5 Lessons From The Death Crawl Scene In “Facing the Giants”

by andrew | Jun 11, 2018 | Best Practice, Goal Setting, JPAR, Mindset For Success, Productivity, Success, Sucess Goals, Top Producer

Are you facing YOUR giant?

It’s all about mindset. As we shared this video of being blindfolded at the Techapplooza event last Tuesday – I’m reminded that too often our own perception, surroundings, and beliefs get in the way of victory and success.

With 204 days until the end of 2018, here are 5 lessons we can all learn from “Facing The Giants.”

Lesson 1 – Don’t Write A Bad Month Off As A Loss Before It’s Over

You never know how that last sales call, the last text, the last phone conversation or the last coffee meeting will turn out until it’s over.

It’s so easy to get discouraged when you are having a bad day or a bad month. Sales are off, morale is low, and you feel like crawling under a rock. It’s so easy to set yourself on “cruise control” for the remainder of the month and just focus on next month. While this can be a good thing to improve your performance for next month, writing off this month as a loss before it’s even over is the worst thing you can do.

If you have not seen the movie, the team ends up having a pretty successful season. Not astounding, but if they had just given up halfway through, they would not have seen the level of success that they achieved that season. The same can be said about your sales performance too. It’s not over until it’s over.

Staying in inspired action despite the circumstances surrounding you is the definition of mental toughness. Mental toughness can be developed with exercise, just like a muscle.

Lesson 2 – Once You Hit A Goal Don’t Give Up

In the scene, Coach Grant blindfolded Brock because he didn’t want him to give up once he hit the 50-yard line because he knew that he could exceed that goal. Brock, on the other hand, didn’t even believe that he could get to the 50-yard line in the first place.

Often times, we see a sales quota or a bonus level and decide that is our goal and once we hit that goal, we can just give up and focus on the next month. This scene shatters that belief. If Brock would have just given up at the 50, he never would have believed that he could make it the entire field. Much like in sales, if you stop at $10k in sales because that’s the goal in your head, you could be missing out on $20k month or better.

In a separate post, I’ve written about PROCESS goals, PERFORMANCE goals, and OUTCOME goals. Research shows those that focus on PROCESS goals achieve the OUTCOME more frequently than those that focus on the outcome goal itself.

Lesson 3 – Give Your VERY Best

We all go on listing appointments, buyer presentations, call, text or message prospects and go through a script. We handle the objections and do everything like we were taught. Yet, if you just do that, you might be a successful salesperson and might have a good month. What separates the good from the great are the salespeople who look at themselves after a call – whether a sale is made or not –  and can say “that was not my absolute very best, I can do better.”

Those who learn how to give their absolute very best are the ones who are always at the top of the performance charts. I call it good, better, best. What was good… what could be better… what was the best? A great exercise for continuous improvement.

You see, there is a difference between giving something your best and giving something your very best. If Brock just gave it his best, he might have made it to the 75-yard line. Towards the end, when he was in extreme pain and was hurting, the coach Grant was literally screaming in his face for him to fight on and keep going. It didn’t matter how much Brock was hurting or how tired he was. Much to Brock’s amazement – and his teammates – he was able to do the entire field, but only by giving it his absolute very best.

Lesson 4 – You Inspire Others When You Perform At Your Best

At the beginning of this scene, Brock’s teammates were laughing at him and his attempt to make it to the 50-yard line with Jeremy on his back. In the end, they were speechless and the stood up in respect. If, as the top performer, you are exceeding your goals and are showing others that it can be done, people will follow suit and will start to believe that they can do it too. It will garner respect and will turn a joke and defeated environment to a serious and inspired one.

You can be an inspiration and an unstoppable force for good for others in your community.

Lesson 5 – No Matter What, Refuse To Walk Around Defeated

When top performers walk around with grim faces and an obvious feeling of defeat, it will permeate throughout the office and everyone will start to believe that they too are losers who can’t win. At the beginning of the clip, Brock openly said that he didn’t believe that they could win. You can see that his teammates were actually believing it. After the death crawl, it was an entirely different environment.

As a top performer, are you a negative Nelly or are you rallying the others around you? Walking around defeated before it’s even over only guarantees that you will lose. In the movie, even though they lost their best performer and had 6 straight years of losing, they were able to have a successful season.

How are YOU facing YOUR giant?

Over the next 90 days, we are turning our training and technology offering on its head… you can attack this with vigor or crawl under a rock. You can be overwhelmed or step back and set a plan, break it down into small parts and plan to win.

204 days until the end of 2018… do you want to win in 2018? In the second half of the year, will you give your VERY best? In the end, the choice is yours. We will provide the tools, the training, and the culture to enable YOUR success.

You, me and America are too great for small dreams. Let’s go! Whose in?

#GoCowboys #JPAR #LetsWin #Productivity #Service #ExceedingExpectations