7 STEPS TO AVOIDING A SLUMP OR PULLING YOURSELF OUT OF ONE
By: Bill Sparkman, The Coach
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1. Call Time Out
Stop the action and take a step back to evaluate exactly where you are. Be honest with yourself. Do you have a clear plan with measurable milestones and objectives? If not, you may find yourself wandering. To get back on track, start with small goals everyday and complete them as you go.

2. Gratitude
Be thankful for the opportunity you have to create an incredible future for yourself. Most people would give anything to be able to control their own destiny - YOU can! Take control and start off by remembering how lucky you are.

3. Get Back to work
Most people want to play the piano, not learn how to play it, speak a foreign language, not study it, enjoy success, not earn it. Success is always learned the hard way - by getting up after a failure and trying again. If the ladder of success has slipped out from under you, maybe it will take another 3 or 4 tries. Remember, once you arrive, no one cares how long it took you to get there.

4. You Must Have a Short Memory
Forget your mistakes. Forget failure. Forget everything...except what you are going to do next, and then do it. Today is your lucky day.

5. Get Back to Prospecting
When your prospecting goes down, your business goes down, and then you say you're in a slump. Get back in the game. Ten solid new contacts per day can get anyone out of a slump. It takes no skill or talent to hustle. When you hustle, you get lucky! Ten contacts per day = 100 loans per year.

6. Get Better
"Continuous improvement" is the motto of every successful salesperson, family, company, church, or any worthwhile venture. If you are not sure where you could make the biggest change that would have the most lasting effect, ask someone. You probably know where you need to improve. Make some changes - things
can't be different without making changes. Bob Dylan said "When you ain' t got nothin, you got nothin to lose."

7. Light Yourself a Fire
You can't start a fire with a wet match. Lack of motivation is the "silent killer" that will take the wind out of anyone's sails. Passion comes from remembering "why" you are doing what you are doing. It isn't the weather, the market, competition, or "a slump" that is keeping you from becoming a top producer. The common denominator of underachievers is a poor attitude.

You will be in a slump about as long as you decide to stay there. Get back in the game. "To win it, you gotta be in it."

Bill Sparkman, "The Coach"