I Know All These Things. I Just Don’t Do Them.

The very first publisher that contacted me about writing a book asked me for a manuscript, and I delivered a completed manuscript. The title was 17 Elements: The Periodic Table of Sales Success. The book was really a competency model, including the mindset and skill sets one needs to succeed in sales now. Naturally, the metaphor was a periodic table, which I believed worked well because we are still identifying new elements, and we will no doubt add to the competencies needed to succeed in sales.

The publisher read the book, and he hated it. He asked me, “Why would you start a book with self-discipline? What does that have to do with sales? Everyone hates discipline.” I knew that he had never worked in sales, so when I asked him if he had, my question was rhetorical, but he answered me in the negative. I did my best to explain, but it was clear we weren’t going to write a book together.

Today, a salesperson described my work using the title of this blog post. He said, “When I read you, I think ‘I know all this stuff. I just don’t do it.” And here we find the root cause of many—if not most—challenges when it comes to producing results in any endeavor, but especially one like sales, one that requires consistent activity.

Right now, while the world suffers a new version of neomania, one driven primarily by technology, things that are ancient don’t garner much attention. Much of what success is made of hasn’t changed for thousands of years, things like discipline, trust, caring, listening, resourcefulness, initiative, and accountability. While a lot of people try to hack their way to success, they’d be better off looking backward in time for the recipe than looking into the future for the quick hack. What you need to know to be successful has been known for generations. There are no secrets, and it has all been written down.

Everything you need to know is known. You likely know everything you need to know now, and what you don’t know you can find in seconds. If you are not getting the results you want, it is because you aren’t doing what you know you need to do.

Everything you need to know is known. You likely know everything you need to know now, and what you don’t know you can find in seconds. If you are not getting the results you want, it’s because you aren’t doing what you know you need to do.