Want More Success? Stop Using Common Sense!

I know this may sound crazy to some, because most of our lives we have been told "come on, just use your common sense!". Every one from our parents to our teachers, bosses and coaches have said this to us at some point. So we have been programmed to at least attempt to use common sense in every situation. Now don't get me wrong, common sense is great for things like not touching a hot stove or walking out into traffic or leaving your doors unlocked, but common sense can be the most destructive thing in the world to your success. You see, our common sense tells us not to do things that are painful or uncomfortable. Well guess what the number one thing is that all successful people do. That's right, they get out of their comfort zone. They do things that most people are not willing to do. Think about this for a second. The word common means "shared by many". Well what is the financial status that is shared by many? What is the success rate that is shared by many? Not very good, right?

So, in order to be successful, you will have to fight your common sense. The first step is to realize when your common sense is stopping you from doing something that is necessary for your success. For example, you know you should be constantly prospecting and sharing your business with people. You should be picking up the phone and calling your prospects. But, you hesitate to do these things because you don't like rejection and your common sense is telling you not to do something that makes you feel bad. One way to combat this is to look at the numbers. In sales, for every 20 or so "No's" you will get a "Yes". Now you can look at each rejection as a step closer to a sale!

Here's another example. Your common sense is going to tell you that the longer you work your business without success the more you should think about quitting, because you're spending your time and money without getting any return. Well the exact opposite is true. If you had met Bill Gates or Steve Jobs when their businesses were only six months old, and you asked them how much money they had made so far, they would have told you none. As a matter of fact they had lost money at that point! The point here is that success is an ongoing journey. There is never a time where you should get discouraged and quit and more importantly there should never be a time when you become so satisfied that you stop working. In other words the only thing that can stop you from achieving your goals is if you quit working toward them!

My main reason for this post is to stress that, to be successful, you MUST train yourself to do things that people just naturally don't like doing. You must get out of your comfort zone and promise yourself that you will never give up on your goals no matter what. The great thing is that once you commit to doing the things you need to do to be successful, they will become second nature and you won't feel uncomfortable doing them. So in essence what is happening is, with every day that goes by you are expanding your comfort zone! At the same time guess what else is happening. Your common sense is evolving! Trust me if you just keep at it and don't give up you will get to the point where your common sense tells you that you have to do the things that successful people do if you want to maintain success!

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To Your Lasting Success,

Chris Parmes