Rep. 955 Get Out Of Your Head & Keep It Stupidly Simple.

This episode is about breaking free from overthinking and learning to trust your instincts. Drawing on Keith Hernandez’s wisdom, I’ll show you why the best hitters—and the best salespeople—make their money not by knowing everything, but by relying on their eyes, ears, and split-second decisions. Preparation builds the foundation, but selling is live TV. In the moment, you’ve got to get out of your head, keep it stupidly simple, and command the game right in front of you.

Free worksheet for today's episode. (Hint: This is the time to think:) (if no link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SH-Gl-NDcoex8CGSRKUz59uV1XZvSE8D/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=114215176850004969751&rtpof=true&sd=true)

Transcript

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All right. 3, 2, 1. Let's get it this morning. I'm reading out of Keith Hernandez's book titled I'm Keith Hernandez, and for those of you who don't know who Keith Hernandez is, let me kind of set the stage for you, man. He's a hall of famer, and a twice World Series champion with the Cardinals and the Mets. A five time Allstar, and the 1979 National League MVP. And he remains the all time gold glove winner with 11. 11 straight defensive awards. Now he's in the broadcast booth. And so when a guy like Hernandez has mastered the game at every level and he says, don't think too much. You stop and pay attention. So on page 2 63, let me read to you what he wrote. He said, the reason a batter is getting paid a lot of money isn't because he's got a genius iq. It's because that batter has a split second reaction time that, allows him to do what's almost theoretically impossible. Hit a baseball hurled by a man with a cannon for an arm that's just 60 feet, six inches away, and his job is to make sure that you don't hit it. So for a batter to make split second decisions, there's no time for thinking in those moments. Now Hernandez by his admission, was known as a thinking man's hitter. And so he would go to the plate with a plan and this meticulous approach, he even admitted you can overdo it. He said, if I were coaching today, I throw half of that statistical stuff out and tell those players to rely on two things, their eyes and their ears. This hit me, man, because, you know, I'm always, I'm always reading to see how it relates to sales in life. And this is so true and relative in sales. Dude, I've seen salespeople who didn't know a lick about the product, but they could connect and they could convert, and they sold a lot because they had this incredible ability to use their eyes and their ears. They didn't know anything about the product, but they used their senses to watch. To listen and to make split second adjustments in real time. I mean, bro, they could turn what looked like a dead deal into a done deal and it, it's like mind blowing. It's like magical. It's like you're sitting there watching David Blaine on the sales floor. Unbelievable. And then on the other side, I've seen salespeople. Who knew everything. I mean, they could probably teach the engineers who put the product together. They could teach them everything about the product. I mean, bro, they could, they could run a clinic on the topic, but they couldn't close because they were in their own head. See, when you're in your own head, you lose your senses. Your eyes and your ears dull down because all you're thinking about is stats and steps, but you miss the small tales. You miss the subtle shifts in tone and you miss the openings. These little daylight moments that were right there for you. Because you're in your own head. See, knowledge is important. Foundationally, it's important. Don't get me wrong. And I'm not saying like drop everything and just wing it. I'm not saying that at all, but I'm saying knowledge, the preparation, the skillset. This is done in the offline hours. This is done in the mornings. This is done at night. This is done on your car ride to work. And home from work. That's where you prepare. You prepare in the offline hours, but when it's game time, when it's live tv, bro, there's no time for thinking just like that batter. You gotta make these split second decisions and get out of your head and into the moment using your eyes and your ears and cultivating your instincts. I love what Brian Levinson said in his book, shift Your Mind. You gotta be humble in preparation and arrogant in performance. I did a whole podcast episode on that. Humble in preparation. Humble is when you're studying. Arrogant is when you're in the moment. You gotta command the stage. You gotta command the moment customers are coming to you for leadership. They need you to lead them in the right direction. Because see, selling is a series of split second decisions, and the best salespeople, the best ones the ones who make the big money are the ones who can make these split second decisions. They don't crack emotionally. When the objections come at'em, they just simply adjust. Using their eyes and their ears, and they keep it stupidly simple. They trust their senses and they command the moment. See, part of the reason why you're in your own head is because you don't trust your senses. You don't trust your instincts. The reason why is because you haven't trained and cultivated your senses and your instincts. So you're, it's use it or lose it. You've lost it or never had it because you're not putting a forcing function on cultivating what you see and what you hear. Bro, lemme tell you something. You know enough to stand your ground. You know enough off to go the direction it needs to go, but you gotta trust yourself first. One thing my sales manager told me 27 years ago, he said, marsh, you have to understand every deal is a thumbprint. No two deals are the same. So you have the base, but then when it's game time, it's the sense the eyes and the ears for these split second decisions. See, when you're working with your customers, you don't overload them with what you know. You show them what they need to see. You need to know everything, but they don't need to know that you know everything. Don't throw up all over 'em, trying to woo them with your expertise. There's no clarity for that, and they're confused and they say no, and you're gonna do all the heavy lifting for another salesperson. Don't tell 'em everything that you know. You need to know what they need to see, and you reveal it to 'em. And as you reveal it to 'em, you empower them with clarity, not complexity. And again, you gotta keep it stupidly simple. You do. Get outta your own head. Stop overthinking things because when you do, you're gonna lose every single time. You miss the moments, you miss the emotions you miss the the split second decisions. You miss it because in your mind, when you're in your own head. In your mind, you're just thinking about doubt. You're thinking about, oh no, here we go again. Another lost sale, man. These people aren't here. I mean, this narrative is going on and on and on, and the good salespeople are the ones who rely on their senses, their eyes, and their ears to make these adjustments. They're not even in their own head, they're not even thinking. They're making the adjustments they're seeing and capitalizing on different moments., On different areas that they need to go, and they go. They don't think about it, they don't rationalize, they don't negotiate with themselves. They're gone. So here's what I wanna stress to you today. The preparation is key, but that's done on your time when you're selling. It's on their time. Keep it stupidly simple. And if you find that you're getting weighed down, like you're just, you're, you're just, man, I don't know what's going on. I'll tell you what's going on. Everything's going on in your head. You gotta empty your mind when it's, when it's game time, bro. It's on. Get outta your head and stay in your senses. This is how you command the moment and people commanding the moment. That's that confidence and people, your customers want a confident salesperson. That's the difference between someone who knows everything and someone who sells anything. It's the eyes and the ears. All right, let's get outta here. Remember, keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough. Peace.