One of my sales agents once asked me, "How do you keep a reserved attitude when you have high goals for the week?"

As I thought about the question, I realized there are two possible outcomes on any given day in sales. Everything can seem to go wrong, or everything can seem to go right.

The difficult part is that we cannot control which outcome we get.

What we can control is our effort, our attitude, and how consistently we follow the process.

Focus on What You Can Control

In sales, it is easy to become focused on the outcome. We think about how many sales we need, how many people will say yes, or whether we are going to reach the goal we set for ourselves.

Those things matter, but they are not completely within our control.

The process is different.

For an agent, the process can include:

• The number of hours invested in the work

• The number of sales presentations completed

• The information and ideas we put into our minds throughout the day

These are actions we can control. When they become consistent habits, they can create a foundation for professional growth.

Learning to Enjoy the Process

Real growth comes from learning to appreciate the process, not just the result.

Sometimes the process is uncomfortable. Sometimes it is repetitive. Sometimes the results take longer than expected.

That is where consistency becomes important.

I learned a lot about this when I trained for the New York City Marathon in 2016. Training for a marathon required a significant amount of work, but it also taught me how habits developed through one challenge could be applied to other areas of life.

Three parts of my running routine stand out to me.

1. The Hours I Put In

When I committed to marathon training, I quickly realized that the time I spent running would directly affect my preparation.

There were days when I ran four to six miles to build endurance. As the race approached, there were also several long runs of eight to ten miles. Some of those runs took between an hour and a half and two hours.

The point was not to become better in one day.

The point was to put in enough consistent work to improve over time.

The same principle applies to sales. The hours you invest in developing your skills, meeting with people, preparing, and doing the work create opportunities for improvement.

2. The Number of Times I Went Running

There were days when I did not feel like running.

That did not change the importance of showing up.

The preparation was not always easy, and some of the benchmarks were difficult to reach. But repeatedly choosing to leave the comfort of home and continue training created discipline.

Consistency turns an action into a habit.

That principle applies to professional life as well. You will not feel motivated every day. You will have difficult days, disappointing results, and situations that do not go according to plan.

The question is whether you continue to take the actions that matter.

3. What I Listened To and Told Myself

The third lesson was about what I put into my mind while I trained.

I enjoyed listening to podcasts during many of my runs. They gave me something positive to focus on and helped me maintain a constructive mindset during long training sessions.

During the marathon, I also learned to appreciate simple things around me, including the scenery, the podcast I was listening to, and the fact that my body was capable of running.

That experience helped me develop a stronger ability to manage my thoughts during difficult moments.

What we listen to and tell ourselves matters.

The information we consume can influence our perspective, just as the people we spend time with can influence how we approach challenges.

The Same Process Applies to Your Work Week

The principles I learned through marathon training also apply to a work week.

If you want to make progress toward a professional goal, focus on the actions that are within your control.

Put in the hours.

Show up consistently.

Pay attention to what you are putting into your mind.

Keep working when the results are not immediate.

A successful week does not always mean everything went according to plan. Sometimes success is simply knowing that you stayed committed to the process despite the circumstances.

I keep a reserved attitude during a busy week by learning to appreciate every step of the journey, both the good and the difficult.

You cannot have the victory without going through the difficult parts. You can choose to become discouraged by the mess, or you can continue working toward the result.

I encourage you to choose the latter.