Years ago I read Todd Duncan’s book: High Trust Selling. I found the book very helpful and recommend it.

In the book he talks about it being easy to be average. It is much easier to stand still than climb. The same is true for lawyers. Then he writes:

Reaching the summit of success in the sales profession is not so much what you receive from climbing as it is what you become by climbing.

In my old law firm we had “The Blue Book.” It was a list of all the shareholders starting with the highest compensated and ending with the lowest compensated. Every year I was listed on the first page of “The Blue Book” and every year I was well compensated, received a bonus and a fancy, expensive pen.

Looking back now, I can say I purposely never reached the summit of success. I preferred to keep climbing. Believe me, I was happy with what I received, but the real joy was the climb itself. The real joy was striving to understand the construction industry, identifying issues that might impact my clients, and building long lasting relationships. I loved it.

Are you climbing? Have you defined what the summit will be for you?