Chris Orlob

Grew Gong from $200k to $200M+ | Online Courses for SaaS Sellers (pclub.io) | Solving Revenue Hiring (QuotaSignal)

"You can have anything you want if you master every aspect of selling." My mentor told me that over a burger when I was 22 years old. Having only $40 to my name, along with a wife and my first child to support, I took that seriously. I made a commitment to master every aspect of selling, and to earn more money than I could imagine. And I was going to do it in SaaS.

When I first became an account executive, I struggled to find repeatable, consistent success. Some months I did well. Some I missed by a mile. After reading hundreds of books (literally) and debriefing every one of my sales calls (thousands) in a journal, I started to crack the code, little by little. 

Soon, things started to go incredibly well. I started to earn multiple six figures a year, which helped me launch my first business. Not too long later (after plenty of mistakes!), I joined forces with a little company called Gong.io, while they were doing less than $200,000 a year in ARR. Figured I'd help them grow to $10M and be done.

5.5 years later, we grew from $200k to $200 million in ARR and a $7.2 billion valuation. I was fortunate enough to earn my first seven-figure income. A decade pursuit of mastering every aspect of sales had come to fruition (though I'm still not done). That felt amazing. 

I kept finding myself telling people, "You can have anything you want if you master every aspect of selling," just like my mentor had told me all those years ago. Because I experienced it first-hand.

My passion for mastering every aspect of selling started to extend to helping OTHER people do it. Soon, I started pclub.io - a business dedicated to helping B2B tech salespeople master every aspect of selling (and earn more money than they've ever dreamed of). 

Since starting, I've helped over 11,000 sales professionals and leaders. Many of which have gone on to turbo charge their sales success:

“Exceeded 245% of my target." -Christian Allen, AE at ZoomInfo

"CLOSED the most ARR in company history” -Marshall Weil, AE at Freewill

"Made 152% of my number” -Jasi Johnson, AE at Gartner

"I made it to Club One - the new program rolled out for the top 1%. -David Rosenstein, AE at LinkedIn


Many of these stories included people who started out thinking, "Maybe this is possible for other talented people, but not for me." But selling is nothing more than a series of skills. Anyone can master it, and I can teach you how.

Like I always tell people, "you can have anything you want if you master every aspect of selling."

Begin writing YOUR success story by visiting www.pclub.io

Co-Founder & CEO

pclub.io is the #1 skill transformation platform for revenue teams. We work with the top 0.01% of sales earners, practitioners, and leaders to create top-rated online courses that help you grow your sales skills to life-altering levels. Instead of spending years mastering sales through trial and error or going through stodgy ‘one size fits all’ sales training, you’ll get to the steal the playbooks, frameworks, and skills of the top 0.01% sales earners on the planet, accelerating your mastery curve, income, and revenue to unrecognizable levels.

I am thrilled to share that Ian Knight Jr. of Intercom won our Skill Stacker Awards Fiji Trip!

There were 10 contestants who had amazing transformation stories.

Ian's took the cake:
• joined pclub.io while struggling
• exited the year top SMB AE globally
• mastered our discovery frameworks to get there

Congrats Ian. Well deserved.

Let's give him the round of applause he deserves!

$10,000 all-expense paid!

CEO at pclub.io - helped grow Gong from $200K ARR to $200M+ ARR | Advancing the revenue profession forward.

Salespeople:

Pro tip if you negotiate with procurement:

Upload your proposal + order form to your favorite AI tool.

Then prompt it:

"Pretend you're a ruthless procurement negotiator. Analyze this seller's proposal in an effort to find any and all negotiation leverage. Tell me where the proposal is vulnerable and how you'd use it against me if you were compensated to secure as much discount as possible."

You might be surprised how often you make innocuous mistakes without realizing it: Things procurement pros see coming a mile away.

The best negotiators anticipate.

If you're blindsided?

You usually lose.

As an FYI:

Today's procurement professionals are doing exactly this:

• Taking your order form, proposal (etc)
• Uploading it to ChatGPT for weaknesses
• Uses those against you

Keep your win/win mindset.

But don't let that stop you from anticipating what might be coming.

P.S. I’m hosting a live masterclass this Thursday for AEs.

