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Designing a High-Performance Day

Breaking Sales

Release Date: 04/20/2026

Is Development Fatigue Real? show art Is Development Fatigue Real?

Breaking Sales

Plenty of sales professionals will tell you they’re committed to their own development. But when you ask them what they’re actually doing, how much time they’re putting in, or whether it’s paying off, the answers are all over the map. In this episode, Dan and Pam explore what real professional development requires — and what separates it from the kind that feels productive but doesn’t actually help you improve. They take an honest look at why so many people experience fatigue in the process, and what that fatigue might be telling you when it shows up. This conversation is for...

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Self-Awareness and Performance with Dr. Mark Leary show art Self-Awareness and Performance with Dr. Mark Leary

Breaking Sales

There’s a pattern that affects almost every sales professional, regardless of experience level: the conversations that matter most are rarely the ones that bring out your best performance. The higher the stakes, the more you might find yourself hesitating, second-guessing, and holding back — even when you know exactly what needs to be said.   It’s easy to chalk this up to nerves. But the reality is that something specific is happening in your brain in those moments — and it has everything to do with where your attention goes when the pressure increases.  In this episode,...

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Designing a High-Performance Day show art Designing a High-Performance Day

Breaking Sales

It can be common to not always give much thought to how you’re setting yourself up each day. You might have habits, but not a deliberate practice built around how you actually want to perform.  But performing at your best — and achieving a sense of fulfillment when the day is over — doesn’t happen by accident. It requires deliberately building the structures and routines that actually support you.  In this episode, Dan and Pam talk through what this looks like for them: the routines they’ve built, how they structure their weeks, and how they manage the mental pushback that...

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The Neuroscience of Trust with Dr. Paul Zak show art The Neuroscience of Trust with Dr. Paul Zak

Breaking Sales

What does it actually take to build trust in a sales conversation? Not just rapport, but trust — the kind that makes a prospect lean in, open up, and ultimately make a decision?  Dr. Paul Zak is a behavioral neuroscientist, the author of several books, including Trust Factor and Immersion, and one of the world’s leading researchers on the science of trust and persuasion.  In this illuminating conversation, Dan and Paul explore what actually drives trust in a high-stakes sales interaction. Listen in to learn why the most likable salespeople may not always close the deal, what's...

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Providing for Today vs. Building for Tomorrow show art Providing for Today vs. Building for Tomorrow

Breaking Sales

Ask any underperforming sales professional why they’re not doing what they need to do, and you’ll eventually hear them say, “My family comes first.” Ask a top performer the same question about what drives them, and you’ll hear the exact same thing. It all comes down to how one demonstrates it.  In this episode, Dan and Pam explore the uncomfortable reality behind one of the most universal (and most misused) statements in sales. They break down why “family is my priority” means something fundamentally different depending on who’s saying it, and what those differences reveal...

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Rewiring Your Response to Adversity with Erez Avramov show art Rewiring Your Response to Adversity with Erez Avramov

Breaking Sales

What separates professionals who stay composed when facing rejection from those who get knocked off course? It's not experience or natural talent; it's understanding how your mind responds to challenges and redirecting it when it starts working against you.  In this episode, Dan sits down with resilience expert Erez Avramov, who discovered something powerful about mental resilience after surviving multiple life-threatening experiences. Through his recovery, Erez developed a five-stage approach that applies directly to how we handle pressure, rejection, and uncertainty in sales. ...

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The Questions Your Prospects Can’t Ask Themselves show art The Questions Your Prospects Can’t Ask Themselves

Breaking Sales

What stops you from asking the question that could genuinely help a prospect think differently? Most of the time, it's not a lack of awareness. You can usually see what needs to be addressed—but something holds you back from creating the discomfort that leads to clarity. In this episode, Dan and Pam explore a simple but powerful reframe that will change how you approach these moments. They break down how to think about your responsibility to prospects in sales conversations and what it truly looks like to play the role of the objective, neutral advisor. You’ll walk away understanding why...

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The Warrior’s Sales Playbook with Chris Harris show art The Warrior’s Sales Playbook with Chris Harris

Breaking Sales

What can a martial artist who trained tier-one special forces teach you about sales performance? Everything. In this episode, Dan sits down with Chris Harris: bestselling author, keynote speaker, Martial Arts Hall of Fame inductee, and creator of the combat system Roku Jitsu. Chris spent 25 years training elite military operators in close-quarters combat before transitioning to sales, where he discovered that the same mental disciplines that create warriors also create top sales performers. In this episode, Chris shares his journey from childhood adversity to becoming number one in his field....

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The Price of Reaching Your Potential show art The Price of Reaching Your Potential

Breaking Sales

Howard Stern admits he was the worst DJ imaginable when he started. But his obsessive will to get better transformed him into a legend. In this episode, Dan and Pam explore how this principle applies to every high performer, from athletes to salespeople. You’ll learn about the two components that determine whether you reach your potential—drive and exposure to elite standards—and why surrounding yourself with people who operate at a higher level is non-negotiable for growth. Dan also shares the details of his brutal early sales journey, and the uncomfortable practice that became the...

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Where Is Your Prospect in Their Decision Journey? show art Where Is Your Prospect in Their Decision Journey?

Breaking Sales

Why do even experienced sales professionals struggle to move prospects from initial interest to closed deals?  The answer often lies in a fundamental misunderstanding of how prospects make decisions about change. Most salespeople jump straight to demonstrating their value without understanding where prospects are in their decision-making journey, assuming they’re ready for solutions when they're still figuring out if they even have problems worth solving. In this episode of Breaking Sales, Dan and Pam break down the four distinct phases that every meaningful sales conversation must...

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More Episodes

It can be common to not always give much thought to how you’re setting yourself up each day. You might have habits, but not a deliberate practice built around how you actually want to perform. 

But performing at your best — and achieving a sense of fulfillment when the day is over — doesn’t happen by accident. It requires deliberately building the structures and routines that actually support you. 

In this episode, Dan and Pam talk through what this looks like for them: the routines they’ve built, how they structure their weeks, and how they manage the mental pushback that happens during difficult or uncomfortable moments. 

If you’ve ever wondered how you can be more intentional about how you show up each day, this conversation is worth your time.

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