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This article is based on a conversation between Brad Bialy and James Abraham on Take the Stage, a podcast/vodcast presented by Haley Marketing. For this episode and others search for “Secrets of Staffing Success” on your preferred podcast player or watch past episodes on YouTube.
Let’s be honest—sales isn’t for the faint of heart.
It’s a profession built on rejection, resilience, and relentless pursuit. Some days, you’re closing left and right, riding the high of a “yes.” Other days you’re staring at an inbox full of “not interested” and a call log filled with unanswered dials.
How do the best salespeople keep pushing forward? How do they maintain energy, confidence, and conviction even when the world seems to only be telling them “no”?
It all comes down to mindset, belief, and how you frame the challenges in front of you.
I had the opportunity to sit down with James Abraham, CEO of Sandler Israel, on Take the Stage, the staffing industry’s leading podcast presented by Haley Marketing, and what he shared about mindset and conviction completely reframed the way I think about success—not just in sales, but in life.
A 16-time marathon competitor, recently setting a PR by coming in at 3:14:50, James embodies a mindset in his personal and professional life that everyone can learn from.
“Sales is a rejection game. You either embrace it, or it breaks you.”
Read that again. Because if you’re in sales and still afraid of rejection, you’re fighting an uphill battle every single day.
No one likes rejection. But in sales, rejection isn’t just part of the job; it is the job. You’re not there to get people to think about it, to be polite, or to make small talk. You’re there to get a clear answer: yes or no. Nothing in between.
James put it this way: “The funny thing about sales is most people didn’t ever sign up for it. They kind of ended up doing sales. And another thing is if you ask salespeople from a scale of 1 to 10, how comfortable are they with rejection, most people will tell you that it terrifies them. Now, sales is a rejection game. We’re not there to get lots of ‘think it overs’. We’re there to get ‘yeses’ and ‘nos’ and nothing in the middle.”
But here’s the thing—rejection isn’t failure. It’s feedback.
Every “no” gets you one step closer to the right “yes.” Every call that doesn’t go your way is just another rep in the gym, building your sales muscle.
Reframe the way you see rejection. Instead of fearing it, embrace it as part of the process.
“Choose your pain: the pain of doing what’s necessary or the pain of regret for not doing it.”
Let’s talk about choices. Every single day, you get to choose between two types of pain:
- The pain of discipline—picking up the phone, sending that email, following up when you don’t feel like it.
- The pain of regret—knowing you could have done more but didn’t.
Which one do you want?
Sales success isn’t about talent. It’s not about being the best talker in the room. It’s about showing up and doing the work, even when you don’t feel like it.
That’s what separates the great from the average. The great ones don’t rely on motivation. They rely on habits.
James put it best: “It’s this concept called choose your pain. either the pain of doing what’s necessary or the pain of regret of not doing it. And I think that’s something that salespeople can either take [pain] through life as baggage or they can take through life as opportunity for growth.”
Which do you want?
“You don’t get stronger by avoiding struggle—you get stronger by pushing through it.”
Ever been to the gym? If you lift weights, you know the secret to building muscle: stress and recovery. You literally tear your muscle fibers apart so they can rebuild stronger.
Sales works the same way.
Every hard call. Every rejection. Every time you think, I can’t do this today, but you do it anyway—that’s making you stronger.
The only way to grow is to push through the discomfort.
You know what’s crazy? The people who avoid the hard stuff—the ones who say, I’ll get serious about prospecting next quarter, or I don’t like cold calling, so I’m going to try inbound only—they don’t just stay the same.
They actually get worse.
Because in life, you’re either growing or you’re shrinking. There’s no in-between.
“Conviction is everything. If you don’t believe in what you’re selling, no one else will either.”
Conviction isn’t just confidence. It’s a deep, unshakable belief that what you’re offering genuinely helps people.
If you’re second-guessing yourself on a sales call, your prospect feels it. If your tone wavers, if you hesitate before asking for the deal, if you sound unsure—game over.
People don’t buy from uncertainty.
They buy from certainty.
James had this to say on the podcast: “ Don’t just talk or speak with conviction. Ask questions with conviction. Ask the toughest questions you can ask. Because only someone who has full conviction in everything they say and do, they ask really tough questions and you know what they do the rest of the time? They shut up. They don’t need to talk. Salespeople and sales reps that are listening to this, you know you might have a conviction problem if you’re talking too much.”
That changes the game, doesn’t it? Instead of thinking you need to “sell” someone, shift your mindset:
- You believe in what you’re offering.
- You know your product solves real problems.
- Your job is simply to see if this person is the right fit.
No convincing. No selling. Just confidence and clarity.
“You don’t grow when things are easy. You grow when you challenge yourself daily.”
Let’s end with a gut check: When was the last time you intentionally made yourself uncomfortable?
Not just a little uncomfortable—but truly challenged yourself?
Because here’s the thing—when things are easy, we coast. We settle. We stop pushing. We get complacent.
Growth happens in the struggle.
James gave an incredible analogy: “Rejection is protection. If someone hangs up on me, I don’t take it personally. I just say, ‘Thank you for letting me know you’re not my ideal client.’ And I move on. The great one is next.”
That’s a winning mindset.
The best salespeople don’t just tolerate discomfort. They seek it out.
They know that every challenge—every rejection, every tough call, every long day—is pushing them to the next level.
So here’s the real question:
Are you playing to win? Or are you just trying to avoid losing?
Final Thought: Make the Choice Today
Sales isn’t easy. But that’s exactly what makes it worth it.
The highs are higher because you’ve fought through the lows. The victories are sweeter because you’ve earned them.
As James said, “If I was the best salesperson in the world in this marketplace, how would I behave? What would I tell myself? What would I do? Would I come to work and complain and blame and be a victim? Or would I pick up the phone and be different? Would I act like everybody else? Would I act like a vendor? Would I act like a trusted advisor? I think the biggest challenge that people have is breaking out of the loop of being themselves.”
So make the choice today.
- Embrace rejection. It’s not personal—it’s part of the game.
- Choose your pain. Discipline or regret—it’s up to you.
- Push through struggle. That’s where growth happens.
- Speak with conviction. If you don’t believe it, no one else will.
- Challenge yourself daily. Growth doesn’t come from comfort.
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The post Sales, Mindset, and the Power of Conviction: Why Your Beliefs Shape Your Success appeared first on Haley Marketing Group.
