As you can see, Elliott sent this email over a week ago asking me to put something together that would help reps establish a personally meaningful goal and a plan to reach it, so that they'd stop "just chasing quota".
As you can see, Elliott sent this email over a week ago asking me to put something together that would help reps establish a personally meaningful goal and a plan to reach it, so that they'd stop "just chasing quota".
1: SEPARATE BASED ON WILL: email all of your people with a growth opportunity that is OPT-IN. Create list of those that OPTED-IN and those that didn’t.
I connected two exceptional people and got a message saying "they were incredible, grateful".
What's interesting is they have been exceptional year after year since they were young?
Have you done anything exceptional?
If no, and you've been in sales for 5 years, you probably won't next year.
5 years is half a decade. That'll shape your identity, thinking patterns and guarantee same results.
How long do you marinate chicken for it to get all the flavour? 2-4 hours?
After 5 years, if someone bit into you how much would you taste of mediocrity?
Get the point? The next 5 years will go even faster and you'll land on the decade line.
What do you think the top 5 regrets are for 30 year olds when their 20s die?
I'll guess but write what you're afraid of regretting:
1. Stayed comfortable and didn't invest in myself
2. Didn't take enough risk
3. Did not have enough fun
4. Didn't take on a goal audacious enough
5. "I DIDN'T LIVE LIFE TO THE FULL ENOUGH!"
I believe that you can become exceptional but it's statistically unlikely.
Those that make it are ON FIRE, FULLY ALIVE and are DO OR DIE.
If you want to become those things, that's the first step.
If you read on, it might help you take the first step.
Your scorecard does not lie. Look at your results for the past 5 years. Think about your growth over the past 5 years. Do you have 5 years experience or do you have 1 year experience 5 times? Have you been getting incrementally better? Have you ever had a breakthrough year? What will be different in your 6th year?
If I told you that five years is only 1,825 days, would you forgive yourself for burning them?
They got you here, so maybe they were well spent and this is the WAKE UP you needed.
Don't let the feeling of your "I'm done saying setting a goal, adjusting it or giving up" go to waste.
Maybe you being an exception to the rule of exceptional people could inspire someone else one day?
Maybe just be curious, think "what if" and talk to people who help people change their life for a living?
A friend shared a smart article with me because he knows I’d love it.
Have you seen at OpenAI that what looks like “salespeople” have the title “GTM”?
35 working days (excluding weekends and federal holidays) between Nov 10 2025 and Jan 1 2026.
On a Google hangout today: "I noticed today how focussed I was on the sale rather than helping".
I was speaking with an engineer friend the other day.
He said, “If I build a bridge that collapses, I’m done". He does good work.
Rick mentioned to me this morning that he’d thanked a previous client.
Rick wrote a post that made me stop scrolling.
On Junto yesterday, someone asked how to stop chasing ghosts and losing deals.
The average rep spends 35–40 % of their time on deals they were never going to win (Gartner).
However take note: most reps don’t join a mastermind to ask how to stop wasting time...
Even when they win, 57 % of buyers regret buying (Gartner).
So what does that tell you? Reps are wasting everyone's life.
Hoping. Not doing good work. Cruising. Comfort.
If you cared about impact, you’d spend your time where it mattered.
But this is what “salespeople” do. That’s why there’s a stereotype.
It’s what managers reward. What investors have built.
One day there’ll be companies without salespeople, only Rainmakers.
If you think that’s unrealistic, ask your top producer:
Do they bend to management, or do they manage their manager?
Is the customer the company's or theirs?
How important is their time?
If you’re in sales and you brush your teeth, you should know:
Why you lost deals.
Why deals slipped.
Why customers weren’t delighted.
If you knew those, you’d stop wasting time and start building loyalty.
But changing habits is hard, so most won’t. This'll show you just how exquisite Rick's stuff is:
Step 1: Pick Up Your **** Stained Pants (15 min)
Write down:
Every reason you lost your last 50 deals.
Every reason your last 50 slipped.
Every reason your last 50 customers weren’t delighted.
Step 2: Avoid the **** (15 min)
For each reason, write:
What you could have asked to spot the problem early.
What you can do to fix or prevent it next time.
Step 3: Play a version of Red Light, Green Light
Raise the issue.
Ask the question.
If it isn't an issue: green light.
If it is but you can fix or prevent it: green light if you fix or prevent it.
If it is an issue: red light.
Walk away. Don’t go where you’ll get s**ty!
Step 4: Unexpected Delight
Write a short list of unexpected ways to leave a great impression when you walk away.
Solve for: "Next time they need what you sell, they call me first".
Want to get this set?
Want to apply it to your pipeline?
Want to make a bigger change, this woke you up?
Try a little experiment and see what you learn.
And remember, to be great in sales, start simple:
...
Be not shit.
Yesterday I spoke with an AI researcher who’s working on curing brain disease.
His team builds models to solve complex problems in the brain. He said something that stuck with me:
Would you like to enjoy a clunky 07:00AM meandering with AI forced to answer in one-word?
Gen z may have built a reputation for valuing balance. 44% of Gen Zs ranked work–life balance as their top job priority, ahead of pay, advancement, or purpose (Deloitte’s 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey). Gallup shares study that says workers that 68 % of Gen z / younger millennials say they feel stressed “a lot of the time”.
I recently watched “Mountainhead”. The one line synopsis is something like billionaire social media / content AI companies profiting from fake news / content.
