--- title: Move the Pain Forward | The Sales Blog description: It’s hard to break bad habits. It’s hard to change especially when you cannot yet sense the danger of not changing. If you smoke a cigarette today you won’t die. Well, at least you won’t die today. And you won’t die tomorrow either. If you eat bad and don’t exercise for a week, nothing really […] image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_155952698.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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It’s hard to change especially when you cannot yet sense the danger of not changing. If you smoke a cigarette today you won’t die. Well, at least you won’t die today. And you won’t die tomorrow either. If you eat bad and don’t exercise for a week, nothing really bad will happen. Your health won’t be diminished, you aren’t any greater danger of cancer or heart attack regardless of what you eat for a week. Over time, bad decisions have a way of catching up with you. You get to choose your actions, but you don’t get to choose the [consequences](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2011/04/27/the-natural-consequences-of-beliefs-and-actions/). And you don’t get to choose when necessarily you will suffer those consequences. #### Moving Danger Forward But this isn’t about you. It’s about your clients. Some of your dream clients believe that change would be simply adding bubbles to the warm bath that is the [status quo](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2012/11/15/you-versus-the-status-quo/) that they’re comfortable sitting in now. They aren’t compelled to change because the danger, the risk, isn’t close enough to be felt. Some of your prospective clients will put off the inevitable for as long is as humanly possible. Money not spent today is more valuable than the outcome you sell if it means your prospective client has to go through the pain of change. They’d rather wait until they have to. It’s easy to change when you have the right motivation. When the doctor tells you that if you don’t quit cigarettes or change your diet and begin exercising you were cutting the very few years you have left off of your life, you can change in an instant. But if the doctor tells you that you may or may not suffer any repercussions from the choice you make for a long time, it’s likely you’ll continue doing whatever it is you’re doing now. #### A Little Push Some of your dream clients need a push. Some of them need you to prod them along. Some of them need you to take the danger that appears to them as something far away and move it closer to help them understand the implications of the actions they’re making now. There is a reason the basic elements of survival are the largest base of [Maslow’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow) hierarchy can. People will do all sorts of things if their very survival is at stake, including things they would rather not do and changes they would rather not make. If you would serve your clients you would move that pain forward so they can feel it now and avoid the harsher repercussions that will inevitably come later. ###### Tags: [Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2014](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2014) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on November 11, 2014 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. You can email Anthony at [iannarino@gmail.com](mailto:iannarino@gmail.com) [Follow me on my website](https://www.thesalesblog.com/anthony-iannarino) [Follow me on Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/thesalesblog) [Follow me on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/iannarino/) [Follow me on Twitter ](http://www.twitter.com/iannarino) [![AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg?width=400&height=400&name=AISA-square-ad-SKOs-26-27.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/authority) [![ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg?width=318&height=179&name=ai-cold-calling-video-sidebar-offer-1.jpg)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/free-cold-calling-video) ![salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover (1)](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(1).jpg?width=768&height=994&name=salescall-planner-ebook-v3-1-cover%20(1).jpg) ### Free Sales eBook: Sales Call Planner Planning your sales call improves the likelihood of making a successful call, and it demonstrates to your dream client your professionalism. 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What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2022-12-01T3:33:07 PM", "datePublished" : "2014-11-11 21:02:51", "description" : "It’s hard to break bad habits. It’s hard to change especially when you cannot yet sense the danger of not changing. If you smoke a cigarette today you won’t die. Well, at least you won’t die today. And you won’t die tomorrow either. 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