I’ve got nothing this week. I sat down at the computer to write this week’s Sales Thought and there was nothing there. Couldn’t think of a single story worth sharing.

One way I have addressed this idea desert in the past is to ask myself, “What was the moment this week that was most emotionally touching for you?”. When that hasn’t produced a spark, I’ve gone back through my calendar and looked, day by day, at what I did to see whether anything popped out. This week: Nothing.

I trolled through past Sales Thoughts looking for ideas.  Not a whiff.

One week, some time back, I experienced a similar moment; I shared my frustration with a writer friend. He wrote back, “You need to get out more and live your life a little bit”.

Fair enough. Push back from the desk, look around.

Another writer friend’s counsel: “Take notes. When ideas occur for you, no matter where you are, write them down or dictate them into your phone. Otherwise, the moments will pass and you’ll never remember them later.”

That’s true, too. But no ideas occurred this week. No notes.

Why?

It comes back to awareness. Catching moments. Recognizing messages. Sharing insights to help clients or friends make sense of things.

When we’re not paying attention, we have nothing to talk about.

Nick Miller and Clarity train banks and bankers to attract and develop deeper relationships with small businesses. Many more Sales Thoughts like this and a host of other articles and resources at https://clarityadvantage.com/knowledge-center/ .