I’ll break down 3 modern selling strategies that help you:

• Rewire how buyers think about their problems
• Pour gas on the fire when you find urgency
• Engineer a consensus-building engine

If you’re serious about becoming a top-earning AE, join us.

Register here: https://lnkd.in/eC_ZDJSR

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CEO at pclub.io - Skill Transformation for Revenue Teams. Trained 11,000+ sales professionals and leaders. MSG ME if you're looking to upskill your SaaS sales or revenue team.

Upskill Your Revenue Team and Boost Win Rates

"How to Master Every Aspect of SaaS Sales, Close More Deals, And Sell In An Economic Meltdown"

30 Deal-Closing SaaS Sales Scripts

If I could only ask 4 sales questions to uncover deal-closing pain, here they are:

(the order matters)


1. Tell me about your biggest challenges when it comes to X?

Easy enough.

Just kickstart the conversation in the right direction.

And get to the 'heart of the matter' fast.

But not enough by itself. 

Customers will always give surface level answers to the first question.


2. What's going on in the business that's driving [what they shared] to be a priorty?

Ask this, and your customers will chuckle half the time.

Why?

Because you are striking a CHORD when you ask that.

You're getting to the 'need behind the need.'

That's where big money lives.


3. What metric is suffering most as a result of that?

Here's where most sellers struggle:

Quantifying pain.

You walk into a different world when you go from expressed pain to quantified pain.

Your customer's urgency ramps up.

The likelihood of ghosting goes down.

Spending money to solve the problem begins to look obvious.


4. What's driving you to solve all this now rather than later?

Ask this too early?

The answers will be weak.

But if you ask this AFTER those first three questions...

It lands.

Give those a try.

Which stood out most?

P.S. Want a proven list of 50 questions that sell? Here you go: https://lnkd.in/g2giY-ab

Narrowing your ICP will make some buyers feel unwanted... but it will make the right buyers feel "seen." That trade is worth it every time.

Weak sales managers manage calls.

Average sales managers manage deals.

Good sales managers manage forecasts.

Great sales managers manage their people's skills & capabilities.

Because they know one thing:

Revenue is an outcome that expert-skilled sellers produce.

Skill management = proactive management.

Please join me in celebrating these revenue professionals! Yesterday, we ran the 1st annual Skill Stacker Awards.

Members of the pclub.io community submitted their success stories:

• income transformations
• career transformations
• skill transformations

Every story was inspiring. 

But 10 people won the outstanding awards.

Including 1 winner of our Fiji trip giveaway.

Join me in shouting out these revenue professionals.

They are exactly what a commitment to excellence looks like.

Here are the highlights:

Rookie of the Year: Gabrielle Stott
• AE at Warmly
• Previous BDR manager
• Transitioned to 1st year AE
• Overwhelmed and lost, as she started
• Dug in on skill mastery, discovery, negotiation
• Ended up not just at 150% of quota, but #1 seller

Her FIRST year!


Founder-Led Seller of the Year: Frank Bergmann
• Founding AE at StackGuardian
• Started at $0 - closed the first $1M ARR
• Closed five Fortune 500 customers
• Is now their Head of Sales


Biggest Transformation: Scott Rowley
• Started burnt-out and frustrated in another industry
• Transitioned into an AE role at Gainsight
• $1.15M TCV his first year ($690k quota)
• First-ever agentic deal sold for the company



Top 25% Performer Awards

Veronica Rivero Account Director at LinkedIn:
115% in FY25 • $405K TCV Deal • Hit Every Quarter

Lewis Bramley AE at KnowBe4
118% Quota • UK Mid-Market AE of the Year • £33K ACV

Brian Robak, Sr Director at Numerator
$35K → $2M • 150% Quota • Top Mid-Market Rep • Promoted



Top 10% Performer Awards

Stacy Kelly, RM at ICE Mortgage Technologies
#1 on Team • Grew Variable: $85K → $145K 

Imran Mitha AE at Remote
Never Missed Quota • Highest Win Rate Globally • #1 in NA

Chris O'Dowd, AE at Quantum Metric
A whopping $600K+ W2 • Enterprise Consistency

Elijah Gonsalves, MBA, BDR at Salesforce
140% Avg Quota • 5x Consecutive MVP

And finally.

