K.I.S.S

When I started my sales career, one of the first things I was taught was to “Keep It Simple, Salesman.” Communicate in such a way that your message is unmistakably clear. If the message is not clear, the prospect ends up con fused, and a confused person seldom takes action.

This advice can be followed in any field of endeavor. For example, in marathon running today we use sports psychologists, computerized training regimens, and state-of-the-art running shoes. Perhaps all of that is necessary if you want to win the big race. I’m not denying that these things help, but Toshihiko Seko didn’t need them to win the Boston Marathon.

I was tremendously impressed when Seko won the Boston Marathon in 1981. His training program was simplicity itself, and Seko explained it with twelve words: “I run ten kilometers in the morning and twenty in the evening.” At this point you probably think. There’s a catch! But this plan enable him to outrun the world’s greatest, fastest, most gifted runners. When Seko was told that his plan seemed to simple compared to that of other marathoners, he replied, “The plan is simple, but I do it every single day, 365 days a year. “simple? Yes. Easy? No.

It is my conviction that most people fail to reach their goals not because their plans are too simple or too complicated. Most people don’t reach their goals because they’re not committed and willing to follow their plans.

Many of our goals do not require detailed plans, but all of them require that we must follow the plan we have. Seko’s plan was effective because he followed if every day. You can’t get more simple than that! Follow Toshihiko Seko’s example; make certain your plan to reach your goal is simple, than follow it carefully.