7 Lessons I Learned in One Month at the Gym About Sales (Better Than Spending $1,000 on a Coach or Online Course)

I go to the gym five times a week and pay a subscription fee to access it. This has been one of the best decisions I made in 2024. Recently, I started reflecting on the lessons I’ve learned from consistently going to the gym—rain or shine—and how they relate to sales. Here are my top seven lessons:

1. Dashboard Power

My routine starts with hitting the treadmill and booking a coach. On the treadmill, I can see the kilometers I’ve covered, minutes spent, calories burned, and movements tracked. This visual accountability keeps me going. For instance, if I plan to spend 20 minutes on the treadmill but feel like stopping at the 15th minute, just seeing the dashboard motivates me to push through.

Imagine having a dashboard for your sales and business activities. Make it visible and let it guide you, not your emotions. A dashboard can instantly show what you’re optimizing for, helping you stay focused and on track.

2. Coach

At my gym, you can book a coach who nudges, inspires, and challenges you to go further—one more rep, one more set. The coach is a reminder of what’s important. Having a coach in the gym ensures you don’t fool around.

Do you have a coach? If not, I suggest you start here. A coach can be a game-changer in your sales career.

3. Other People

I recently wrote a viral tweet: “If you spend time with real estate people, you will own properties.” That’s been my experience. At the gym, seeing others working out seriously motivates me to stay healthy. Humans are mimetic creatures; we mimic what we see others doing.

I once saw a 70-year-old woman in my gym working out. Wow! That inspired me.

Who are you hanging with? Surround yourself with winners, and you’ll win. Winners win, period.

4. Preparation

Before heading to the gym, I prepare the night before—trainers, socks, shorts, and a T-shirt—so that when I wake up, I reduce the cognitive load of deciding what to wear.

In sales, preparation is key. Before every sales call or training session, I anticipate potential questions and prepare accordingly. Preparation doesn’t guarantee success, but not preparing guarantees failure.

5. Novelty

Novelty means newness, uncertainty, and freshness. For example, yesterday, I looked forward to going to the gym because I had a new pair of socks. Sometimes, novelty comes from discovering a new podcast to listen to during my workout.

In sales, find something new to motivate you. It could be a new slide, fresh insight, updated statistics, or even a new dream that excites you to make that sale or call.

6. Incremental Progress

One thing I love about the gym is the ability to stack progress gradually—from lifting a 10kg dumbbell to a 12kg one or increasing push-up sets from two to three. Incremental progress builds consistency.

Consistency beats intensity. For example, I’d rather pray 10 minutes daily than pray for 10 hours once a month. In sales, apply the same principle. Don’t start with 10 sales calls. Start with three, then four, then five—but stay consistent.

7. Identity

There’s a difference between saying, “I am not a smoker” and “I quit smoking.” The first reflects identity, while the second indicates behavior.

By going to the gym, you adopt the identity of a disciplined or resilient person. This identity can spill over into your sales life because how you do one thing is how you do everything.

This is where I’ll leave it for now. Happy 2025, and thank you for reading my letters in 2024. I’m deeply grateful for your comments, replies, and shares.

Should you want my services in 2025, here’s a link to all my products.

The Paul Foh Store