The best all-around success and transformation story:

Ian Knight Jr., AE at Intercom – the winner of our $10k Fiji Trip giveaway.
• Starting the year struggling w/a weak pipeline
• Discovery calls felt like interrogations
• Ended #1 SMB AE globally at Intercom
• Recent promotion to mid market AE

Congrats to all of you. 

Your stories are inspiring.

I hope to see next year even bigger!

Salespeople: if you truly show up every day, the results won’t have a choice.

Some AEs never spent a year getting cursed off of cold calls and it shows.

The most underrated reason for losing deals: Untested assumptions.

90% of AEs can’t build the cost of inaction.

They ask generic questions:

• How does this impact you?
• What’s the cost of doing nothing?

When you ask questions like that?

You're not a trusted advisor.

You're a manipulator.

The best salespeople know something others don't:

Every customer problem creates predictable consequences.

So they design questions around that:

“Justin, you mentioned win rates dropped from 22% to 19%.”

“When I hear that from other scale-ups, it usually drives CAC up.”

“To what extent is that becoming a concern?”

Boom.

Imagine being that buyer.

You don’t feel manipulated.

You feel understood.

Here’s the formula:


STEP 1: Identify the top 2-3 problems you solve.

Most solutions solve a small set of predictable problems.

For me, that’s things like:

• Low win rates
• Weak deal sizes
• Slow sales cycles


STEP 2: Map 2–3 consequences of each problem

Every problem creates repeatable downstream consequences.

Low win rates?

That usually leads to:

• Unsustainable CAC
• Poor morale & attrition

STEP 3: Design your questions.

Simple formula:

“Typically when I hear {{problem}}, it leads to {{consequence}}.

“To what extent is that showing up?”

Basic salespeople don’t ask questions like that.

Trusted consultants do.

Small tweak.

Massive difference.

Last thing:

You didn't used to have to do things like this.

A few years ago, sloppy sales technique was enough.

If you think being an AE is getting harder?

You’re right.

• Quota attainment rates have collapsed
• Buying committees are big and risk averse
• Decisions are made with more scrutiny

It’s 2026 now.

You need to level up.

Because you were trained for a market that no longer exists.

That’s why I’m hosting a live masterclass this Thursday for AEs.

I’ll break down 3 modern selling strategies that help you:

• Rewire how buyers think about their problems
• Pour gas on the fire when you find urgency
• Engineer a consensus-building engine

If you’re serious about becoming a top-earning AE, join us.

Register here: https://lnkd.in/eC_ZDJSR

According to that data, 84% of sales upskilling initiatives fail.

Career to date, I've worked with about 5,000 revenue teams.

I've seen first-hand more attempts at transformation than I count.

Here's what I've learned about what transformation truly takes.

Fail to understand this?

You'll be part of the 84% statistic. 

Let me know what stood out most in the comments.

Career-to-date, I’ve worked with over 5,000 revenue teams. I’ve seen what separates elite revenue teams from the rest. I’ve also seen why 84% of reven

Open article: Why 84% of Revenue Upskilling Fails (And What Elite Teams Do Instead)
 by Chris Orlob • 13 min read

Why 84% of Revenue Upskilling Fails (And What Elite Teams Do Instead)

I’ve written 1,394 LinkedIn posts about Discovery.

But according to the data… I still have more to learn:

Last week, we released AI Skill Intelligence on a limited basis.

It measures your proficiency against industry-standard revenue skills.

So I ran my own discovery calls through it.

Here’s the result:

I have a 78 Overall Rating score on the 'Value Discovery' skill:

"Proficient." Not "Expert."

I thought I knew exactly where my gap would be.

"Go deeper on root cause analysis."

Nope.

I was wrong.

The biggest gap, according to my own data?

I consistently skip building Negative Impact:

The moment where the buyer feels a visceral cost of inaction.

The AI forecasts that if I fix this:

• I reach Expert status in ~2 months
• Win rates improve ~200 basis points

That’s the interesting part.

Now I'm not training for its own sake:

I can see the revenue on the table if I improve.

Skill growth is the most durable growth lever in revenue.

Yet most teams invest almost none of their budget there.

That's about to change.

Because now we can measure and see skills.

Even complex ones that don't fit on a simple call rubric.

