Success Mindset, Working Smarter

Speaking Truth to Stupid: An Important Conversation With Yourself


Sales GoalsThe other night I was watching the premier of "The Network", a new HBO show about the decline of journalist integrity. There's a great scene in in which the new executive producer (Emily Mortimer) takes on the popular news anchor who'll do whatever it takes to get the ratings. 

In a fit of anger, she shouts out about the need to "Speak truth to stupid." I almost stood up an applauded. I'm so sick of our partisan news media that won't challenge the party lines.

Then, for some strange reason, I started thinking about what I did that was stupid. I hate when that happens. I much prefer to live in my own delusional world.

The stupid truth is this. I do things that prevent me from reaching my own objectives. Immediately, two goal-inhibiting behaviors came to me. 

  • Playing Solitaire on my cellphone. I play whenever I have a spare moment. The trouble is, sometimes I can't put it down. It's addictive. 
  • Surfing online. I read one interesting article which leads to another and then another. Hours can pass. Sometimes days (or so it seems). 

I finally told myself, "Here's the truth, stupid. If you want to turn that big idea into reality, you gotta stop."

Clearly my only option was to remove these time-wasting distractions.

I immediately deleted Solitaire from my cell phone. Then, I went online and downloaded Anti-Social. This app locks me out of any online site I specify for a designated amount of time. The only way around it is to reboot my computer. (Get ColdTurkey for PCs.) 

I've really freed up a lot of time! Much more so than I realized. 

So let me ask you this, "What truth do you need to tell yourself? What are you doing that's keeping you from reaching your sales goals?" Enter your comments now.

Be honest!

After a successful career in the sales world, writing five books, and speaking internationally, Jill is now tackling an even bigger challenge. She's focused on bringing the "millions in the middle" together to solve some of the biggest issues facing our country and the world. Jill truly believes so much more is possible if we can work together.