Discipline is Destiny
Posted on 11/08/2025 in Sales Negotiation SkillsBy Joe Sapone
Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Greg Maddux. What do they all have in common? And what does it have to do with negotiation? I know it is stating the obvious, but they are all legendary performers…iconic figures and all Hall of Famers. The other term that jumps off the page with these professional athletes is winning. Lots of winning. And isn’t that what negotiation is all about after all?
There are several common threads among them…epic work ethics, extensive preparation, and an obsessive attention to detail to their chosen craft. Truth be told, the fearsome competitor in each one of them is certainly part of what drove them to be so disciplined, resulting in endless hours in the gym, on the field/court, and a fierce commitment to their process. Four athletes and seven paragraphs but we can easily boil it all down to one word. DISCIPLINE!
What the hell does discipline have to do with negotiation? Successful negotiation is certainly multifaceted requiring several different factors being buttoned up to consistently win. Factors like a profound value proposition, a good price, good quality material and reasonable terms and conditions to name just a few. The irony is that you can have all these elements lined up but if you don’t have the discipline to do the substantial work to clearly articulate a compelling value prop you will miss out on a lot of wins.
After all, knowing your product, the competition, the marketplace, your customers’ business, their competitors and what differentiates you from the competition, takes a substantial amount of work, time, commitment and effort. And then in the face of so many potential distractions pulling at you for attention, monthly reports, meetings, administrative tasks, along with myriad daily tasks that make up the typical work day, organizing all of that into a clear and concise rationale and communicating it to your customer in a manner that sufficiently motivates the customer to choose to buy from you is a big ask!
How do we get it all done and still bring the wins consistently on our side of the ledger? Think of a ten-letter word that starts with D and ends with E.
The good news is that PEAK Selling has negotiation workshops that reinforce everything in this blog. And better yet the workshops can easily be customized to incorporate your company’s products and/or selling process.
So, there you have it in a word…. DISCIPLINE! Of course, there’s also the four-letter word that is also a choice. It starts with “Q” and ends with “T”. So, what’s it gonna be, discipline or quit? To quote Ryan Holiday, best-selling author and modern-day interpreter of stoic philosophy… “DISCIPLINE IS DESTINY”. What will your destiny be? Turns out, it’s mostly a choice. Choose wisely my friends.