When you measure something?

It almost always improves.

P.S. What's the biggest skill gap you think most AEs have today?

A) Shallow discovery
B) Point and click feature demos
C) Struggling to multi-thread
D) Closing motions that lead to slipped deals

Comment below.

The single most underrated enterprise selling skill:

Navigating decision dysfunction.

Always assume that dysfunction is the status quo.

And that it's your job to make it as functional as possible.

That's why you get paid the big bucks in enterprise.

Lone wolf salespeople make commissions.  But they don't make careers.

Excited to be giving away a $10,000 trip for two to Fiji today.

Today is our first ever Annual Skill Stacker Awards.

We'll be awarding our community's top 10 personal sales transformation stories.

And one winner gets to go to Fiji.

Whether you're a member or not, would love to have you join! 

Happening at 9am (pacific): https://lnkd.in/g3ZPbmXN

Salespeople: In the age of AI - If you are not stone-cold excellent at what you do? You will be viewed as an expense.

There is no average anymore.

Average is for losers.

Sales training without skill measurement is "enablement theater."

It's where weak enablement leaders go to hide.

5 years from now?

People will laugh it was ever done this way.

Training with no skill measurement is the new smoking.

The ultimate revenue constraint is the quality of your revenue workforce.

Enterprise sellers: Which of these characteristics separates "enterprise selling" from mid market selling more than any of the others?

A) Deal Size. If you're closing large deals (exact threshold tbd), you're "enterprise."

B) Company size. If you sell to large companies (employee count), you're "enterprise."

C) Complexity. If you deal with complex buying committees, procurement labyrinths, and decision dysfunction, you're "enterprise."

D) C-Suite Altitude. If you sell transformational solutions that demand involvement from the C-Suite, you're "enterprise."

All of these make up enterprise selling in one way or another.

But which stands out as the #1 characteristic?

Salespeople: There's a right way and wrong way to use the product roadmap:

Right way
• Show the direction of your company
• Position yourself as a long term partner
• Cast a vision for where you can go together

Wrong way
• Make promises you cannot keep
• Sell features that do not yet exist
• Give timelines you know nothing of

Use your company's product roadmap as a tool to position yourself as a long-term partner. Not as a tool to trick them into transacting with you.

Performance Coach to Enterprise Sellers | I help you drop the mindset trash, and optimize your daily routines to eliminate procrastination | AI Obsessed | Favorite movie: Hunt for the Wilderpeople

I'm Amber, a Performance Coach dedicated to helping elite enterprise tech sellers break through their mental barriers, upgrade their habits, and skyrocket their success.

With over 800 paid coaching sessions under my belt, I’ve helped hundreds of top-performing sellers to exceed their quotas and reclaim control of their workdays. I understand the unique challenges faced by enterprise tech sellers. 

Having climbed from a blue-collar background to the fast-paced world of tech, I've experienced imposter syndrome firsthand.

I worked my way up to find myself living and working in downtown San Francisco for a unicorn tech startup. I felt like a major Imposter -- At any minute people would realize that a person with my background was not supposed to be there.

One of my favorite quotes is by Ricky Gervais: “The best advice I've ever received is, 'No one else knows what they're doing either.” If other people can make it up, we can too.

I came up with my own system for overcoming self doubt, and I’ve used it to help thousands of people overcome their own imposter syndrome and mindset junk.

It drives me nuts to see someone with massive potential standing in their own way. I’m obsessed with finding the right tactics that work for every different kind of person. There’s nothing more rewarding for me than seeing someone break through their barriers and realize what they’re capable of.


Outside of coaching, I enjoy:

🏊 Swimming
🚴 Mountain and road biking
🏃 Running
📽️ Documentaries - specifically about top performers
📚 Avid reader of non-fiction -- business and self-help
🏆 I’m a 2x State Champ:
💃 Once for Competition Dance (we won with a routine on Pogo Sticks!)
🎭 The other for the State Drama Competition - we won in Pantomime (professional hand talker)
👯 I love a good dance party
🎶 Constantly on the hunt for new music 
🧠 Diagnosed with ADHD later in life 
🤖 Obsessed with AI and the endless possibilities it brings


My personality:

