know, on alcohol, right?

Darryl Praill: Yeah.

Jeff Bajorek: So, there’s something to that. The body has a limit. And you can train, right? You can condition your body, you can condition your brain to work under more extreme circumstances. Like, you build up, you know, a tolerance to that stuff. But that doesn’t mean that you need to sustain those tolerances for long periods of time.

Jeff Bajorek: And in fact, when you look at, and you mentioned athletes, right, when you look at the way they train, there’s this thing, and I’ve got an athletic medicine background, right, so I know a little bit about this, is that the periodization, right, there is a building strength phase, there is a building endurance phase, there is a building power phase.

Jeff Bajorek: And if you’re a miler, right, if you’re running the mile in track and field, you know, you, early in the season, will start to build your endurance. And then as it comes to the State Finals, or the Regional Championships, or the, you know, the Conference Championships if you’re running collegiately, your workload backs off because you need to be rested and recovered in order to run that one mile as fast as you possible can.

Jeff Bajorek: You don’t run a seven-mile all out, you know, effort, you know, two days before your mile run at the Conference Championships. You may run a seven-miler three months before the Conference Championships while you’re in that endurance phase. But when you go to peak, rest and recovery is a very important part about that, right? And look at every, you know, look at the workload of every athlete as the season progresses toward the championships. That’s because that renewal, that rest, that recovery is important for being your sharpest when you’re sharpest is required.

Jeff Bajorek: So, let’s flip that back to, well, I need to be generating leads, and I need to be closing deals, and I need to be bringing home the bacon. That’s fine. But if all you’re doing constantly, right, is worrying about doing things constantly, you’re not performing at your best. You’re not.

Jeff Bajorek: You may be performing better than other people can. And look, Darryl, 80% of you is better than 90% of the people out there. I’m confident in saying that. But how good is 80% of you compared to 90% of you, compared to 95% of you? And are you really allowing yourself to work optimally?

[bctt tweet=”‘But how good is 80% of you compared to 90% of you, compared to 95% of you? And are you really allowing yourself to work optimally?’ ~ @JeffBajorek  #SalesProductivity #SalesManagement” username=”VanillaSoft”]

Jeff Bajorek: I can tell you that through this reflection period of myself over, you know, the last part of 2019, as we came into 2020, I took a different approach to goal setting. I actually reduced the amount of goals that I really wanted to accomplish.

Jeff Bajorek: The big ones, right? And gave myself the space and actually did some planning to structure things out, gave myself permission to take a deep breath and say, you know what, I’m going to do that tomorrow, I’m going to do that next week, it’s on the calendar.

Jeff Bajorek: And not like I should have done it today, or, you know, and I’m procrastinating, it’s like, no, I’ve set aside the time to do that, I’m going to take a deep breath right now. I’m more creative, I’m more insightful, I’m having more fun, my wife likes me better, my kids like me better, I’m able to help more around the house.

Jeff Bajorek: I’ve given myself the space to be as good as I can be, when I need to be that, instead of having my brain, my emotions, my psyche kind of clouded by all the stuff I got to be doing. Because there’s always more to do, Darryl.

Jeff Bajorek: So, when you establish those limits, you give yourself a confined space to work within to be your very, very best. And the other thing, because it’s your turn to talk, but there’s one other thing that you said, and you said competing priorities. If you have competing priorities, you don’t have priorities. And that’s important to establish, too.

Darryl Praill: Wow, I love when I bring guests on the show and they just chastise me, man. It’s like I feel like I’m at home school right now. It’s awesome.

Jeff Bajorek: And you were so nice to me with the beginning of the show, too, I’m sorry.

Darryl Praill: Right back, it’s okay, it’s okay. I got it, my team does this to me all the time, too. I’m going to go cry now in a corner. If you’re just kind of joining the podcast midstream, maybe you just hopped in your buddy’s car and the podcast was going and you kind of caught it, you’re thinking to yourself, listen, isn’t this podcast all about, you know, skills and skills development?

Darryl Praill: Guess what? We’re talking about that today, folks. We’re talking about your well-being, your mental approach to the game, which is also your actual physical approach to the game. Not your skills, not your tactics, not your tools, it’s about you. You know, Jeff said it best when we were in the Green Room. He kind of said if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong. So, with that as a teaser, we’re going to come back and explore how to have fun. We’ll be right back.

Darryl Praill: All right, Cyndi Lauper like to say girls just want to have fun. But hey, that was before the Me Too movement, and now everybody just wants to have fun. That’s my, that’s about as political as we’re going to get on today’s show. But, Jeff, I bring it back to you. And I, you know, there’s a lot of people right now I know, because it’s me, who are listening to what we just said.

Darryl Praill: And some are going to go, yeah, they’re kind of being a little bit of denial. And others are going to go, yeah. So, with that all said, I’m not going to try to convince anybody today, I want you just to listen to us and trust us. because I mean, have you looked a Jeff? He’s old, so he’s got a lot of experience here, he knows what he’s talking about. He doesn’t have my white hair, but, you know, he’s still old. Just go with that.

