My friend Mark is a fourth-generation salesperson.

His great-grandfather raised a family of five children by selling pots and pans door to door in the 1920s and 1930s during the great depression.

His grandfather was an extremely successful life insurance salesperson who too raised a family of five.

Marks father provided very well for his three children through his efforts as a realtor and Mark, with two young children and a pregnant wife, is determined to carry on the proud tradition of being a salesman.

Mark, like his grandfather, is in the life insurance and financial services business.

When Mark told his father and grandfather that he was going to enter into sales career their first piece of advice was for him to purchase a notebook to carry on his person at all times.

They counseled him to use the notebook for two specific functions. After each sales call – regardless of whether it was successful or not – he was to find a quiet spot, pull out the notebook and write his thoughts on how he had conducted himself during the meeting and make a list of three things he could improve upon.

The second function was to list every objection presented to him by the potential customer and to develop three well-thought-out responses that he could use the next time this same objection presented itself.

Their advice did not end there. They advised him to spend time in front of his bathroom mirror practicing his newly written answers to those objections until he felt that he had mastered their delivery.

Mark was smart enough to know that success leaves clues and that the sage advice given him by his father and grandfather were the same actions they had both used to excel in their sales careers.

Mark knew that in order to become a great salesperson he would have to invest an unlimited amount of his time working at it and so he incorporated The Habit of Working At It into his daily routine from the first day of his career.

And it didn’t take long for The Habit of Working At It to start producing results for Mark. He made his share of early mistakes and used each of these experiences to learn from and become a little bit better.

And each time he became a little bit better, he sold a little bit more. And the more he sold, the harder he worked at the job of selling. And the harder he worked, the more he sold.

Mark appreciates how fortunate he is in having two powerful mentors to help them accelerate his career and he also is deeply grateful that both these mentors “pounded into him” the absolute necessity of adopting The Habit of Working At It in everything he does.

Mark has already broken several long-standing rookie records in his company and is on track to becoming one of the top producers within his first three years in the business.

He attributes much of his success to the work ethic instilled in him by both his parents and his grandfather. He also realizes hard work alone is no assurance of success but hard work coupled with constantly getting better is a sure way of advancing early success.

He’s working diligently towards acquiring professional designations and, despite an extraordinarily busy schedule, still devotes one hour every day to The Habit of Working At It – becoming just a teeny bit better each day than the day before.

A pretty good strategy, don’t you think?

Let’s make a habit of meeting like this.

 P.S My book Life Sinks or Soars – the Choice is Yours now has its very own website. Please visit us at  www.lifesinksorsoars.com  and let me know what you think.

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