✅ Strengths Finder: Woo, Developer, Empathy, Individualization, Competition

✅ StandOut: Provider, Advisor (I can intuitively see how someone feels, and I’m a wealth of information from experts)

✅ Kolbe A: 3-3-9-4 (Simplify, Adapt, Innovate, Restore)

✅ Myers Briggs: ENFP (Enthusiastic, Creative, and Sociable Free Spirit)

✅ Enneagram: 3 - The Achiever

Amber Deibert

Sales Performance Speaker and Coach for Enterprise Sellers | Mindset & Productivity | Creator of the Work Like You Workout™ Framework for pain-free productivity 💪

#1 in helping women become VPs and thrive in leadership | Former Exec | Certified Coach | Forbes.com contributor | Host of More Women Promoted Podcast

Ladies, we've been lied to about each other

There's a narrative that all women are competitive and catty,

That we hold each other back,
Sabotage one another,
Tear each other down,

That we're all just a bunch of mean girls

And honestly, I don't see it

I've spoken to so many successful women 
Who credit female mentors and sponsors for their success

It was almost always other women who helped them reach the C-suite

And my experience with women is no different

Sadly, when I was in leadership I didn't really know any more senior women to be my mentors and sponsors

But when I was new to the world of entrepreneurship
I had no network. Nada. So I put myself out there....

And I've met so many new women over the last few years
Who have helped me create a successful business

They've all been inspiring, supportive, and encouraging

In fact, I'm friends with women who are technically my direct competitors
And we help one another!

We cheer each other on
And we all grow

I've built a community of women in my private membership
And these women are one another's biggest cheerleaders

So let's stop spreading this narrative

Because most women want to lift one another up

Are there some bad apples?
Of course!

There will always be some women (and men) who don't support
Who sabotage each other or hold others back

But it's a minority

And this narrative isn't helping anyone
Certainly not women

So I vote we change it

Who's with me? ✌️💜

PS. If you haven't been lucky enough to have supportive women to guide your career, you're in the right place. 

A bit part of my mission is the communities of women I create - communities that let you level up, hit your goals AND find your tribe. If you want to learn more, send me a DM. 

*I didn't know any of the women in these photos 4 years ago!

I grew up poor, and part of me is still trying to prove I belong.

I've been thinking a lot about what makes life meaningful.

There's a part of me who grew up poor who wants to belong. 

She's striving for any kind of status she can have: the car, the house, the title, the money, the vacations. She wants to know that she belongs with "that" crowd.

But there's another part of me who's been researching what makes humans happy. 

And that part of me knows that status is fleeting. Status will never actually create the happiness that you're looking for.

One filter that's been incredibly profound for me comes from Morgan Housel's book "The Art of Spending Money". 

He says: If you were on a deserted island, what choice would you make? 

If it were just you and your family and nobody could see what you did, would you still buy that car? Would you still buy that house? Would you still go for that title?

Using this filter to judge my decisions has been really interesting and really helpful. 

It helps me tune into what I actually want and what is going to bring me actual happiness instead of doing things because of how I think other people will perceive me.

The fact of the matter is, people might be impressed by your decisions for one day. But after about 48 hours, they're no longer impressed.

If you're chasing status, you're going to be chasing it forever.

If you're chasing what makes you genuinely happy, you create more of what gives you fulfillment in life.

Resting feels more uncomfortable than burnout ever did.

I'm in a period of life where I am focused on allowing myself to rest and on keeping my nervous system regulated, and it feels wildly uncomfortable.

It's not uncomfortable because it's wrong. It's just uncomfortable because it's unfamiliar.

As somebody with ADHD, I've learned to motivate myself with stress, with fear, with adrenaline, with deadlines, with pressure... 

And it's gotten me to the point where I completely burned out.

I had to relearn how to treat myself, how to work, and how to motivate myself.

It's been so uncomfortable to let myself rest and to not push myself and to not grind and to not hustle and to not go beyond what I know I can do.

What I'm focused on now is every day creating the best life circumstance that I can possibly have. Instead of operating from cortisol and adrenaline, I'm trying to operate out of generosity and kindness towards myself.

It's the most foreign experience ever. And crazy enough, it's gotten better results than anything I've ever tried before.

Now my orientation is to do favors for my future self.

