Your change is a direct result on how many books you read and people you meet.

When I was a teenager I wasn’t really that interested in reading. I was more interested in sports regularly playing basketball on the drive of my parents’ house for hours. At the time it wouldn’t have matter what anyone said, I know my parents wanted me to read more, but it wasn’t my thing.

You might feel the same about reading in your life today. I understand where you are coming from. Perhaps you have a bust schedule, lots of family commitments, sports activities, and obligations to friends. If this description is you; I strongly suggest you try to change your impression of reading.

In my personal experience I started by reading John Grisham novels that captured my imagination, however I found I read the books faster than Grisham wrote them. More recently I have found I am truly excited by motivation and professional development books. If you are able to find a topic that excites you and expands your knowledge base you will benefit greatly.

The reason that you will benefit is simple. In the early days of the internet I can remember being impressed with the internet even with a dial up connection. Imagine running the internet on dial up in today’s environment. Lots of time trying to connect and then when you connect the transfer of information is slow.

No one would choose to run a slow connection; however that is exactly how your mind is running if you do not make it a top priority to read.

Reading motivational and professional development books will speed up how quickly your mind connects information. Your brain will start to function like surfing the net on a super-high speed connection.  Information will appear instantly, you will quickly be able to recall information and people will recognize you have the ability to make connections.

Find your format

I don’t have the time to read. I don’t see this realization as an excuse, rather a simple problem that needs to be solved. I discovered audiobooks and now I listen to 2-3 books a week while I drive to and from work. If this is a solution that can work for you I suggest you give it a try and find out for yourself if listening to books can help you.

Meet more people

Meeting people is something most sales people takes for granted. Most of our days are spent constantly meeting new people and most of our interactions are short and relatively superficial. Sales people have been conditioned to focus on quantity instead of quality. Make the most of your meetings with new people. Ask in depth questions that take your meeting past a superficial “hi, how are you?”

It takes slightly more effort to engage someone of a deeper level. You don’t have to get their entire life story. Simply take an active interest in the person. Trust me they will  take notice.