When Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod), the Yankees newest acquisition, started the season in a long slump, the media kept asking him how he was dealing with all of the negativity. Not once did A-Rod lose his smile, cool or change his demeanor. He replied consistently that he was not worried at all. His stroke will come back and he will once again be hitting with power and producing runs. During these interviews, it came out that A-Rod uses a motivational coach, Jim Fannin. Isn’t it funny how all-stars use coaches every day to stay on top of their game. If you are not using a coach, you may want to reconsider this.

Anyway, the key point of this message is what Jim Fannin teaches his clients. He says “superstars don’t think like everyone else The average person has 2,000 to 3,000 thoughts a day, and 60 percent of the average person’s thoughts are in chaos. The superstar has 1,100 to 1,300 thoughts a day. They eliminate worry, envy, jealousy, embarrassment and anger. The superstar thinks a lot less and holds a thought longer.” Fannin was asked if the slump was on A-Rod’s mind. He answered no. Maybe it was on the reporter’s and fans minds, but not on A-Rod’s.

Think about that the next time you lose a sale and see if you can spend less time blaming yourself and others. While it is great to post-mortem a sales call to see what worked well and what needs to be tweaked, it is another thing to get stuck in the quagmire of doubt, anger and embarrassment. Superstars know that mistakes are part of the growing process. They also know they are going to hit slumps. But what they really care about is keeping their eye on the most important goal, and that is winning. They do not concern themselves with all of the other minor details that take up energy, brain power and time, key ingredients they can be using on closing the next deal. They focus their energy and time on thoughts that are going to pay off.