How to be a leading indicator of economic growth in your own sphere of influence

By John Earl Carroll
Daily Journal Columnist
Published March 16, 2010

Yes, there will be a recovery. Depending upon whom you ask, trust or listen to, the recovery is already underway. You may prefer your own “economic” indicators to tell you just how far along the recovery has come.

Regardless, there will be a recovery of the market and the economy. There always is. The key question is whether there will be a recovery in the near future for your business. If so, how soon and how strong?

Consider a key point in this or any recovery, which is putting the focus on what you can control. I recommend this exercise to clients and audiences alike. You can do this individually just by following a few simple steps. This may be best done with the low-tech tools of a paper and pen or pencil.

I call this exercise the Circle of Control.

First, make a list of all the things you can’t control in this world. Make it a complete list, even the ludicrous and obvious things such as weather and government. Once you have your list, write the items all around the outside of the circle.

Next, make a list of all the things over which you have control. This may be a bit more challenging, but think it through and be sure to include how you choose to spend your time. While time itself marches on regardless of what you do, how you use your time is up to you. If you disagree, consider it a choice to care for your family, respond to your coworkers and read all your e-mail messages. Once you have this list, which may be considerably shorter than the first, write it inside the circle.

Got it? So here’s the first secret of selling effectively through the recovery: focus most of your time, energy and effort on what you can control and very little of your precious resources on those things you cannot control.

Use the 80/20 Rule if you like. Put 80% of your attention on things you control and only 20% on everything else.

When you focus on the things you can control, you’re more likely to be productive, to feel better about yourself and to take proactive steps to improve your situation. Example: by focusing most of your time on what you can control, you are more likely to increase your selling activities. Conversely, when you spend more time on things you can’t control, such as buyer behaviors, you’re apt to become frustrated, irritated and even immobilized. That simply doesn’t help the cause.

The media
The media (Yes, I know what I’m saying here as you read this in an online media application.) live outside of your control. The media want one thing: They want you back. Once they have you, they want you back. They want more of your attention, your time, your visits to this Web site or that blog. They want your eyes on this show or your ears on this program. If they happen to be focused on all the things that are wrong and bad with the economy, the country and the world, you risk believing that there’s very little if any that’s good anywhere.

Once you buy into that, it’s a short trip to reaching the conclusion, “Oh, what’s the use of working today? No one’s going to buy anything from me anyway!”

Other people
Other people live outside of your control. Yes, family, friends, coworkers, colleagues, peers, classmates — you name them, they’re outside of your control. You may have influence by your position — parent, manager, customer, supplier — but you don’t control them. Focus on other people more than on what you can do to help them, and you can make yourself crazy in short order.

Organizations
Organizations are simply groups of people, so they are also outside of your control.

That includes any level of government, producers, directors and editors of media outlets (Did I mention that the media are outside of your control?) your church or temple, the company that handles your health insurance, the information technology department at work — I could go on, but you get the picture.

Focus on organizations more than what you plan to do to make the most of your relationship with them, and you can get sidetracked from what you can and should be doing to increase your sales.

Keep emotions (and attention) in check
Events are mostly outside of your control. What you can control is your response to events, particularly your emotional response. You can take events in stride or you can react to every bit of bad news as if you’re Chicken Little and look up to see when the sky will begin to fall.

Inputs are mostly within your control. That means you get to choose what you read, listen to and watch. You choose the books, the audio programs, television programs and online content. You may find yourself in a place where there’s a constant stream of an all-news or all-sports channel, and, for that period of time, it may be difficult to direct your attention elsewhere.

Few people these days are starved for information. If anything, they are overwhelmed with it. Look instead for wisdom and the sources where you’re most likely to find it. That will separate you from those staring at the large screen televisions and put you well ahead of the crowd in sales results.

John Earl Carroll is a national award-winning columnist, author and consultant and president of Unlimited Performance Inc. in Mount Pleasant. Follow him on Twitter or contact him via e-mail.