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About This Episode
You just raked in $1M for the second year in a row, but…you’re deeply unfulfilled and your personal life is in tatters.
You need to admit that you need help.
I had a motivating and inspiring conversation with my friend Ian Koniak, Strategic Account Director at Salesforce, about how he actually faced his unhappiness and started to create a fulfilling life for himself.
He coaches people in two areas:
- Finding joy and fulfillment in sales and in life
- Selling more and better by untapping the potential that people know they’re capable of
Let’s dive right into Ian’s amazing story!
Self-worth & performance
Ian admitted that his view of his self-worth was tied up in his work performance. When he was top rep, he felt on top of the world. When he missed his numbers for the third year in a row, he was at rock bottom.
“I was fed up, I was frustrated with myself. At that point, I was like, ‘You know what, I need some help,’” he said.
Acknowledge that you need help.
That was the action that started Ian’s transformation. He joined a Mastermind program that started his reflection, and from there he built a long-term personal plan — a life plan.
He faced the truth that money wasn’t making him happy and he realigned his goals to a greater purpose — becoming his best self so that he could use his gifts to help others.
When he made the transition from strict transactional to more strategic selling by focusing on others, he started crushing his numbers again. But that still wasn’t enough.
That’s when he started his coaching business. But that wasn’t the root of finding fulfillment, either.
Prioritizing family & health
Ian was very blunt in our conversation. He was neglecting his family. He was struggling to control his emotions with addictions.
“Basically, for lack of a better word, I got my shit together,” he said. “I did some soul searching, I decided to get sober from six vices that, frankly, were not serving me. I got my family back,” he said.
Here’s the true pivot point: “Now I realize what is most important, and that’s your quality connection with those you love,” Ian said.
Discover what is really of value.
Ian nearly lost everything — his family, his work, himself. Now he feels he can truly serve people because he’s gone through that hardship and made it through the other side by prioritizing his family and his health.
When he talked about addiction he pointed out that it’s anything that we go to as a crutch when we are not feeling right. For him, it took therapy groups and hard work to learn how to get stress relief in a healthy way.
The transformative power of a healthy routine
- Family time. Ian quits working every day at 6:00 PM and is present with his family until 9:00 PM. After the kids’ bedtime, he spends quality time with his wife — it could be as simple as watching a show or talking together — until about 11:00 PM.
- Morning routine. After getting about seven hours of sleep, Ian does these four things every morning: Drink a nutritional shake, exercise, take a cold shower, and pray. This sets him up in an optimal physical, mental, and emotional state to respond to the day’s obstacles or challenges.
“This journey has really been evolving into the things that made me feel good in the very short term to really evolving to what gives me long term joy and fulfillment. And in doing so I can be very present because I’m committed to whatever I’m doing in those moments,” Ian said.
Authenticity & coaching
The secret to a fulfilling, happy life?
Be the same person at work that you are outside of work.
According to Ian, the secret of selling is to be consistent with how you show up. He used to be all in at work and absent at home. Now he’s all in everywhere he is.
“The truth is you can’t be two people, man, that’s a conflict. That’s really exhausting,” he said. “Frankly, I lived a double life in terms of my sales life versus my personal life, and now I don’t.”
He learned not to rely on controlling feelings with addictions but rather with habits and discipline.
In coaching, he teaches others to find this same fulfillment in life and work by taking control of their goals. He also teaches about the sales techniques that focus on others rather than the self.
On a personal note, this blog barely shows Ian’s passion — his downright radiance — for giving back. You really need to give this one a listen.
About The Podcast
The Sales Engagement podcast is the #1 podcast focused on engaging your customers and prospects in the modern sales era. This show features real-life stories and best practices from revenue leaders doing the job day in and day out, in a casual, radio-like talk show.
Each episode features modern tactics, strategies, hacks, and tips to get the most out of your sales engagement strategy and help you navigate the next generation of sales. You’ll find energetic talks that will provide you with real actionable value around building meaningful connections and creating a better selling experience through authentic conversations that you can measure.
The Sales Engagement podcast is here to help B2B sales leaders, customer success leaders, and marketing leaders innovate and usher in the next era of modern sales by building pipeline, up-selling customers, and ultimately generating more revenue with more efficiency.
Hosted by Joe Vignolo, Senior Content Managing Editor at Outreach, and Mark Kosoglow, Vice President of Sales at Outreach.
