How to Treat Sales Anxiety Like a Pesky Tag-Along

This guest article from Sheldon Snodgrass first appeared HERE

Unsurprisingly, “On Anxiety” is the title of the first chapter of my book, "The Anxious Salesman, a Field Guide." Many people might argue that the way to feel less sales anxiety is to make more sales. Maybe.

In my experience as a coach and a producer, anxiety often creeps into our sales lives irrespective of revenue flow, and brings with it a pernicious effect on our pipelines, our prospecting, and the pleasure we take from our work. If that’s not your experience, bravo and blessings!

If, however, that “tagalong”, as I refer to anxiety in my book, is an annoying visitor of yours then I want to offer you an expansion of a blog post I titled, “The Surprising Truth About Sales Anxiety.”

There are always only three sources of anxiety: biological, situational, or existential...

Often, there is no distinct line between these sources because they can morph and blend into one another. Other times, the source is obvious, yet easing it remains difficult.

But always, you can put some distance between yourself and the tag-along.

Pulling from a four-part mantra that, ironically, my army drill instructors taught me during my M-16 rifle qualification test, here are four steps I take to put some distance between my anxious self and that pesky tag-along:

BREATHE-RELAX-AIM-SQUEEZE

• Breathe means we embrace the feeling of anxiety, not fight it.

• Relax reminds us we are not the feeling. We decouple from it.

• Aim means we pick an object of gratitude and forgiveness simultaneously.

• Squeeze means one step forward.

Try this short exercise the next time anxiety decides to tag along for a ride.

Breathe consciously. Close your eyes. Take three slow, deep breaths and fully experience the sensation of anxiety or worry or agitation coursing through your body. Really feel it. Let it wash over you and know that like the weather, it too will pass.

Relax without telling yourself to relax. Note the anxiety with detached curiosity. Experience the feeling fully and completely. Quietly say the words,“I feel… (sensations) in my… (part of body) ...but that feeling is not me. I’ve felt this way before. I cannot willpower it away.” Breathe consciously.

Aim with your eyes closed. Put a soft, compassionate smile upon your face. See yourself in your mind’s eye and say, “I forgive you for…” (whatever arises.) Next, with your eyes still closed, whisper softly, “I am grateful for… and also…” Breathe consciously. Keep repeating those two sentences kindly.

Squeeze. With the objects of forgiveness and gratitude still firmly in your mind, decide what you can do in the next nine to ninety-minutes to bring peace to yourself and do it. Breathe consciously.

The pesky tagalong may still be there, but I promise you will put some distance between you.

Go here to transform your inner critic into a championship coach and let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear from you!

Sheldon