Flaming Enthusiasm for Sales

Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.
--Dale Carnegie.

In the quote above, it's interesting to me that Carnegie, author of the great self-help work, 'How to win friends and influence people,' refers to 'flaming enthusiasm.' It's interesting because it brings to mind another phrase that we hear much more often: 'burned out.'
If I were to look for a definition of being burned out, I could do no better than to say that it's the absence of 'flaming enthusiasm.'

Enthusiasm, flaming or not, is one of the keys to achieving success ' and liking it in the process ' because sustained enthusiasm constitutes the chief ingredient to what we like to call 'the spice of life.'

Too many people lose their enthusiasm ' some of them even lose their enthusiasm for life. Lose your enthusiasm for your job, and your job becomes meaningless ' lose your enthusiasm for life, and your days become meaningless, and your nights suffocating.

So how do you regain your enthusiasm'

Here are some tips:

Take a break from your normal schedule, and 'recast' yourself. Years ago, I would go to a yearly convention in a distant city. For the days that I was away from the normal 'grind,' I would work on myself ' trying to see new ways to do something, new things to try, new ways to make myself better. When I returned from the convention, I was always refreshed, and had a lot of new ideas to pursue. When we're caught up in the day-to-day activities that make up our life, sometimes it's difficult to get the necessary distance from the things that are pulling our enthusiasm level down. Taking a break can help restore that enthusiasm.

Rearrange your job, your surroundings, your time schedule. Sleep on the other side of the bed for a change; move your computer monitor to the other side of the desk; take a different route to work. Rearranging isn't a certain fix ' but it's certainly a good start. Why does rearranging help regain your enthusiasm' It's simple really ' the simple rearrangements force us to look at life in a different way ' just because they force us to look in a different direction. Changing your drive to work, for example, forces you to look at new things, which brings to mind new opportunities, new challenges, and new solutions.

Clarify your goals, your dreams, and your desires. Write them down, draw them out, form a plan ' and proceed on that plan. Clarification helps in a major way ' because often when we lose our flaming enthusiasm, it's because our life has become too fuzzy ' like a camera out of focus, nothing is as clear anymore. Clarification helps tighten up that focus, and focus helps bring out enthusiasm.

Surround yourself with enthusiastic friends, mentors, family, and teachers. Enthusiasm is almost like a disease ' you can easily 'catch' it from someone else.

Evaluate the good things in your life. Make a list of all the 'blessings' that come into your life ' and how much good they've brought your way. You're going to be surprised at how much you really have going for you.

Emulate the people around you who are most enthusiastic. Follow the old adage 'fake it until you make it.'

Smile  even if you don't feel like it. It's hard to understand why, but smiling seems to make you feel better ' and when you feel better, you feel more enthusiastic.

Relight your flaming enthusiasm ' and stop that old burnout.