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In the last post I briefly covered the 10 steps to becoming the greatest salesman in the world, as outlined by Og Mandino in his book, The Greatest Salesman in the World.

For the next few weeks, I am going to go more in depth to each one of the 10 steps, starting today with the first step:

Good habits are the key to all success

Our lives are a result of our daily habits. One bad habit compounded over time can have a drastic impact on our success. On that same note however, one good habit compounded over time will ensure the inevitability of your success. Think about it, eating one cheeseburger today will not kill you right away, but build that habit over time and soon your body will pay the price for it. Likewise, if are overweight and out of shape, you could start walking, even just half a mile today and keep building on that. Before you know it, you could be writing a book on running ultramarathons. You might be thinking, there’s no way that could happen. If you are one of those people doubting the reality of compounded good habits over time, click here to read about Rich Roll’s story.

He went from overweight, out of shape and depressed to running five Ironman’s in a week. He documents his transformation in his book Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself.

“It wasn’t rocket science it was really a matter of putting in the work,” he said of his two year journey from middle aged and unfit to one of the fittest men on the planet.

All it took was good habits being compounded over time.

What does this have to do with sales? The legend in the art of sales, Brian Tracy said that 80% of sales success is determined by your attitude. Your attitude is a result of your self esteem which is built by the habits you ingrain in your daily life. Og Mandino writes “herein lies the hidden secret of all man’s accomplishments. As I repeat the words daily they will soon become a part of my active mind, but more important, they will also seep into my other mind, the mysterious source which never sleeps.”

Habits are actions which no longer require conscious thought. You don’t think about every single action you are taking when you drive do you? The entire process becomes automatic after you have been driving for a while. In the same way, your success can be a result of automatic habits that become a part of your subconscious mind. Habits and actions that you no longer have to think about. Once taking action to achieve your dreams becomes automatic, your ideal future becomes inevitable. You get to choose what habit you want to inculcate into your being today!

Like the video above however, more often than not there will be nothing glamorous about the daily habit. I put that video up to represent the, at times, monotonous nature of engaging in daily habits over time. In Greenland, the action in the video represented my life for a month. The entire journey was a collection of the daily habit of skiing in one to one hour fifteen minute shifts and stopping for ten minutes to eat and drink. On many days, it was mundane, sometimes even boring. But the end result of all those tiny habits compounded over a month resulted in an epic adventure crossing the second largest icecap in the world.

Sometimes, when you fail to see the result of your successful habits in a short time, you may get discouraged. Just remember these habits, compounded over time will make success, prosperity and abundance inevitable. To stay focused and empowered even when results don’t seem to be coming your way, remind yourself of your vision and your purpose. They will keep you on track toward your true destiny, not the one programmed for you by others, but the one you define for yourself. That is your only destiny!

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. What are your good habits? How do you build them? How do you change your bad habits? Share your message and help others change their lives!