Isn’t February a great month to miss your sales goals? Think of all the rationalizing you could do for failure.
It’s the shortest month so it makes sense.
We have plenty of time to make that revenue up before the quarter closes in March.
We have more than plenty of time to make that revenue up before the year closes in December.
It’s dreary outside.
I hate Valentine’s Day.
Deep down you know though that these reasons aren’t acceptable. Winners don’t make excuses and winners never give up – especially in February.
Let’s say a year’s work was represented by running 12 laps around a track – one lap for each month.
The first lap was easy. January 1st began with a bang of that start gun and your business charged forward with fresh energy and a clear shot at the finish line.
Now comes February. And just how important is your performance during this second lap? VERY. You are setting the pace that you have to maintain for the rest of the race and there’s ten more laps to go this year. There’s no slacking off now and catching up later. You’ve got to get into a rhythm now and train your mind for endurance to last you for the long-run. Every second counts – on the track and in your career. The sooner you accept that fact, the farther and the faster you’re going to go.
eQ’s President Joe Mechlinski sent our entire team an email yesterday reminding each of us that we cannot let off our gas pedal even a little bit. Apparently the track he’s on is a racecar one but still, the concept is the same.
Starting right now, there is one week left on the books for February. In track terms, that’s exactly 100 meters left in the lap. You don’t have to do an all-out sprint but if you’re feeling the onset of a runner’s high, take advantage of the momentum. What you absolutely must do, however, is finish out this lap with the speed you set as your goal. You’re in the race and there’s no turning back. There’s no rewriting your sales goals for the year now. February is not the month to allow missteps. You can’t afford to get behind when March is literally right around the corner.
Keep focused, keep hydrated, and keep going.
And remember, just like runners rely on pacing teams and cheers from the crowd, eQ is always available to push you to the achievement of your goal and support you all the way towards a full-speed finish.
Kristen Zatina is a writing specialist at entreQuest with an interest in everyday client experiences on which businesses can capitalize.