Jeff Bajorek: Not yet, it’s getting there.

Getting into the Right Sales Mindset

Darryl Praill: It’s getting there, right? What do we need to do? What do we need to do to have fun? because we talked about the consequences of not having fun. So, I guess if I’m looking at you as the coach, which of course we know is one of the capabilities you provide, how would you coach me as a pro player to have fun so I can be, not 80% of me, but 90% of me, or 95% of me, or 100% of me?

Jeff Bajorek: Couple things. One, give yourself permission to have fun. Remind yourself that it’s important to have fun. Remind yourself that when you’re at your best, when you’re in that state of flow, right, where that there’s just enough challenge to get you stimulated but it’s not overwhelming to where you’re using all your faculties all the time to try to get something done.

Jeff Bajorek: Remember that that’s a really good indicator of you performing at your best is, when you’re performing and having fun. So, give yourself permission to do that. And which will allow you to seek things that will make you have fun, right? I mean, I work with a coach, you know, at the moment.

[bctt tweet=”‘Remember that, that’s a really good indicator of you performing at your best is, when you’re performing and having fun. So, give yourself permission to do that’. ~ @JeffBajorek #SalesLife #SalesProductivity” username=”VanillaSoft”]

Jeff Bajorek: And she’s like, so what are things that fill you up, what are things that make you happy, what are things that, you know, you look forward to doing? And, you know, I looked at my golf clubs, which were still in a travel bag from the end of September.

Jeff Bajorek: And I didn’t pull them out of that travel bag until I had to, well, I just left them in the travel bag when I had another thing with clients to go and do in the first part of January. And it was like, the fall golf season for me is one of my favorite times to play. And I didn’t even play because I was too busy doing stuff.

Jeff Bajorek: And when I think about it, that stuff I do, I do it because it allows me to go play golf. And when you don’t stay in touch with why you’re doing what you’re doing, it’s really hard to stay engaged, it’s really hard to do your best work.

Jeff Bajorek: So, my two things are, one, give yourself permission to have fun, two, remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. And if those two things aren’t aligned, well, we got some other things to think about, right? Maybe it’s not a good fit, maybe you’re not doing what you should be doing?

Jeff Bajorek: You know, I looked at my golf clubs and I also looked at my kitchen. I love to cook, but I was so busy working that I couldn’t spend time cooking in my family, couldn’t spend time nurturing myself, nurturing my family, spending time with friends, in my kitchen making delicious food. Like, I love to cook almost as much as I love to eat, and I wasn’t doing a whole lot of that, and so I’m looking for ways to do that.

Jeff Bajorek: Now, here’s the interesting thing, Darryl, and I know you said, you know, you want to be spending time, closing deals, getting work done, making connections, yucking it up on social media, that’s fine. Like, if you know that you got to be done with that by five o’clock, so you have dinner on the table by six or 6:30? Look, that stuff still needs to get done so you tighten up.

Jeff Bajorek: You figure out ways to get it done more efficiently. You figure out ways to, maybe if there’s really too much for you to be doing in order to get all the stuff that you need to be done, maybe you need help, maybe you need a virtual assistant, maybe you need an in-person assistant, maybe you need a producer to move these video shots around and put funny graphics up and do stuff in post like he says he’s going to do. Like, maybe you just need some help.

Jeff Bajorek: Maybe there is a point in time where you’re really trying to do too much. So, when you give yourself permission to have fun, when you remember why you want to be doing what you’re doing right now, and why you want to be having the fun that you know you can have, you know, it really starts to align those priorities with where they need to go.

Jeff Bajorek: So, look, I tell people all the time, if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong. because you could be doing something else, you’re right. There’s another job that you could have. There are lots of other jobs you could have. And it’s a nice reset, kind of like taking a vacation, but it’s a nice reset and gets you in the right space at the right time.

Darryl Praill: All right, so … I guess I’m pausing because I’m wondering how many people listening to this right now are a little bit like me. When, and you know, and I am going to fully be transparent. What I’m about to say is going to sound like an excuse, and it probably is, so don’t beat me up too hard. You make the comment about, you know, effectively what you said is make your schedule fit your needs. You know, whether you have to delegate, you have to hire people, you have to engage other people to help you.

Darryl Praill: But in my mind, I’m like, well, listen, you know, I can’t have somebody else post on social media for me under my brand, because that’s not legit, so I got to do that. And I can’t have somebody else, you know, host this podcast, because it’s my podcast, so I got to do that. And yada yada yada, you know, you get the idea.

