By Todd Duncan

The best way to avoid stagnation in your sales career is by following the final step: Surveying yourself. Something I’ve practiced and preached for years now is what I call the “Annual Review with You.” And it’s geared to ensure that your needs and values in life are consistently met and upheld over the course of your selling career.

In essence, it’s designed to ensure that your life doesn’t become stagnant in your pursuit of selling success. Dorothy Canfield Fisher once said, “If we would only give the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the ques­tion of what to do with a two weeks’ vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our days.”

To make certain that your cutting-edge selling pursuits don’t cause your life to grow stale, begin conducting an annual review of your life’s procession. Personally, I find a place of solitude free from distraction and spend no less than eight hours answering the fol­lowing questions:

• What am I passionate about that gives meaning to my life?
• What do I value that gives me true satisfaction?
• Am I missing anything in my life right now that is important to me?
• Where do I want to be and what do I want to be doing in five, ten, and twenty years?
• What gifts do I have that I am perfecting? Which gifts am I not using effectively?
• What would I be willing to die for?
• What is it about my job that makes me feel trapped? How can I change that?
• With regard to money, how much is enough? If I have more than enough, what purpose does the excess serve?
• Am I living a balanced life? Which areas need more time or focus?
• Where am I seeking inspiration, mentors, and working models to achieve greater significance?
• What do I want to be remembered for? Am I currently known for those things?
• What legacy do I want to leave my children? Am I leaving it?

“A man,” said Samuel Johnson, “loves to review his mind.” And while this is true, it’s not the purpose of conducting an annual review. The Annual Review with You is for the purpose of review­ing your heart, your soul.

And when you do that on a yearly basis, you will ensure that nothing—not even sales success—will get in the way of the most important things in your life. And that’s vital because selling success and life satisfaction can and should go hand in hand. And when they do, your competitors don’t have a chance.

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