If your sales manager asked you if you’d like to double your income, how would you respond?

Would you jump at the chance, or would you want to know what strings were attached to the offer? Certainly, there must be some strings. Would you want to know exactly what you’d have to do in order to double your income?

Here’s a better question: “What are you willing to do to double your income?”

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Are you willing to work twice as hard? Twice as long? Twice as fast?

Neither of those options is likely to work. First of all, how would you determine if you were working twice as hard? Working twice as long would surely lead to burnout. And, working twice as fast, if that were possible, would invariably lead to mistakes and inconsistent and sloppy work which would surely thwart your efforts.

So, if working harder, faster, or longer isn’t appropriate, what can you do?

You can identify and implement new behaviors and activities that will enable you to work more effectively and more efficiently. They don’t have to be big-scale changes, just small changes that will improve your performance a little bit.

Can you find one thing - just one thing - that will improve your performance a mere two percent this month? Not 50 percent or 25 percent or even 10 percent—just two percent. You don’t have to look far to find things to create a mere two percent improvement.

Making one extra prospecting call per day or making a conscious effort to ask every client for a referral are two examples of little things you can do. How about not letting prospects or clients get away with wishy-washy commitments? Here’s another - each week, reconnecting with one former customer who has drifted away.

If you found one thing this month, could you find another next month and another the following month? Small improvements applied consistently over time earn compound interest. A two percent increase in performance and productivity each month will yield an increase of approximately 27 percent in 12 months; a 60 percent increase in two years; and a 100 percent increase in three years.

"Little things mean a lot" is not only a song title, but also a strategy for long-term improvement of your performance - and your income. So, identify those little things you can do today that will lead you to a more prosperous tomorrow.

Pick one and get started.