Mindfulness in Sales: One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Guest Post by Jovan Vuksanovich
Mindfulness these days is being taught in healthcare, psychotherapy, primary and secondary schools, universities, law firms, innovative companies, traditional companies, the military, prisons, and sports teams. Most everywhere. And growing in leaps and bounds, globally. Mindfulness, over the last thirty plus years, has gone completely mainstream.
However, there’s a lot of confusion about what mindfulness is and what it isn’t. Perhaps the plethora of training programs and trainers that have entered the marketplace is part of the confusion. Many of the programs approach mindfulness as a one size fits all. The reality? Mindfulness practice must be unique to each person. Why? Each individual is a singularity with totally unique life experiences that embody very specific internal narratives, memories, impressions, emotions, and sensations.
The Buddha said, ‘Be compassionate to everyone, beginning with yourself.’ So, that means focus on who you are as distinct from everyone else: a completely original entity.
A Zen saying is: ‘We are who we think we are, who others think we are, and who we really are.’ Surely this means our own authentic Self is like no other. So following from that, mindfulness practice should be stripping away, or discarding all that is not our authentic Self.
We accumulate since birth, and ongoing throughout life, so much relating directly to our wellbeing, but also, much that’s detrimental to our overall benefit. Therein lies the motivation to get started in mindfulness practice, and make it part of our lifestyle. We’re not improving or changing ourselves; we are ridding ourselves of what is not enhancing our natural, authentic Self that’s more than adequate at successfully handling any life situation with impeccable poise and wisdom.
Relating this to sales, let’s face it: What makes you successful at marketing or sales is your unique knowledge, personality and approach. When we sell, we gain leverage by understanding the person we are communicating with at a deep level. The more we understand a customer’s individual drivers, what motivates them, and what they are looking to accomplish, the more value we can create. Only someone in tune with her or his authentic Self, free of past limitations, alert and focused in the actual present, can be perceptive enough to respond to the needs of a customer with total focus and caring. Being present is synonymous with confidence and competence.
Another ‘one size fits all’ confusion about mindfulness is that it takes a lot of time. There are those who believe to be mindful you must meditate for a healthy period of time each day. This is not true. Scientific studies show that you can rewire your brain and change the lens in your brain to more positivity in as little as 10 minutes a day. It’s quality, not quantity. In fact, the more your practice is focused on your own unique circumstances in life, the more you recognize repeating patterns specific to you that can be let go of readily and efficiently. Practice becomes spontaneous and effortless, and in many cases, the solution in the moment emerges very subtly and instantly.
Mindfulness practice is about being focused in the present moment to all that’s happening in and around us with a nonjudgmental, open attitude – a witnessing mindset. We usually react to external or internal stimuli without pause because we habitually identify instantaneously as a ‘fight or flight’, worn out personality, to recurring patterns triggered by circumstances through interactions with others. Those ‘others’ can be locked into memories in our unconscious that surface suddenly to interfere or neuter the living present. Regular mindfulness practice lets go of this tired knee-jerk, constructed persona, releasing a fresh response to whatever is happening.
So, in sum, do something compassionate for yourself today; begin an individualized mindfulness practice. Your true Self, that’s been your constant best friend and guide your whole life will enjoy a new spaciousness to expand in, and not just survive, but thrive!
For more information on Mindfulness in Selling, register today for our free Webinar – The Link Between Mindfulness Practice & Sales Performance.
About Jovan Vuksanovich
Jovan is our Sales Mindfulness Master Coach. He has an expertise in cold calling that is unparalleled. For 14 years he called on high net worth individuals and filled a room with a minimum of 20 people every two weeks. Jovan also qualified them and turned people away who had less than a million dollars of investable assets. No one else was ever able to meet or beat his record. Jovan synthesizes his knowledge and practice of Yoga and Zen Meditation Techniques, Gestalt Therapy and Mindfulness into sales.
