From Snake to Horse

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As we move from the Year of the Snake into the Year of the Horse, I’ve found myself reflecting more than usual.

In Chinese astrology, the Snake is associated with learning, observation, refinement, and inner work.
The Horse, by contrast, represents momentum, confidence, visibility, and forward movement.

But here’s the part that matters most:

Before the Horse can run freely, the Snake has to shed its skin.

That idea feels especially relevant for anyone early in their sales career — or anyone who knows, deep down, that they’re capable of more but can’t quite access it yet.

Wearing a sales skin that no longer fits

I was born in 1978 — the Year of the Horse.

Ironically, it took me a long time to grow into that energy.

I’ve been in sales in one form or another since my late teens. Like many people, I learned by doing. By watching others. By copying what seemed to work.

I learned scripts.
I learned processes.
I learned how to sound confident, even when I wasn’t.

And for a while, that worked.

But there came a point where effort alone stopped being enough.

I was working hard.
I was good with people.
I could build rapport easily.

Yet deals didn’t always convert the way they should have.
Objections kept resurfacing.
I knew I could be better — I just didn’t know how.

Looking back, I wasn’t failing.

I was simply trying to grow… while still wearing an old skin.

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The Snake phase is necessary — but it’s not where you stay

The Snake phase of a sales career is important.

It’s where you:

• absorb techniques

• learn the rules of the game

• experiment with different styles

• develop resilience

But problems arise when you stay there too long.

Because what once helped you survive starts to restrict you.

You begin to feel friction:

• selling feels effortful instead of natural

• confidence fluctuates

• you second-guess conversations after they end

• you know there’s more potential in you, but can’t name it

That’s not a motivation issue.

It’s a self-understanding gap.

The Horse doesn’t move faster — it moves freer

Here’s what I’ve learned after decades in and around sales:

The Horse doesn’t win by trying harder.
It wins by knowing its power.

In sales terms, this is the shift from:

• copying others → trusting yourself

• sounding confident → being grounded

• being liked → being chosen

• effort → presence

That shift doesn’t come from another tactic or script.

It comes from understanding how you naturally operate at your best.

Where strengths awareness changes everything

When I finally learned how to understand my strengths — and just as importantly, my unrealised strengths — everything started to make sense.

Unrealised strengths are the ones you’re already good at…
but aren’t fully using yet, especially under pressure.

For many people in sales, these strengths show up as:

• deep curiosity that doesn’t always get leveraged

• relationship strengths that stop short of commitment moments

• strategic thinking that gets drowned out by urgency

• calm presence that disappears when confidence wobbles

Once you can see these patterns, you stop guessing.

Your sales playbook becomes personal.

A different kind of sales playbook

Most sales playbooks tell you what to do.

Strengths awareness tells you how you do it best.

When the two come together:

• you structure your week around energy, not just activity

• conversations feel more natural and decisive

• objections become information, not rejection

• confidence comes from clarity, not bravado

That’s Horse energy.

Not noise.
Not force.
Just grounded forward motion.

A low-risk way to shed the old skin

If any of this resonates, the natural question is:

Where do I start?

That’s exactly why I created 7 Days of Strengths.

It’s a low-friction, self-guided entry point into strengths awareness — designed for people who know they could be better, but don’t yet know how.

Over seven days, you’ll:

• complete a strengths assessment

• understand your realised and unrealised strengths

• see how they show up in real situations

• take small, practical actions that change how you show up

It’s delivered by email.
It takes around 20–30 minutes a day.
There are no calls. No pressure. No performance.

Just space to reflect, experiment, and shed what no longer fits.

From Snake to Horse

The Snake teaches you to learn.
The Horse invites you to move.

If you’re serious about improving — not by becoming someone else, but by using more of who you already are —

👉 start with 7 Days of Strengths.

Shed the old skin.
Step into your power.
And let the Horse run.

Start Seven Days of Strengths Now