This article is an excerpt from “The Dirty 130: 130 Working Days of Embracing the Grind to Change the Trajectory of Your Sales Career." The book provides a roadmap to success for people who have the hunger to succeed and generate significantly higher income.

One of the most significant issues I see with sales leadership in any organization is that it falls into the trap of focusing on results. We all want to get results. We all want a return on our investment in sales talent. However, by waiting for results to measure, we are doing a disservice to ourselves, our team and our organizations. We must shift the paradigm and focus on behaviors. We must focus on those behaviors that we know will yield the desired results.

Behaviors should not exclusively be monitored annually, every six months or even monthly. They should be monitored by leadership weekly and by the salesperson daily. Some would argue that this constant monitoring can be relaxed once behaviors become habits, but you should never quit monitoring entirely.

While your behaviors will change as you mature in your career, you should never stop measuring. We have all heard the old adage: What gets measured gets done. Live by it.

What Is a Producer?

It is essential to define the term at the onset, because it will get used throughout the remainder of this book. I could have used “salesperson," but that doesn't carry the same weight. A salesperson can grow to be a producer, but a producer is always a salesperson. According to Dictionary.com, a producer is a person or thing that produces. Do all salespeople produce? No. Sadly, for many salespeople, production never becomes a reality. Why?

In the insurance industry, where I currently hang my hat, it's because there is a severe lack of resources. Training programs are spotty at best. The companies that provide training usually only focus on the products they want you to push, not the sales game. Principals want to get production talent at the agency level but don't want to invest in that talent once hired. Barring the Fortune 500, I suspect other industries follow suit.

Is it the training, though? Is that really what differentiates a producer from a salesperson? Or is the training an excuse? Certainly, for self-starters, there are plenty of resources on the internet, at conferences, online forums and social media. With that being the case, why don't more salespeople graduate to being producers?

The answer is simple: Mindset.

Mindset Matters

Producers have a unique mindset that will not allow them to fail. They understand that you don't win or lose. My good friend Chris Paradiso says: “You win, or you learn." Producers aren't afraid to put themselves out there. Producers aren't scared to put in the reps. Producers aren't afraid to get dirty. Producers know the end game and do what they need to get there.

How do they know the end game? The answer is simple: They know how to dream. They understand it's OK to want things and are willing to work to achieve them. Producers realize it's OK to reward yourself for the milestones along the way, and they do. Most importantly, they know how to think bigger than their peer group.

Think Bigger Than Your Peers and Earn Bigger Than Your Peers

I have always been a dreamer. Thinking big has never been a problem for me. I was never the kid who said, “I want to be the president when I grow up." However, I was the kid who liked stuff and worked to earn it. Now, the stuff I like is bigger, more bodacious and much more expensive, so I have no choice but to produce. Thinking big isn't where it stops, though. You must visualize to cement those dreams into your mind and turn them into reality.

As someone who played sports growing up, visualization has always been key to any success I have had. As a pitcher, I would visualize the strike zone. I would imagine the grip on the ball and how the release would feel. I would picture what I would do if the ball got hit back to me. As I got older, I would visualize myself wearing a college uniform and ultimately envisioned myself in Major League Baseball. (Some dreams remain unfulfilled.)

As I progressed into my adult life, I started to dream differently. I thought about things like nice restaurants, custom suits, The Ritz Carlton, fast cars and all the other fun stuff a young guy in his early 20s would think about. I visualized it very specifically. I began to set deadlines. I started to stop thinking about the end and figure out how to map my journey so I could achieve my dreams.

Dreams and Visualization Changes

As I write this book, I am in yet another season of my life. The visualization lives on but in a different format. Today, I visualize the success of others: my team, my Killing Commercial “Cold Blooded Killers" (CBKs), and most importantly, my family. I want to provide a lifetime of learning and experiences that they would never be able to get otherwise.

Dave Ramsey said, “Goals are dreams in work clothes." While I may not agree with everything he says, I do agree with that statement. As my oldest son, Grayson, moves into his twenties and my middle son, Landon, rapidly follows, my visualizations and dreams are hyper-focused on being open with them and sharing how I think to turn those dreams into a reality.

Grayson totaled his car a couple of months ago. As a result, he has been riding to and from work with me every day. He is also less social with his friends in the evenings due to not having a new ride yet. Some fathers would find that to be an inconvenience. I embrace it, because I know our time is limited. Not only am I getting up in years, but Grayson is ready to spread his wings. It's my job to be the papa eagle, take him to the top of the cliff and drop him off, hoping he can fly with the messages I have shared and the lessons I have taught him.

Dream Daily and Share!

For the past week, every time Grayson and I have left the house, I have said the same thing, “Let's go make $10,000 today." It sounds ludicrous. Guess what? Seventy thousand dollars in seven working days, and the streak is still intact.

For a week running, I have earned $10,000 every day, not for the insurance companies or the agency, but for my family and me. Why have I been able to earn like that? Am I something special? Absolutely not! I firmly believe that if you believe, you can achieve.

In fact, the Bible itself talks to us about dreaming and visualization. It takes it one step further and encourages us to pray over things faithfully. I remember a verse from Matthew 21:22 when I was a child, saying, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." I don't know whether you pray or meditate or focus inward another way—but you should. Praying is the glue that holds the dream together for me. I highly encourage you to take time every day to visualize and reflect while writing down those dreams so that you can put them into action.

The best producers I know think bigger than anyone else. Therefore, they earn more than anyone else. My friend, Dr. Billy Williams, says, “We earn in the denominations in which we think." How much do you want to earn? How big are you willing to think? Take a moment now to reflect on those questions. Then, make it a point to reflect on those questions daily.

Visualize the Past

When we think about visualization, we tend to focus on what will happen to us in the future. While that is undoubtedly important, we should never forget our past. It's OK to visualize mistakes you have made. It is also crucial to visualize past successes and remember what led you to that win.

In the insurance industry, when we get hired, we obtain a letter of engagement to formalize the relationship. It is a letter stating that a customer has chosen to hire us. I don't know why I originally started this practice, but I have kept it up throughout my career: For the past 20 years, I have kept every engagement letter I have won. I haven't scanned them into the cloud yet. They reside in a three-ring binder in my home office. If I am ever in a slump, I grab the binder, start at the beginning and start to remember my successes.

I don't think about the fact I won. I think about how I won. What trick did I use this time? What wedge did I drive? How much research did I do before the meetings? All of the things I talk about in my other book, “The Extra 2 Minutes." I have found by doing this, I remember things I no longer use. A strategy that somehow fell by the wayside over the years that I can add back into my arsenal.

Visualizing the future is essential. Visualizing the past is equally as powerful.

David R. Carothers, CIC, CRM, is principal of Florida Risk Partners in Valrico, Florida, and owner of Killing Commercial (killingcommercial.com). He is also a public speaker, author, coach and host of the Power Producers Podcast.