The Power of Persistence in Sales

WARNING: This Monday’s message will be one of the most powerful hacks you’ll ever integrate into your life—because it’s simple, easy to put into practice, and it works. It has the potential, over the course of time, to change everything for you. It’s the BTN method, and I learned it from a friend of mine who completely transformed his life and his habits by mastering this one straight-forward tactic. Forgiving Yourself When You Get Off Track In James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, he talks about a strategy for making a habit stick: never miss two days in a row. In other words, if you mess up on Monday—if you skip your workout or drop the ball on your new habit—you give yourself permission to let it go. But get right back on track by Tuesday. You never miss two days in a row and allow those mistakes to pile up and push you right back into the bad habit you are trying to change. I love this advice because it reminds us we’re all human. We’re going to slip up. Life happens—kids get sick, you get sick, clients call with emergencies, your boss piles extra tasks on your desk, or your flight is delayed and you’re stranded in an airport— sometimes you've just have to eat that piece of cake. James Clear’s approach is, when this happens, to give yourself a break. It’s okay that you messed up once. Forgive yourself but just don’t let it spiral downward by stringing together multiple days of misses together. It's a great approach. But there is another strategy that works even better for staying track, makes it easier to bounce back, still allows you to be human, and over time yields far better results. If you really want to build unstoppable sales habits and supercharge your performance you’ll love this approach. The BTN Secret A few years back, I was meeting a good friend of mine for dinner. We hadn’t seen each other in a couple of years. He’s the CEO of a large company—constantly flying all over the world, dealing with high-level negotiations, board meetings, you name it. I know from experience that this kind of schedule can wreak havoc on your diet, your sleep, and especially your exercise routine. When Chris walked into the restaurant, I was stunned. He looked incredible—like a completely different person. He’d lost a bunch of weight and was in fantastic shape. As we sat down at our table I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Dude, you look incredible, how on earth do you manage to find the time to exercise and take care of yourself like that with your insane schedule.” The truth is that at the time, I was really struggling with my own health. I’d been traveling without a break and gained far too much weight. I felt bad. And even though I knew I needed to do something about it, I was wrestling with the typical excuses: busy travel itinerary, client dinners, lack of time in the mornings for a real workout, late nights in airports, and exhaustion. Chris looked at me, smiled, and said, “I use the BTN method.” I instantly reached for my phone to Google “BTN” because I thought it was some new, miracle workout program and I was looking for anything that could help me get my health back on track. Chris just started laughing. “You’re not gonna find that on Google,” he said. “BTN stands for Better Than Nothing.” Why Doing “Just a Little Bit” Matters More Than You Think Chris explained his philosophy: No matter where he is—no matter how jam-packed his day, no matter how exhausted he feels—he refuses to let a single day pass without doing some form of exercise—no matter how little. On a good day, when he has time, he does an intense 45-minute workout. But if he doesn’t have time, if he’s been in back-to-back meetings from dawn to dusk, then he’ll at least drop down on the floor in his hotel room and do five push-ups, or 20 jumping jacks, or a two-minute plank. Something. Anything. Just not nothing. He explained that five push-ups is better than none and over time it all adds up.