When I doubt myself, I try to remember those shining moments when I have felt especially competent. It’s too easy to remember our failures. Work on remembering your successes, and use that to spur yourself to more success.

Best Breakfast Ever

Sometimes it is as simple as knowing my way around the kitchen. As I’m making my breakfast in the morning, everything flows smoothly. I start the coffee, and feed the dog. Then I start breakfast – bacon and eggs this morning. Pan out, burner on. From the fridge pull out two slices bacon, two eggs. Bacon into the pan. While it cooks, I get a bowl and break up my crispbread into it. Get paper towels for draining the bacon. Turn the bacon. Pour my coffee. Cooked bacon onto the paper towels. Pour fat into a container, and break the eggs into the pan. Add salt and pepper. Bring my coffee and newspaper to the counter where I will eat. Flip eggs. Crumble bacon over the bowl of crispbread. Top with cooked eggs. Sit down and eat.

My breakfast is exactly the way I want it. In the scheme of things, this is not that impressive. But for those moments I’m preparing it, I feel competent. I know what I’m doing. There are no missteps. It's a good start to the day.

So what does this have to do with business? The same principles apply. Pay attention to what you are good at. Relish the feeling of being competent. You may need it when you are struggling.

Best Presentation Ever

Surprisingly enough, for a sales person, I don’t give a lot of presentations these days. My product is very technical, and we have found that it works best for the Field Applications Engineer (FAE) to do most of the presentations. (Yes, I have an engineering background, but in my sales role I don’t dig in deep on the technical details.) I usually kick off the meeting, make introductions, ask questions, and then hand off to the FAE.

So my presentation skills are a little rusty. Sometimes I worry about that.

Then I remember that one time, when I was doing a presentation and had the audience right there in my hands. It was beautiful.

I was in charge of an Account Team selling to a major government organization. We brought the organization out to our headquarters to show them our capabilities. I kicked off the visit with a meeting, where I presented to about 100 of our customers. Top management from my large company was in the room.

I knew our products well. I knew their needs well. I had solid relationships with many of the people in the room, and a good reputation with everyone. I was wearing my best suit. With that knowledge, I started the meeting with confidence. I touched on exactly those points I knew would resonate with my customers. I walked up the aisle and spoke directly to them. All eyes were on me. They nodded and smiled as I addressed their concerns. They were like putty in my hands.

The meeting was a resounding success. Later meetings and presentations also went well. Ultimately, I tripled the revenue from that account by bringing all their telecommunications business to my company.

That was nearly 20 years ago. Yet I still remember that feeling of awesomeness. Just the memory can boost my confidence when I’m feeling low.

Define your path from your successes

If I give it some thought, I can find a pattern in those memories of great moments in my career. If I’m lucky, I can define my career path or role to fit the skills I demonstrate when I’m at my best.

From the above example, it’s not just that I gave a good presentation. At the core, it was the relationship I developed with my customer that made it great. I knew them, and their issues. They knew me, and trusted me. I believed in my company and my solution. I was there to help.

So when I doubt myself as a “hunter” for new business, I remember that my skills and temperament are best suited for “farming”. Building trust relationships with customers. Solving their problems. Looking for new opportunity within my accounts, and growing the business organically. I’m good at it, and it makes me happy. It may not be as exciting or sexy as hunting down a brand new customer, but it brings in a lot of revenue for my company, and for me.

And though I am a pretty good cook, I will stick to my day job. One can only eat so much bacon. Now go get a snack.