Have you ever noticed how easy it is to avoid doing the very things we know will get us the results we say we want? Have you ever avoided doing something you knew was absolutely necessary, but had no idea why you were avoiding it? Me too.

In every endeavor, there are certain immutable requirements or "natural laws" of success. Yet sometimes, in attempts to avoid discomfort or achieve our goals with less effort or anxiety, we spend too much time and energy hoping to flout those laws. But it can’t, won’t, simply doesn’t work. That’s why they’re called laws. Break them and you lose.

In December of 1997 my husband, Bill, began training for the 1998 Hawaii Ironman Triathlon, which was held on October 3, 1998. Nine to 10 months is not a long time to prepare for a 2.4-mile ocean swim, 112-mile bike ride (humid and very windy), and 26.2-mile marathon run. But it’s achievable if you create a good plan and stick to it (which my husband did).

Swimming has never been his strength, and he hadn’t been in the pool in a decade. The rest of his training program started out pretty well. He began running again by steadily building up his mileage. He pulled his bike off the hooks in the garage where it had been hanging upside down for a long time, dusted it off, got it tuned up, and began riding. He even started pumping iron twice a week to build his strength. But the swimming ...

December passed, then January, and by February, Bill knew he was behind in his swimming program. We’d heard that 70% of being a good swimmer is technique, so he bought a swimming technique book. Next he bought the swimming video. (Could he really have been foolish enough to think he could read and watch his way through the Ironman swim? Or was his judgment clouded by pure and simple denial?) By the end of February, he had still managed to avoid getting wet and I was getting worried. Bill enrolled in a swim clinic being held the last weekend in March. I guess he thought there was no point getting in the water until he learned the proper technique!

With this twisted logic, we could say it’s too bad the clinic wasn’t even further off — or even after Ironman — maybe he could have gotten by with no swimming at all. Yeah, right! Are there activities you don’t enjoy or aren’t the best at, yet which are absolutely required for you to excel at a higher level? And which you delude yourself into thinking you could put off altogether?

How about...

• Making more calls to prospects and clients?
• Risking rejection or failure?
• Hiring another staff person?
• Asking for referrals?
• Working on your client interview skills?
• Converting a transaction-oriented business into a full-service business?
• Investing more money in marketing?
• Becoming a more competent professional?

Consider yourself lucky if you have people in your life who point out when you are behaving ineffectively — especially when your rationalizing mind is at its creative best, letting you off the hook in whatever area(s) are challenging for you. Fortunately for my husband, he has this kind of friend in Mark Allen, the six-time Hawaii Ironman champion. In the first week of March, Bill was helping Mark work on his presentation skills for his motivational speaking career when he asked about Bill’s training. Bill gave him the full report about his running progress, cycling development, and weight training regimen. He rambled on about his diet and tried to distract Mark with a few questions, hoping he wouldn’t notice that Bill had left out the swimming part.

But Mark’s question was inevitable: "So, how’s the swimming going?" he asked Bill. So much for Bill’s fancy footwork (which my husband is known to do and is very good at).

Duh. The simple truth has amazing power. Just hearing Mark utter those words shattered Bill’s avoidance behavior pattern. Mark was right, of course. Bill had to get in the pool. Not in March. Not next week. Right now. Today.

Ultimately, learning better technique and attending the swim clinic did make my husband a better swimmer. But they could not replace the lost workouts in the pool. Likewise, you are successful now and have an even higher level of success to achieve. And you probably already know exactly what you need to do to achieve your next level. But you may be putting yourself through mental gymnastics to avoid the very things that will take you where you want to go. The sooner you get in the pool, the sooner you will be on your way to your next level of success.

Surely you recognize that fighting nature is futile. You’re not going to receive a special exemption, nor will the success gods reveal a secret shortcut. Just get in the pool. Come on in! The water’s fine.

Don’t be a traditional old-school salesperson, be a Trusted Sales Professional.

©1999 Anne M. Bachrach, San Diego, CA