Since childhood, we all have been in sales, and certainly we are stronger in one area but weaker in another. So daily, we should strive to improve ourselves to be more effective and ultimately more valuable where it counts. You may have had to sell your parents on giving you the toy or lending you the keys to the car. You may have to sell yourself to get the job even though your resume seems to say you qualify. You may have to sell yourself to get a raise. You may have to sell yourself to get capital. You may have had to sell your spouse on marrying you. You may have to sell that same spouse to undertake a particular venture with you.

But what are some practices of a good salesperson?

• Know your target audience. Ask questions to understand and become better acquainted with your prospect. You may find that prospect was not your prospect after all.
• Be honest even when it may result in you losing the sale because it will strengthen your brand.
• Be confident in yourself and your product. You have a unique way of representing yourself and you have a marketable product.
• Be resilient to be able to bounce back with enthusiasm when you have a bad day, week or even month.
• Follow up before the sale because a prospect may require multiple touches before they say yes.
• Follow up after the sale to maintain and even foster the relationship.

Do you think if you applied one or more of these practices to some area of your life, be it personal or business, you could improve your performance or results? I’ll use marriage as an example.

Know your target audience. How well do you know your spouse? Do you know why they seem to struggle in a particular area but excel in another? Do you know the one or two things that seem to pull them out of a slump? Do you know what’s best to diffuse a conflict even if it seems unnatural for you?

Be honest. We all do things we are not proud of sometimes, and you know it will upset your spouse in one way or the other. You may think it’s best to hide the offense to avoid a conflict. But this may be an opportunity to grow from this test. When you’re honest, at the end you would gain admiration for your stand. You would also raise or at least maintain your level of accountability both to your spouse and to yourself.

Be confident in yourself and your product. Nobody is perfect and intuitively your spouse understands this. Self-confidence may even be an opportunity area for you. But remember, there is something about you that drew you to him or her. Your special someone ultimately wants the best for you and your union. Why not use this as your default belief even when conflict emerges? You have unique gifts and strengths that contribute to the well-being of your spouse and your relationship.

Be resilient. Some hate conflict whereas others may enjoy a confrontation. You both will not always agree and sometimes a hurt cuts you so deeply that all you could think of is returning the pain. You may feel so disappointed by an offense that all you could think of is, “Where is the exit?” Maybe this is a test of commitment, love, or forgiveness. Strive to bounce back to remembering why you chose him or her in the first place.

Follow up. Since you’re married, you did some follow up before both of you decided he or she is the one to be your life partner. But are you still watering your marriage? Surely, after getting to know him or her better you would have noticed some tendencies or behaviors that drive you nuts. At the same time, there are other qualities you love, admire and respect. Celebrate those and be their support in the areas they are weaker in. Chances are, you are stronger in those areas and can help to maintain balance.

Be that select person you were created to be according to Psalm 139:14,

I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

Have you ever told yourself you are going to have just one drink, just one peak, just one try, just one… but it turned into much more than one and even a habit? After the first one you tell yourself, well I’ve already started. Inertia works both ways to get you started doing something that’s good for you or for starting something that’s bad. When you take the first one, you have opened the door and when you open a door, it leads to another room, so to speak. This is why after you open the door you seem to have more capacity to do much more than one than you thought. When you peek into that room you feel compelled to explore and before you know it the new room becomes familiar.

If you know you shouldn’t, just don’t open the door.

I remember a time that I knew I should not have any raisins at the time I did but I told myself I needed just a few for energy. True it would have given me a punch of energy and they were so small, but I didn’t need it. Immediately after having some, I regretted it. Interestingly, I started to think about having more to eat and drink. My stomach started to hurt, and I found it hard to think as clearly as I was before having just a few raisins.

If you choose to open a door because you are curious, try checking out Jesus because when you explore Him, you will be pleasantly surprised at the peace and new life you will find. Start by asking Him to come into your life and guide you.

⁷ So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:7-10

Have you ever stepped into a new chapter of your life but felt a pull like gravity to regress to your old self when you encounter difficulty? It may feel logical to just go back to what you’re familiar with. You may tell yourself that if I’m going to be unhappy, I might as well do so with something I’m familiar with. It may be in a job or a project or new habit.

Faith says that I may not see things getting better or I cannot see the light but I’m going to press on anyway. I once was undergoing a painful recovery that was lasting for weeks, after a medical procedure. But a friend who visited me regularly told me during one of his visits, and even in a spirited way, to imagine how I’m going to feel after I’ve recovered. I couldn’t imagine this because I couldn’t seem to see past the pain. But it helped to get me orienting my focus to look beyond my circumstance. This enabled me to keep pressing.

You may have made a change in a habit – keep pressing.

You may have made a change in your routine – keep pressing.

You may have made a change in your diet – keep pressing.

You may have made a change in your career – keep pressing.

You may have made a change in your business – keep press.

According to healthline.com, “It can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit and an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic.” Beyond the pain of today there is pleasure in tomorrow.

Let me encourage you to be courageous, just as Paul did for Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7,

For God has not given us a spirt of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.