Regardless of whether you are football fan or not, or if you like Tom Brady or not, he set an example Sunday for salespeople, that when emulated, can propel us to new heights.

I am not talking about his game performance against the Chiefs. That was awe-inspiring though.

I am not referring to his interview as he was coming off the field, when asked what it was like going to a Super Bowl for a record ninth time (as many as nine entire other NFL TEAMS combined), he responded, “Unf**king-believable bro.”  (What’s it called when a quote actually describes itself? There must be a literary term for that.)

I am not talking about going to the Chiefs locker room after the game and asking to see Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs quarterback so he could congratulate HIM on a great game.  Pure class.

It was in his individual postgame press conference, where players typically recite the regular clichés. And he pretty much did.

Cliches are used for a reason. They accurately and perfectly describe something, regardless of whether someone thinks they are creative.

When asked how he stayed calm in that situation (referring to the back and forth nail-biter of a game and engineering a game winning drive) he replied,

“…staying in the moment… we always say one play at a time, you can’t make up for things that happened in the past, you jut gotta think about what you’re going to do moving forward.”

Fellow sales pros: think about how this applies to you.

Are you focused on making 50 calls, or the next one, to a human being.

Do you look at a long term goal or quota during the day and get anxious, or get in the zone, “the moment” as Tom says, and concentrate on the situation in front of you?

Do you let the stories you tell yourself about past no’s and lost deals chip away at your confidence and negatively affect your behavior, or do you control what you can, and know that you are delivering value and helping people, which then translates into action?

You won’t be playing in nine—or any– NFL Super Bowls, but you are certainly capable of following the same principles and winning big time in your own sales career.