If you know me, you know I’m a lover of music. I’ve seen many of the greatest rock bands in the world at some of the greatest venues on the planet. Sometimes I walk in Central Park with my headphones on, jamming out in my own head, and people — well, they think I’m c-r-a-a-a-a-zy! People say, “Whats the matter with you?”

Recently, I had a transformational experience at a concert. In fact, if I were a non-believer, I just may have felt that I was in the presence of a deity. Mick Jagger, age 75, started up 65,000 at Soldier Field with the timeless, priceless Street Fighting Man. I sure got some Satisfaction. Mick got me and 65,000 others absolutely rocking, as he delivered a 20-song set list of the best blues-based rock-n-roll the world has ever witnessed.

I often brood over greatness, in particular as it relates to rock musicians. I think about their lives. Though they appear divine to their fans, they experience the same ups and downs as all of us: health challenges, broken families, personal conflicts and all sorts of competitive jealousies. Standing in the pit at Soldier Field, steps away from Mick Jagger, I was overwhelmed with greatness. And I realized how much Mick Jagger himself is a metaphor for what it takes to succeed in sales.

Of course Mick Jagger is talented. But it takes more than mere talent to draw a crowd of 65,000 people to downtown Chicago on a Friday night and gross $5 million in under three hours. Many fans are unaware of Mick’s transformation about 15 years ago from a life of sex, drugs, rock-n-roll to a powerfully disciplined life. He engaged trainers and he now works out six days per week and runs 8-12 miles per day. He eats a perfectly healthy diet. Because of that discipline, at age 75 he can jump and flash on stage like he’s still 25.

In sales, discipline in vital.

Calling without scripts, tackling random tasks each day without a plan or adherence to a cadence — that lack of discipline will ultimately overcome even the most talented sales rep. Mick got right down to important principles: health, fitness, diet. Effective sales reps also need to focus on important principles. In fact, the Nine Proven Principles for Cold Outreach are a life-redeeming prescription for the scattered sales rep, who’s maybe enjoying a little too much sex/drugs/rock-n-roll at the expense of a healthy long term pipeline. Discipline, every day, is required to reach goals. That discipline includes everything from who you’re calling, what you’re saying on voice mails, on calls, in demos, and in emails. Everything should adhere to proven principles. When you have systems in place that drive your sales reps to following a disciplined structure for outreach, they’ll be able to rock it out far into the future.

Mick Jagger has become a disciple of discipline. Because of the changes he made in his life 15 years ago, I was one of the 65,000 fans who got some Satisfaction on a gorgeous summer night at Chicago’s Soldier Field.