I think about what Amber in five minutes is going to need, what Amber at the end of the day is going to need, and what Amber in one year is going to need. And I take care of her.

Sometimes this means doing the things that I don't want to do and the things that I've been procrastinating on, but doing them because I know it's going to put me in the best situation.

That has made it more sustainable than pushing myself, forcing myself out of hatred or dislike for myself. That feeling has not been sustainable.

Can anybody else relate to this?

Allowing Rest

You think you’re stating facts. You’re not. Enterprise sellers do this all the time:

“My manager hates me.”
“This economy is killing my deals.”
“I’m definitely getting laid off.”

Those aren’t facts. They’re interpretations. 

Story: “I’m in trouble.”
Fact: “My manager asked to meet.”

Story: “This year is a disaster.”
Fact: “I’m at 37% in Q3.”

Old Way: Treat the story like truth ↠ spiral.

New Way: Strip it to neutral ↠ choose your response.

Nothing is wrong with you. Your brain is predicting, not reporting.

In this week’s episode, I break down:
↳How to use the “court of law” test
↳ Why past layoffs distort current performance
↳ And how top sellers think differently in the same economy

You can watch the full episode on YouTube (@amberdeibertcoaching) or listen on The Achievers Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

What’s one “fact” you’ve been carrying that might actually be a story?

We took my kindergartner to the ER this weekend, and I learned an incredible life lesson.

Thankfully, it wasn't anything life-threatening. 

They needed to do some blood work, so they had to put in an IV. 

This pediatric hospital had a wonderful person come in and explain to my daughter what was going to happen. She gave my daughter options on how to make the process a little more comfortable.

I could tell this woman was exhausted. The ER was super busy, and she seemed like she was running on fumes.

As she offered these different options to my daughter, in my head I was thinking "no, she doesn't need those things, she's fine, we don't want to be a burden. This woman could clearly use a break!"

But thankfully, she was asking my daughter directly. And (thankfully) my daughter hasn't soaked up my people-pleasing tendencies.

It was fascinating to watch. This woman would offer an option, and my daughter would just vouch for herself and say, "Yes, I want that." Another option. "Yes, I want that." Another option. "Yes, I want that."

It was so wild to see what was happening in my head. 

I don't want to be a burden. I don't want to make anybody else feel any kind of discomfort because of my needs.

But this woman was just offering options. My daughter wasn't asking for anything above and beyond. She was just saying "yes" to what was offered for her.

I wonder how often we put ourselves at a deficit because we think we're being a burden, when we're not? 

How often do we people-pleasers worry that we're being a burden when, genuinely, it's not a burden to the other person? This woman never would have offered those options unless she wanted my daughter to be able to take them (!!).

I'm setting a goal for myself to try to vouch for myself and ask for what I need. My smallest first step is that this month, when somebody offers me something I want, I'm just going to say "yes."

Like if I'm at the hair salon and they ask if I want some water, instead of saying "no, I'm fine," I'm going to say "yes, I would love some water."

It feels like the stupidest smallest change, but it is genuinely going to be so uncomfortable for me.

I've come so far in releasing my people pleasing, and moments like this help me realize I've got a lot further to go.

Thank heavens for honest and transparent kids for being an inspiration of how we can all behave.

Does anybody want to try this experiment with me? What if we just say yes when someone offers us something? LIVE LIFE ON THE WILD SIDE!

It was the third time that week a seller whispered this confession to me.

If I had a dollar for every time a seller secretly told me that time boxing doesn't work for them, I'd have a lot of dollars.

I want you to know that if time boxing doesn't work for you, it's okay.

You're not broken.

Time boxing is just one technique among a plethora of techniques to help you with your time management.

If it works for you, fantastic. If it doesn't, you're not wrong. You just don't fit into that box.

Everybody needs a slightly different technique based on your idiosyncrasies, based on your quirks, based on who you are, based on how your energy flows.

If some technique doesn't work for you, that's okay. There are so many other techniques to get to the same outcome.

If time boxing doesn't work for you, you're in such good company, and you can still be wildly successful.

I share more ideas like this in my newsletter for sellers who want to work smarter without fighting their own nature. Link in comments.

The most important thing you can do as an enterprise seller is give yourself white space in your calendar.

When you're in commercial, SMB, or mid-market, you can get better results from working more hours.