Make Your Mental Health Your Priority

Darryl Praill: What I’m doing is I’m making those excuses right now. So, is there … I guess I’m almost answering this question as I go along. I was going to say to you is there a secret to physically figuring out how to do this? But I think what it really comes down to, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, is, you know, if I truly, if my number one objective in my being a professional at what I do is to make sure I’m as good as I can be, then I have to stop with the excuses and simply accept and embrace that my mental well-being, my physical well-being, is as critical, is as essential, as all those other skills I have.

Darryl Praill: Whether that’s cold calling, you know, discovery, negotiation, whatever it might be. It’s as essential. I mean, is that it? And if I do it right, I’ll have a lot more fun. Is that a fair statement?

Jeff Bajorek: A hundred percent. And let me be fully transparent, I struggle with this, too. This is, I mean, I’m telling you about my journey right now as we speak, right? You and I are not alone. This, it weighs on people whether they do what we do, or whether they’re in other industries, or, you know, the mean there are.

Jeff Bajorek: Everybody’s got their own situations, and this kind of feeling of overwhelm is pervasive. But whenever I have felt overwhelmed, whenever people I’ve worked with, or counseled through this, or who have counseled me through this, you know, they always just say, look, spend some time thinking. What are you really trying to do? Are you doing it as effectively as you’d like to be doing? No, you don’t want to have someone post as you on Twitter @opinionated.

Jeff Bajorek: People need to know that you’re being genuine when you’re there and that you’re speaking as yourself for yourself, right? But, are there ways you can automate some of the content redistribution? Right? Sure, you can. Is, you know, messing around on Twitter, and going back and forth and having a few laughs, is that good for your soul? Yes. Is it good for your brand? Yes. Do you need to do it as often as you do it? Eh, maybe not.

Jeff Bajorek: Maybe you need to do more of it and less of something else. Can you replace your on-air talents on this podcast? Absolutely not. But if the podcast is something that’s really, really worthwhile and driving the brand and driving business and everything for you, maybe you need to do more of it and less of some of the other stuff. Right? Maybe right now you can’t cut anything, because this is just where you need to be in order to hit that next plateau.

Jeff Bajorek: But maybe you set a goal for yourself that when you get to that next plateau, you can get rid of something else, right? You can sprint for so long, and then it’s time to take a break, come back, reset, and let’s rethink the way this organization is set up. Right? I mean, there’s only so much that you can do on your own back, right? You need an organization, you need people.

Jeff Bajorek: People have limitations. And I think one of the ways that people really go astray is they all try to be someone else, someone else who’s reached the top of the pinnacle of that mountain, so to speak. And, you know, I think we forget that we all have talents. And, you know, I don’t have a motor like Gary V. does, right? I don’t have an audience like Gary V. does.

[bctt tweet=”And I think one of the ways that people really go astray is they all try to be someone else, someone else who’s reached the top of the pinnacle of that mountain, so to speak. 🎧 Listen as @JeffBajorek talks about prioritizing your wellbeing. #SalesProductivity #SalesLife” username=”VanillaSoft”]

Jeff Bajorek: And he’s someone who’s out there doing what he does, and people want to emulate that, and there’s a lot there worth emulating, but you forget that you’re not Gary V. And you forget that if the situation was set up and if he were willing to take a really good, hard look at what you’re doing, he’d probably be envious of some of the stuff you’re capable of, too.

Jeff Bajorek: So, we tend to look at ourselves in an unfair light. And this is not a self-esteem talk, but in terms of, you know, the comparisons that we make and the standards we hold ourselves to, they’re not always fair. So, now when you’re playing a game where the deck is stacked against you, because that’s just not where your talent lies, you know, and I don’t want to go too far off the reservation here, but, like, let’s think about what we’re really good at.

Jeff Bajorek: Let’s think about what really needs to be done, and let’s figure out the best way for us to do our job. Let’s not try to do our job the way Darryl Praill, or Jeff Bajorek, or Victor Antonio, or Jeb Blount would do it. And it’s tough to remember that sometimes. But every time I’ve come into a situation where I’m just really conflicted, the answer has always been let’s stop, let’s review the fundamentals, what needs to be done here, what’s the best way for me to do it.

Jeff Bajorek: And then every time I give myself permission to do that, I do it really well and I have a lot of fun doing it. And I don’t want to be overly simplistic, but that’s kind of what it comes down to.

Darryl Praill: Jeff Bajorek, his tagline is rethink the way you sell. Trademarked. And I think what you heard today is exactly that. He says if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong. If you liked what Jeff had to say today, you can find him at the OutBound Conference in Atlanta in May, where’s he’s going to talk about the five forgotten fundamentals of prospecting. You could check him out at jeffbajorek.com, on LinkedIn, on Twitter.

Darryl Praill: In the meantime, of course you can find me at the same places, if you haven’t liked, rated, shared, talked about the Inside Inside Sales show, I’d be really glad and grateful if you did. My name is Darryl Praill. This wraps up another episode. We’ll see you again next week. Take care, we’ll talk to you soon, bye-bye.