The Most Common Roadblocks People Face

15 January 2019

What are the roadblocks that are currently keeping you from achieving massive success in 2019? What things are standing in your way of getting the job done? Are you struggling with the fear of rejection? Does self-doubt keep you from achieving your goals? And does procrastination prevent you from making things happen?

It’s a new year and I know that some of you may be feeling pressure for the year ahead. When thinking of a new year and new goals, a lot of people tend to get intimidated when they think of everything that they need to achieve and it inevitably starts to feel like they’ve got massive roadblocks in front of them. This is definitely not the right way to go about things!

I always stress the importance of breaking things down into bite-sized chunks. I tell the people that I coach to break their year down month by month. Then day by day. Think about what you can realistically achieve in thirty days, and then formulate an action plan. Then, after you’ve tackled those thirty days (and given it all that you can), you’ll have the confidence and motivation to tackle the next month.

I was interviewed on DanceFM the other day about New Years Resolutions and Entrepreneurship and was asked by their presenter Gemma about the most common roadblocks that people face in sales. It got me thinking that sales as an industry seems to have become the orphanage of the employment world and this in itself has become a bit of a roadblock.

Anyone can get a job in sales in most countries. People leave school not knowing what they want to do and invariably they end up falling into sales because you don’t need a qualification to sell and it’s an easy industry to get into. I know that sales is a skill that can be learnt but the reality is that most people aren’t very good at selling. This is simply because not everyone enjoys selling. Selling isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. For example, I believe that anyone can learn how to play the violin if they practice enough and invest enough time in mastering it. But not everyone will take the time to learn an instrument because not everyone will enjoy and be passionate about music and musical instruments.

It’s the same with sales. If you don’t enjoy the sales process, then you’re not going to go on to become the most successful sales professional. If you struggle with rejection, fear picking up the telephone, fear face-to-face meetings, and fear prospecting because of rejection, then perhaps selling might not be for you. You may be good at other things, but you just don’t know what those things are yet. For me, it’s really important to know if sales is for you or not.

Whether you’re a network marketer, a direct salesperson, a real-estate broker, a financial advisor, an insurance broker or a car salesman- if selling just isn’t for you, then have you been honest enough to make peace with that? Take a long, hard look at yourself and figure out what you could be good at?

Are you passionate about interior design? What about law? Or do you dream of being a singer? Whatever interests you, is what you should pursue. You can learn how to do just about anything, but it’s your passion that will propel you to the next level. If you’re passionate about something, then you’ll naturally achieve more and succeed more in that field.

The more self-aware you are, the better your life is going to be. There’s no shame in admitting that something just isn’t for you. If however, you are genuinly interested in a career in sales, then are you putting in the effort required to get through the roadblocks that you might encounter? Below I’ve outlined the most common roadblocks that sales-people struggle with and how you can overcome them.

Rejection: Sales isn’t easy- and neither is experiencing rejection. But rejection is a part of selling. Even I deal with rejection every single day, but I’m conditioned to understand what rejection really means. When people tell me “no”, it just bounces off of me. You will encounter many highs and lows in the world of sales. If you let the lows, which are the “noes”, impact you negatively, then you’ll never experience the highs, which are the “yeses”.

If you accept that you need to go and find “noes” in order to find the “yeses”, it will allow you the opportunity to perceive rejection very differently.

Procrastination: If you asked me, procrastination can be likened to having to make a decision but not making one. I don’t fear making decisions. I’ve learnt that if you want to be successful, you have to act quickly. Even if I make the wrong decision, I’ll know soon enough that it was the wrong decision and I’ll do something else. But by sitting on the fence, procrastinating about a decision, you won’t get anywhere and you’ll just waste time, energy and effort (and you’ll also create more fear, more self-doubt, and more unnecessary worry). You’ll never know the outcome until you just choose! Make a decision and commit to it fully! There is no excuse for procrastination!

Self-doubt: Self-doubt is what happens when you don’t have a plan. If you don’t have a plan and don’t know how you’re going to execute your goals, then you are going to start doubting yourself and your abilities. By having a plan that’s broken down day by day for the next three months of this year, you’ll know what you need to do and there won’t be any time for self-doubt to start creeping in. The busier you are, the better.