Day 356: "Always Be Closing"

One of my favorite movie quotes ever comes from Alec Baldwin's character Blake in "Glengarry Glen Ross." 

"Always be closing," he barks to the salesmen who he's gathered around for a little ass-kicking, motivational speech. Blake is snarling and deliberate and cutthroat. He's brutally honest in his expectations. He has no time for losers. No time for compassion or patting men on the back. No time for second-best. He wants results, and he really doesn’t care how they come about.

Take the monthly sales contest that Blake is in the office to pimp, for example. The winner gets a Cadillac Eldorado. 

"Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired," he states with no sense of joking whatsoever. 

I have no desire to be a salesman. I'm convinced I'd suck miserably at it. I lack both the skill and the heart for the occupation. I'm not cold-blooded by nature where sales are concerned. I’m not motivated by money primarily.

Where I am cold-blooded is my desire to win. I don’t like losing. I’m ultra-competitive by nature. I don’t like losing a game of checkers. I don’t like losing a pickup basketball game. I don’t like losing a debate. I don’t like losing.

Now, I’m not a blinded freak who will cut your legs off in order to come out on top, but I’m not one to do you any favors or back off, either.

As I’ve gotten older, though, my competitive outlets seem to have grown fewer and fewer in number. Nowadays, I’ve pretty much resigned myself to satisfying my competitive juices by pushing myself in things I do alone. Take golf, for example. I don’t really compete against those I’m playing with because I’m typically not good enough to expect to. Instead, I compete against my previous rounds. And this kind of approach really has been good enough to fulfill me until lately. This year, I’ve wanted to step up my game and go further out on the ledge.

That’s why today I signed up to run a half-marathon in May. It may turn out to be a terrible, huge mistake, and I have all kinds of doubts, but if I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that I’m capable of more than I ever gave myself credit for. Further, I’m capable of setting myself up for more than I previously ever would have considered.

In short, I’m finding great fuel and joy in sticking my neck out there and seeing if I can keep my head intact.

Sticking the neck out, however, is the easy part. Putting in the work to keep the head attached is the hard part. I’m stoked to do the work, and I’m stoked to try to close this deal.

“Always be closing.” On a personal level, sealing the deal is where it’s at for me right now.