Part 1: Weighed down by Anchor Thoughts

Welcome back to the 12th issue of Disrupting Conversations!

I’m excited to share this issue with you, because—for the first time ever—I’m sharing insights from my exclusive Lappin180 high-performance course. It’s all about the core of our work: mindset. We’ll explore a common term called “Anchor Thoughts,” how these weigh us down and hold us back, and what to practice instead.

Be sure to subscribe to receive Part 2, where we’ll dive into “Activation Thoughts,” the opposite of those heavy, low-performance intentions. Part 2 will share tangible advice for shifting your mindset—and the outcome of your conversations with prospects.

🎙 Our podcast episode is also about mindset and the way it impacts outcomes. Believe it or not, we really do manifest our reality.

Finally, as always, there’s some humor to lighten the high-performance experience, and a quote to help you think about the different topics I share and discuss.

I hope you enjoy it, and please reach out by responding here any time you have questions or feedback.

–Dan

Breaking Sales is my podcast to connect with those who are ready to break free from the chains of old sales methodologies that don’t work.

🎙 Your Mindset Impacts Your Results: Part 1

In this first of a three-part series of episodes, Pam and I address the role mindset plays in outcomes. Your mindset impacts your results, plain and simple.

There’s a lot of people out there giving “advice” on how to be a better sales professional, but guess what? A lot of their well-intentioned advice is outcomes-based—not mindset-based.

Tune in now to hear Pam and I demystify some of the myths out there around why sales professionals fail, and how to avoid them.

Think Different (Part 1): What low-performance thoughts are anchoring you down?

In my Lappin180 sales course, I walk professionals through numerous modules, each dedicated to a different aspect of the sales process—from mindset psychology, to high-performance tactics, to building trust and having better conversations.

I want to share some of that with you here, for the first time.

And we’re starting with the most central, critical concept of all:

MINDSET.

Let’s flip the script - we’ve all been there… A sales person has us on the phone, and they’re doing everything they can to persuade and convince us of their company’s “key value proposition”—that offering, solution, or expertise that sets them apart. That thing they promise, in hopes we will spend more time with them.

Except, all you’re feeling is an urgent need to escape. Right?

That’s because most of these experiences come from a misguided mindset, weighed down by what I like to call “Anchor Thoughts.”

Anchor thoughts represent our routine thoughts. The system of thinking we use to gather, filter, and codify the observations and information we receive. The challenge is that these anchor thoughts are bred from thoughts of lacking, insufficiency, attachment, and biases.

These anchor thoughts cause you to label and judge in your conversations, leaving you feeling anxious, uncertain, frustrated, or even agitated.

And if you’re the type of salesperson who genuinely wants to help your prospects improve, it can be exhausting and deflating to have failed meeting after meeting, where you and your prospect don’t find mutual ground.

Anchor thoughts sound like:

• “I hope I don’t screw this up.”

• “I really hope I get a second meeting with this prospect.”

• “I have to convince this prospect to work with us.”

• “If this prospect just understands what makes us different, they’ll change what they’re doing with the other guys.”

As you know, these thoughts can dominate your mindset during conversations. They inhibit your courage to ask good questions, and destroy your ability to listen with benevolence. They weaken your confidence and conviction.

It’s not that we’re trying to make this our conversational starting point; we just can’t help it if it’s all we’ve ever been taught or known.

But the good news is, we can learn and strengthen a process to change these thoughts. We can move from a mindset that accentuates our self-doubt to one that ignites our potential.

For “Activation Thoughts.”

In Part 2, we’ll explore what “Activation Thoughts” are, and how to practice them instead.

Laughter Can Drive Performance—If You Let It

How often have you had a prospect tell you they’re interested, only to completely ghost you? It might be that they lied because they didn’t know how else to escape your well-intentioned efforts to get the sale.

You might be working with Anchor thoughts. Tune in next time to learn how to implement Activation thoughts instead.

Thanks for reading!

Want to know more about the work I’m doing? Follow me on LinkedIn.

Was this newsletter shared with you? Subscribe here.

Learn more about Lappin180.