In a coaching session with a sales person from one of our clients the other day, they shared their excitement over receiving a lead from an excellent prospect with great potential. I asked if they had followed up yet and they responded, no, “It’s a great opportunity so I want to make sure that I make a great call, I’m still in the process of “getting ready” to make sure I have everything right”.
Sales people often avoid taking action and can form a bad habit of always “getting ready”. In fact, I like to refer to this as the “getting ready disease”. You ‘ve heard some form of it before, or maybe have even been a victim of it. Some common “getting ready” traps are:
I’m getting ready to make calls…
I’m getting ready to write that proposal…
I’m getting ready to follow up on that great lead…
I’m getting ready to make that tough phone call…
Sadly, companies often perpetuate and foster the “getting ready” disease. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen companies hire sales people and not allow them to make calls because they need to “get ready”. You know, they need to “get ready” to sell by learning product knowledge, researching their customers and the market, or “boning up” on the competition. I’ve even heard sales managers tell new sales people “we really don’t expect you to sell anything for the first six months, you’re just not ready”. Can you guess what happens? They don’t sell anything for six months!!… proof again of the self fulfilling prophesy!
The getting ready disease is just a synonym for “procrastination”, the root cause of which is the “fear of failure”. We procrastinate, stall or put off what needs to be done because we are afraid that we might not be able to do things “right” or “perfect”. Not being able to do things right will cause failure and so we avoid acting for fear that we might “fail”. Our fear “paralyzes” us and creates in-action, which in the sales business (and many other vocations) will guarantee the failure we fear so much! It is a “negative spiral”, causing us to engage in non-productive behavior.
The next time you find yourself getting ready, ask yourself will delaying the call to “get ready” actually lower the chances of having a successful outcome? You might just find that waiting may have a more detrimental affect than not “being perfect”. More often than not “a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow!”.
Action Step: The next time you find yourself “getting ready” take action.
John Hirth
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/stop-getting-ready-90680.html
March 11th, 2010 at 6:33 am
What age did you stop breastfeeding your baby and how did they let you know they were ready to stop?
So i have two questions.
1) At what age did you stop breastfeeding
2) How did your baby let you know they were ready to stop breastfeeding?
I keep getting asked when im going to stop breastfeeding, my son is approaching 7 months but neither me or him are ready to stop yet. I was thinking about a year old. Just wondering if your baby let you know or if you just decided to stop
March 11th, 2010 at 10:35 am
When to stop is really something only you and your baby will know. Well, if your kid is old enough to ask for it, chances are he/she is too old.
A friend of mine stopped when her son was a year old. He was already able to drink from a cup, and it actually went over well. She just up and stopped one day, he didn’t have any problems. After a week she tried to breast feed him, and he wasn’t even interested. I know not all babies are like this though. Once you do decide to stop though, the trick is to just stick with it, and stay with your descion. If you are in doubt, talk to your pediatrician. They can give you some good advice, and can tell you if your baby will need extra nutrition when you do stop.
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March 11th, 2010 at 10:37 am
at 18 mounths
he started eating "big kid food" and no longer needed me :}
References :
mom of 4 boys
March 11th, 2010 at 10:39 am
Honestly I thought we were going to go a long time (up to 2 years) since she has never had a bottle and our breastfeeding relationship was awesome But for some reason around my daughters 1st birthday, she just didnt want it anymore. I would offer like I normally would right before bed,naps and in the morning and she would either Bite me (what she used to do when she was done eating) Or she wouldnt even latch on, she would close her mouth shut like you were trying to feed her mashed pees or something! lol I tried this for about 3 days thinking she was on some "strike" and figured she would come back to me, well she never did..
she is 14 months now and i tried to offer it to her the other day just to see what she would do and she shook her head no and walked away, lol so i guess she let me know huh! 
even though i was wiling to go until she was done. Im sad its over but then again im happy i was lucky enough to experience it 
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March 11th, 2010 at 10:41 am
My daughter is still nursing; she turned 2 in October.
She has slowly been cutting down on nursing frequency, but I can’t see her stopping for a while yet. It’s up to her to stop when she wants; I will not force it.
We are both very happy, and she is extremely healthy! I love holding her and watching her pat my breasts and talk to them! LOL
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March 11th, 2010 at 10:43 am
my daughter was 6 months old. i do not feel that she was "ready" to stop, but she was cutting teeth and it was becoming painful for me, and i wanted to wean her while she was still young enough to re-adjust to something new. i was working full time and it was becoming very difficult to deal with engorgement on my 12 hour shifts! i pumped a little after that but she transitioned VERY well to formula/solids so i felt that 6 months of solid, exclusive breastmilk was just fine and much more than a lot of babies get.
to be honest, i dont think a baby will ever "be ready" to quit as there are 3 year olds that are still breastfed. whenever you are ready and you are comfortable giving your baby alternative feeding (formula, reg. milk, etc.) then wean him just like you would from a binky or anything else. good luck, congrats on breastfeeding this long! good job!
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March 11th, 2010 at 10:45 am
My oldest quit about 6 months ago, at 3 yrs 4 months old, and it was hard to get her to stop. I slowly weaned her over about a years time, she never wanted to stop- she would have gone a lot longer had I not gently weaned her when I did- I tandem nursed my girls for almost a year. My youngest is still going strong at 18 months. 2 years is my minimum and after that I am okay if they choose to be done, beyond that is great if both mother and child wish. I have a feeling I’m going to be nursing my little one for at least another year.
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March 11th, 2010 at 10:47 am
1) I wanted to stop at 18 months, but was told I couldn’t successfully breastfeed at all… I fed for 3 months, supplementing. To the doctors, lactation consultants, and more who told me to give up on day 3? I stick my tongue out at them all! NYAH!
2) After 3 months, she wouldn’t latch on, crying and screaming, and there was no ability for me to get her to latch. So I gave it up for our sanity. I wanted the bonding time, and I could have that with the bottle and her relaxing, I couldn’t with her fighting with me.
Breastfeed until you’re ready to stop. If neither of you are ready, then forget what anyone says. Stick your tongue out at them and say NYAH! It’s good for the baby to be breastfed at least a year, and even beyond according to studies. I was wanting to go to 18 months, I know many mothers who go to 2 years. Stick to your guns and forget anyone else saying that you should stop soon.
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March 11th, 2010 at 10:49 am
1) I stopped at 7 months. My daughter stopped at 4.5 yrs.
2) She told me she "didn’t want booboo" anymore. She had been weaning herself down for quite a while, got sick and just refused to nurse. I offered after she recovered and she was just… done. She did nurse twice after (2 wks and 4 wks later), but she was finally ready to be done.
There are many benefits to bfing past a year:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html
The minimum recommendation is 1 year, and that’s the AAP recommendation. The AAFP recommends at least 2 years, as does the WHO. Oh, and Health Canada. (So, yes, it’s a recommendation for Western countries, not just 3rd world ones lol)
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/start/prepare/bf-benefits.html
References :
Long term bfing mom
5+ years bfing research