V is for Velocity

V is for Velocity
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Speed is questionable, but velocity is pure gold because with velocity, right direction is generally implied. If you are going fast in the wrong direction, it doesn't help. In fact, it hurts, badly.

In Sales or anywhere else in life, meaningful progress happens when you put in effort in the right direction. Velocity simply accelerates that journey towards your goal.

Activity Does Not Indicate Velocity

A lot of activity does not automatically denote that you have velocity. The only simple way to determine whether your activities are producing meaningful results is by tracking ONE or TWO good metrics that will clearly show you the reality.

There are either results or there are reasons for not having results. Reasons, however good they are, won't matter much in the long run

Think about your own situation and decide what are ONE or TWO things you can track on a daily basis that will showcase velocity.

Velocity Gets You Support

Velocity gets you support from people around you. When you have velocity, you stand out from the pack. However you look at it, velocity creates a perception that you are committed to win and you will do whatever it takes to get there. It is common knowledge that you and everyone around you will want to be in the winning camp. Unless you are arrogant or ungrateful, people around you will come forward and lend their helping hand because they also know that their help won't go wasted.

Velocity Sharpens Your Thinking

There is time for deep reflection and there is time for quick, thoughtful action to move the needle. When you have velocity, you are engaged with the latter. You have limited time but have to come up with the right set of actions to make meaningful progress. With that kind of constraint, you are bound to sharpen your thinking.

Where do you get started?

Here is the simple approach that has worked for dozens of people that I have coached: go and help someone that operates at high-velocity. Not for money or as a consulting engagement but simply as a favor. You will soon learn that you are doing a favor to yourself. When you are up close and personal with people that operate with high-velocity, you unconsciously pick up the language, practices, habits and thinking. When you start, it is clear that operating in high-velocity is second nature to them (and rocket science to you). If you don't give up and keep helping, you will not only get those skills, they will go into your background thinking and very soon it becomes your second nature too.

Remember that constraints are no longer constraints when you view them as blessings in disguise.

If you are interested in other articles in this series so far, here they are:

A is for Alignment (title changed)

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