Selling with Noble Purpose

Do you dread going to parties for fear of having to answer the question, “So what do you do for a living?”

If so, there’s a good chance that you don’t feel your work is making a significant contribution to the world. The common, vague response to the question could be, “Oh, I work for a software company,” or, “I work in sales.”

You can try this now – pretend you’re talking to someone you’ve just met and take a moment to listen to yourself as you say what you do out loud. Do you sound less than enthused about your job?

If so, it’s time to do things differently. After all, it’s important to feel that you are making a difference in the world.

Start by asking yourself a new question, “When was the last time my work made a difference to someone else?” It doesn’t have to be a client or customer – maybe it was a co-worker?

If you can, describe this scenario out loud, preferably to someone else, and consider how it makes you feel. Chances are, your speech will improve, you’ll feel engaged, experience a boost in self-esteem, and you’ll finish the conversation feeling motivated about your job.

This reaction shows how important it is to your own well-being to find meaning in the work you do.

There’s a biological reason behind this reaction as well, as having a sense of purpose pushes your brain to operate at a higher level.

When you just rattle off your job title, it’s like you’re on autopilot and using the least amount of brain power.

But this isn’t the case when you describe the difference you’ve made to someone else. It stimulates your frontal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for reasoning, planning, problem-solving, empathy and the ability to be altruistic.

In the next blink, we’ll look at how to add purpose to the act of selling.