Stress Relaxation Exercise For Salespeople

This is by far my favourite stress relaxation exercise that I’ve used countless times while working in sales and as an entrepreneur.

Life in sales can be chaotic and uncertain. Within this chaos and uncertainty we can find ourselves facing difficult emotions like moving from extreme joy to fear, shame, embarrassment, self-doubt and sadness – sometimes all within one day.

When these emotions become overwhelming, we often have a tough time understanding and labeling the actual emotions we’re feeling.

We tend to say things like – “I’m feeling stressed”

When we’re actually feeling overwhelmed, doubtful in our ability and fearful of making a mistake during our big presentation next week. We don’t pause to pull these emotions apart and instead label this ball of discomfort as being “stressed.”

Same thing happens when a big deal blows out and we say things like – “I’m feeling depressed”

When in fact we could be feeling several emotions like sadness, feeling like a failure and embarrassed because we just told our sales manager with 100% certainty that the deal was going to close in our 1 on 1.

It’s during moments like these when we need approach these difficult balls of emotion with curiosity and compassion. In doing so, we can start to pull apart these sticky balls and label each emotion individually. This allows us to actually understand what we’re feeling and release the negative energy that is tied to each one.

Once you have labeled each emotion – the best thing you can do is treat each emotion like a wave.

Reading the stress relaxation exercise below will help you feel more confident exploring these difficult emotions. Feel free to come back to this exercise anytime you experience one of your sales triggers and start building it into a habit.

Stress Relaxation Exercise

Today be mindful of when you find yourself saying “I’m” stressed.

“I’m” depressed.

“I’m” anxious.

Far too often we think we ARE these emotions and let them take over so remember this:

Emotions are waves of energy that come and go.

We are NOT the waves nor the energy tied to them.

We are simply EXPERIENCING them passing through us during a moment in time.

They are temporary.

Positive experiences make it easy to feel like we’re floating.

The excitement as happiness rises and then slowly subsides after we book a meeting or close a deal.

We ride the wave.

Negative experiences like getting rejected for the 10th time in a row can make it easy to feel like we’re drowning.

Like we’ve become the wave.

When too many emotions get bundled together – the water gets choppy and the waves get stronger.

Too often we panic and we struggle.

These actions give energy to more waves that make us drown faster and pull others down with us.

An angry customer, a bad break up or a lost deal… these are big rocks splashing the water and creating waves around you.

It’s normal to feel hurt, lonely or doubtful when this is happening.

But remember you are not these emotions, but simply experiencing the emotions these events have created.

Acknowledge that they’re just waves.

Really big waves with lots of energy that take longer to pass when they’re all stuck together.

Start pulling the waves apart and label each emotion you’re feeling.

Stay calm.

And let yourself float over them.

Stress Relaxation Bonus Points

For bonus points – carve out 15 minutes to explore the root cause of these emotions in detail in your journal later today. You can use the journal prompts at the end of this article to make it easier to do and more effective at finding the root.

While journaling, remember to explore your inner mind from a place of curiosity, self-love and compassion. Sales is stressful and it’s totally normal to be experiencing what you’re feeling.

Access more stress relaxation exercises for salespeople when you join the online course to help improve sales performance through better Mental Health.

View Online Course: Improve Sales Performance Through Better Mental Health

About The Author

Jeff Riseley is currently the Founder of the Sales Health Alliance and Mental Health Advocate. With over a decade of sales experience – Jeff understands the importance of Mental Health in achieving peak sales performance.

Jeff combines his sales (Sales Knowledge Institute) and Mental Health expertise to improve sales performance through a mix of sales mentorship and mental health best practices. His strategies have helped sales teams improve their sales process, while helping them become more motivated, resilient and better equipped to tackle stressful events within sales.

He is currently delivering these strategies through on-site workshops, coaching and speaking engagements. To explore working with Jeff contact him at [email protected]