But once you get into enterprise and strategic sales, you're going to get better results by using your brain and allowing yourself to be strategic.

That strategic thinking does not happen when you're constantly sitting at your desk.

I have a seller who loves woodworking but feels guilty leaving his desk to go to his woodworking garage. I told him to think about time woodworking as time on the clock.

It's some of the most strategic time you can have.

When you're out there woodworking and you're exerting some of your nervous energy, it frees up your mind to actually think about your deals. To be strategic. To think about what you want to do next, how you want to approach things, and the point of view you want to create for a particular client.

Step away from your desk. Walk your dog. Work in the woodshop. Go exercise. Wash the dishes.

Something where you are moving your body to free up your mind to be able to think.

Thinking is the highest value activity you can do as an enterprise seller.

Don't feel guilty about stepping away from your desk to allow yourself to be strategic.

I write about mindset and productivity for enterprise sellers in my newsletter. Sign up if you want more like this.

Stop doom-scrolling by doing this one uncomfortable thing for 90 seconds.

The longer I coach, the more fascinating it is to me what we as humans do to avoid feeling our feelings.

It's so wild how society has taught us that feelings are a problem. That feelings aren't okay. That feelings are somehow a moral failing.

In reality, we are mammals. Every mammal feels feelings.

Whales feel feelings. Dogs feel feelings. Cats feel feelings.

What makes us think that we're above the rest of the animal kingdom and somehow shouldn't feel feelings?

It's amazing to me to see all the ways our brain tries to protect us from feeling as a way to create belonging.

In reality, if you just allow your feelings and let yourself feel them, they last for 90 seconds.

Once those 90 seconds are over, you feel free and clear.

You don't have to distract yourself.
You don't have to numb yourself out.
You don't have to avoid.
You don't have to react.

You can just be, and you will have moved through that feeling.

I'm pretty sure you can feel a feeling for 90 seconds.

Just think of all the time you'll save by not doom-scrolling, having not given in to your vices, by just letting yourself feel your feelings.

By just letting yourself be a mammal.

I write about mindset, productivity, and the real inner work of selling in tech. Join my newsletter if you want more like this in your inbox. {Link in comments}

Most high performers with ADHD think their problem is discipline.

It’s not.

It’s activation energy.

For years, I would stare at my to-do list thinking: 
“I know exactly what to do… so why can’t I just start?”

Nothing was wrong with my work ethic.

My brain just had a huge barrier to entry.

Here’s the shift that changed everything for me:
Lower the activation barrier instead of forcing motivation.

For example:
↠ Exercise first thing (it boosts the neurotransmitters ADHD brains are missing)
↠ Use environmental cues, such as specific music, clothes, or spaces for work
↠ Regulate your nervous system first (nature, movement, meditation)

ADHD is largely a regulation problem, not a discipline problem.

Nothing is wrong with you.

In this week’s episode, I break down:
↳ My ADHD diagnosis at 38
↳ The medications I experimented with
↳ The moment I realized how much harder I’d been working than everyone else

You can watch the full episode on YouTube (@amberdeibertcoaching) or listen on The Achievers Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

Curious if you have ADHD, what’s harder for you: starting tasks or staying focused?

You hit quota for 6 years straight. January hits. Attainment resets to zero. And your brain goes:
“What if I can’t do it again?”

Nothing is wrong with you. Your nervous system is reacting to a number, not reality.

Here’s the reset: 
Separate facts from stories.

Stories sound like:
↠ “I’m slipping.”
↠ “This year feels different.”
↠ “What if I can’t repeat it?”

Facts sound like:
↠ My attainment reset to 0.
↠ I’ve hit quota 5 of the last 6 years.
↠ I’ve closed deals this size before.

Anxiety doesn’t mean danger. It means your brain is predicting.

Old Way: Feel ↠ Spiral ↠ Hesitate.
New Way: Feel ↠ Check facts ↠ Take action.

Keep going.

In this week’s episode, I break down:
↳The cognitive distortions that sabotage enterprise sellers
↳Why your brain spirals at the start of the year
↳How to retrain your brain through action (the gym story changed everything)

You can watch the full episode on YouTube (@amberdeibertcoaching) or listen on The Achievers Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

When your number resets… what story does your brain tell you?

