Every year at this time, I see something that truly bothers me.

I see people fall into a vicious cycle that starts with mentally checking out, and ends with trying to play catch up for 3 weeks to a month of basically not working.

They tell themselves lies like “nobody buys this time of year” and use that as an excuse.

The next part will probably incite a riot but here goes . . .

They milk the holiday as an extended period for reconnecting with family, recharging etc but they often do so at the expense of about a month of activity.

Time out: I don’t know of many people in the sales training space who push the importance of balance and family the way I do. It’s really important but it typically shouldn’t take 3 weeks to a month to do.

Here’s how this loss of a month creeps up on us.

The mental check out begins after the first week in December because you feel nobody is going to want to start something when they too are mentally winding down.

Then, you start telling yourself that it’s getting too close to Christmas and nobody wants to meet.

Then it’s the old “Nobody wants to meet between Christmas and New Year’s” thing.

Then you return to your office full of piss and vinegar because it’s a new year and you’re going to really “make it happen in 2014” but it will have to wait until the following week because you need to catch up on some stuff and so do your prospects. After all, it’s everyone’s first week back, right?

And that’s how you lose a month!

I don’t admire people who run so hard that their life is held hostage.

I can’t say that I envy the person who just willingly lost 30 days either!

Just understand that you can have plenty of time for holiday fun and still get some work done.

One way to be more productive at this time next year, is to take some time, right now, to make “a note to self” on how you could have been more productive during the holidays.

What will you do differently next year?

Are you ready for 2014?

Do you have a plan in place for the new year with regard to bringing your sales skills up a notch?

Our January online course might be just the ticket for you!

All in all, there will be well over 100+ tips that I will share throughout the program! Oh, and we just added some really cool freebies which include eBooks, a free review of your responses to typical objections and a few more surprises that I don’t want to spoil for you.

This could be a great way for you to start the New Year strong and stop that whole “Doing what you’ve always done” thing.

And yes, I discount for 2 or more.

Click here for more info or if you’d like information on the pricing for 2 or more, email me (be sure to include an approximate number of reps that might attend) paul@yoursalesplaybook.com