You may have read books or listened to podcasts on how to live a healthy lifestyle while balancing a busy sales career. There are many different types of guidance that you can find on this topic ranging from business and career strategies to health and relationship advice. The reality is, leading a healthy lifestyle while trying to excel in your sales career can be extremely tough and requires a lot of effort. The hours are long, it is mentally exhausting and you face a lot of rejection. Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to lead a healthy lifestyle while still crushing your targets.
Check out these 4 out-of-office habits you can adopt right away that will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle and excel in your sales role.
1. Make time for family and friends
Your mental wellbeing will thank you for this. Spending time with friends and family is proven to reduce your level of stress, depression and anxiety. Reduced stress will help you in the workplace by boosting your energy, avoiding illnesses leading to absences and improving your professional relationships. Integrating a social structure into your calendar will not only give you something to look forward to throughout your work week, but it will also help you ensure that your workload does not take over your personal life. It is important to note that there is no substitute for social interaction, not even texting. So, get out there and get some much needed face time with your friends and family.
2. Avoid unhealthy lunches on the corporate card
Although the days of schmoozing your client with fancy gifts and dinners is much less prevalent than it used to be, you still may often find yourself taking a client to lunch or dinner in an effort to maintain or build a relationship. With the corporate card at your fingertips, it can be easy to treat your client to a meal filled with excessive food and drink, and this can quickly spiral out of control to become a bad habit. To avoid it, find restaurants that offer healthy alternatives in addition to the traditional comfort food. Although you may feel pressured to indulge in a few drinks or dessert with your client, they are not going to judge you for what you eat. So, regardless of what they choose, stick to the healthy options and develop a habit that you can feel good about.
Similarly, your company may often cater lunch for your office. After all, nothing makes employees happier than food and lots of it. If it happens to be an unhealthy choice such as a pizza party, you may want to consider packing your own lunch or at least a healthy snack to pair with the junk food. Not only will you feel better about yourself, but the healthy meal you eat will increase your energy, memory and an overall boost in happiness which will lead to… you guessed it, higher productivity!
3. Get plenty of rest
Any sales position often comes with a lot of stress. You are always chasing a metric or a goal and you may find yourself working long hours in order to achieve them. It’s a grind and takes a serious toll on your body, both mentally and physically. Luckily, the statistics that are in favour of getting adequate sleep are overwhelmingly positive. Perhaps the most alarming stat for a salesperson is found in a recent study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion. It shows that employees who get 5 hours or less of sleep per night prove to be almost 2 times less productive than those who get the recommended amount. In sales, productivity is the name of the game and you can not afford to be 2 times less productive than your counterparts. To help you get more rest, here are a few tips:
- Establish a before-bed routine – it is best if this routine does not include electronics or blue light. A study by Harvard Health showed that exposure to blue light decreases your body’s creation of melatonin (the natural chemical that makes you sleep) by almost 50%. Instead, consider picking up a good book, listening to calm music, or meditating.
- Keep your bedtime routine consistent – try your best to go to sleep and wake up around the same time every day as it helps your internal clock sync with your lifestyle and will lead to better quality sleep.
- Avoid eating meals late at night – in addition to plenty of other health benefits, this will actually help you fall asleep quicker and stay asleep. In fact, sleepadvisor.org recommends having your last big meal at least 2-3 hours before you go to bed. By cutting off your eating earlier in the night, you will avoid the blood sugar increases that could negatively impact your sleep quality.
4. Find a mentor or life coach
A great mentor is able to fill the gaps that your manager does not fill. From a personal standpoint, they can teach you how to exhibit the qualities that helped them be successful; such as how to be resourceful, resilient, disciplined and dedicated. These “big picture” teachings will lead to a high level of personal and professional growth and they have wisdom on these subjects because they have lived it. At one point in their career, they too were rookies that were searching for ways to advance. They act as your trusted advisor and because of their experience, they can help you identify your flaws and work with you to get better. In the workplace, you can take what your mentor has taught you and put it to use. Whether it be tips on how to make a great cold call or advice on how to close the deal, practice what they preach and you can become a much stronger salesperson.
In terms of finding a mentor, consider researching some thought leaders within your network and narrowing it down to a few who you think would be a good fit/willing to take you on as a mentee. If this person is internal to your organization, you can start with scheduling a short meeting with them to discuss what you are hoping to achieve. If they are external to your organization but are within your network, consider having a mutual contact that is closer to this person facilitate an introduction for the two of you to meet. Once this meeting has been booked, prepare a list of questions that you want to ask them to help ensure that the informal partnership is right for one another.
These are 4 simple habits that will help you manage your physical and mental wellbeing, while allowing you to be successful in the workplace. For more tips on how to be successful in your sales role, check out our other resources here.