Losers are always complaining’ and explaining’.
They’re always looking for reasons and justifications why their sales are in a slump.
It’s just plain lazy.
On the other hand, a winner never complains and never explains. They face the problem, make a clear assessment of the situation, and get something done. A loser complains and explains to avoid his own insecurities and doubts. Instead of facing what is really going on and what needs to be done, he frantically searches for explanations as to why he is failing, and he or she gets nothing done!
In business – when times are tough – you’ll always hear complaints like, “the economy is slow; things are tight all over; nobody’s buying anything these 
days.” The list of useless explanations is endless. If you’re only looking for reasons to fail – you’ll find ‘em. And you’ll have lots of people agreeing with you, as misery loves company, doesn’t it?
For example, I once worked with a large company in Southern California. Sales were down. The Exec. V.P. of Sales had adopted a “solution” of spending most of his time searching through newspapers, magazines and opinions to explain why his sales were slow – blaming others, and getting nothing done to change his condition.
Things were getting worse and I was called in to help him get to the bottom of this, fast!
I first decided to let him tell me why he was right to search out all the supporting reasons he wasn’t succeeding.
It was like opening Pandora’s box!
Like a fire hose, all the garbage he had collected to convince himself that nothing could be done came rushing out. When he finally wound down, he paused, looked at me hopelessly, and waited for my agreement.
I reflected for a moment and said, “You’re right, it sounds hopeless. If everything you’ve said here is true, we’ve got nothing to talk about. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”
When I got up to leave, he cried out, “Hey, where are you going? Can’t you see I’m dying here? I need help!”
I sat back down, thinking, “Okay, now we’ve got something to talk about.”
This was the turning point. At least now we had a chance, as he wasn’t incapable, just misdirected. When he had the “whack on the side of the 
head” that he was part of the problem instead of looking for a solution, he immediately snapped back into the drivers seat.
Simply put, he stopped complaining and explaining. Then we got him going on a program that would handle what needed to be done.
Once he got out of the way of himself and back into action, all the usual business solutions and promotional actions started to bite! That simple shift of attention made all the difference.
He realized that if he were looking only for “failure support” – he would find it. But nothing else would get done.
However, if he were looking for “success possibilities” – they could, and would be found.
And then he’d get something done!
daniel w. jacobs
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