Slumps are not the problem. Fighting them is.

I used to think it was a really big problem anytime I found myself stuck in a slump.

Whenever I was in one, I would be like "oh no, here we go again." I'm the worst. Why does this keep happening to me? I'm gonna be stuck here forever.

Now I am not bothered by slumps at all.

I've realized that everything in nature goes through cycles of growth and decay. 

There's nothing except for cancer that grows continually without stopping. 

Everything has cycles of growth and cycles of decay, and humans are no different.

So if I just normalize that sometimes I'm in a decay cycle, it doesn't feel so bad.

By not fighting against that decay, I actually get out of that cycle faster. 

Whenever I fight against it and still try to push myself and get myself to perform, that's when I make the decay cycle last longer because I'm not giving myself the rest that I need.

The other reframe that has been really helpful is realizing that rest is just as important as exerting effort. 

The rest you take can actually be even more profound in improving your performance than exerting effort.

So now I don't see it as a problem when I am in a slump. 

I just notice, "Oh man, I guess I'm feeling tired today. I wonder what I can do that could be supportive for myself. How can I do favors for my future self? What can I take off my plate? How can I lower expectations for myself so that I can really, truly rest and then rejuvenate?"

So that when I come back to working, I'm fired up and ready to go.

I'm no longer in a place where I'm willing to push myself to burnout. It's not gonna be helpful for me or anyone else.

This year is the year of rest and spaciousness.

How about you?

Follow along if you want more posts about sustainable performance and getting out of your own way.

Slumps

Last week, someone asked where I'm from, and I froze.

"Where are you from?" is such a loaded question.

Are you asking where I grew up?
Where was I born?
Where did I discover my identity?

Because those are all different answers.

I'm in a weird spot because the place where I live right now isn't a reflection of who I am. If you stereotype the kind of person who lives where I live, I don't fit that stereotype.

Sometimes I claim a different place. I tell people where I'm living now, but then I explain that I'm really from the place where I found myself, where I uncovered myself, where I discovered who I was.

If you want to stereotype me, do it based on the place where I feel most at home.

Sometimes people ask me what high school I went to, which is even trickier. 

I went to high school in the poor part of town, but I don't like to be judged on that.

It wasn't my decision to live there. It wasn't my choices that caused me to grow up in poverty.

Don't judge me or stereotype me based on where I went to high school. Judge me based on the choices I've made, the decisions I've made, and the success I've achieved.

Am I the only one who feels this way, or are there other people who have a hard time answering this question, too?

Feeling your feelings is the fastest productivity hack no one talks about.

It's always wild to me how much our emotions hold us back.

And I don't mean in the toxic way where we shouldn't feel our emotions, and emotions are pointless.

I mean that we let the emotions drive the show rather than just feeling them and allowing them and processing them.

Once you learn how to process your feelings, you realize that it only takes about 90 seconds to let that emotion leave your body.

The emotion is processed when you:

↳  Honor the feeling (there's good information in this feeling)
↳  Allow the feeling (it's just a physical sensation)
↳  Tell yourself that it's totally fine that you feel this way. (Anybody would feel this way. You have to normalize your experience.)

And then once you do, you just let yourself feel the physical sensation of that emotion. 

You notice it, become really curious about it, and watch to see what happens.

After about 90 seconds, the sensation passes, and you'll feel so free and so clear and so focused and ready to take on anything.

So rather than:

↳  shoving down your emotions
↳  bottling them up
↳  avoiding them
↳  neglecting them
↳  telling yourself that you shouldn't be feeling them
↳  telling yourself that there's something wrong with you that you feel that way…

Try allowing them.

Try letting yourself feel that way.

Give yourself 90 seconds to process that emotion, and you'll find that they're no longer driving the show.

You're free and clear and ready to take action on the things that are important to you.

I write about managing your mindset and energy so you can work with more clarity and less resistance. Join my newsletter if that sounds helpful. {Link in comments}

Wow. Terry Rice, I'm in tears, and so inspired by you. Thank you for sharing your story, and this beautiful documentary!

You really did turn the worst moment in your life into something we all get to benefit from now.

https://lnkd.in/gfJB-NSM

Open article: Documentary by terryrice.co

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