How do you sell anything in life?

Thirty-two year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency Jack Devine has written a book called Good Hunting.

Here is an excerpt of an interview with Jack:

Your main job in the field was recruitment, which is a nice way of saying you got people to betray their countries for money. How do you do that?

How do you sell anything in life? You have to have a product, you have to develop a relationship, and in that relationship, you have to be able to identify people’s strengths and weaknesses. And then you have to be able to ask that tough question: Will you help me? There is a sense of timing in it. It is an art form.

Having someone betray his or her country must be considered the toughest sell in history. If this process worked for Jack Devine then it should work for you whatever you happen to be selling.

Motivational Monday - Success Comes in CANS

Evidence suggests that success and genius, comes in CANS not in CAN-NOTS.

That is why many geniuses throughout history – from commercial geniuses and even political geniuses – have done their best to highlight the importance of a CANDO attitude:

Ø “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” (Henry Ford)

Ø “He can who thinks he can, and he can’t who thinks he can’t” (Pablo Picasso)

Ø “Nurture the mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.” (Benjamin Disraeli)

That is why we tend to think of the CANDO Wolfgang Mozart as a genius rather than the CAN’T DO Emperor Joseph II, who famously told Wolfgang his music ‘had too many notes’!

Or why we think of the CANDO Wright Brothers as geniuses for inventing the first ever plane to fly in 1903, rather more than the CAN’T DO astronomer Simon Newcomb who sceptically pointed out in 1902 that, ‘Flight by machines heavier than air is impractical and insignificant, if not utterly impossible.’

At the end of the day, you could deduce that if you want more genius and success in your life, her is the secret:

Create a life for yourself where there are more squiggles ? and fewer straight lines !.   

Non-Genius minds are full of statements and exclamation marks:

      ‘It can’t possibly work!’

      ‘This problem can’t be fixed!’

      ‘I can’t afford it!’

Genius minds are full of explorations and question marks:

      ‘How can I potentially get it to work?’

‘In what others ways do I need to look at this problem to help me fix it?’

      ‘How can I afford it?’



So the next time you are faced with a situation that prompts you to make statements take a moment to turn them into questions, you will have more genius moments and greater success when you do. 



Create a world of possibility and exploration.

That is all - 
David

14400 Of Them In A Day - So Make Them Count

Make Them Count

Each one of us, whether we are a billionaire or a bum have the same amount of time in a day, in a week, in a month.

It’s what they do with it that makes the difference.

What are you doing? A disorganised genius is no match for the average person with a daily routine of winning habits and high value activities. 

What’s your routine?

PS We all have 14400 minutes in each day.

Why Call IT Self Esteem?

It is called self-esteem because it is what you think of yourself.

If you consider the definition, self-esteem describes a person's overall sense of self-worth or personal value. It can involve a variety of beliefs about your self, such as the appraisal of one's own appearance, beliefs, emotions and behaviours. 

(http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/f/what-is-self-esteem.htm)

What other people think of you is called "other-people esteem." That's a whole different thing!

Is it better to think well of yourself? You decide. If you answer, "Yes!" Then go ahead.

Don't wait for others to think well of you!

Without a doubt people can tear you down. Sometimes because they are uncaring. Most often because they are unthinking, they are too busy with their 'stuff' to realise or to tell you. 

This makes it more difficult, but at some point, you can make a choice. Self esteem gets done to children, but for adults, it becomes a choice.

It's up to you!

Motivational Monday - Is 'Better' Really Possible?

You automatically want to answer 'YES'. Better must be possible!

But, I have come to the conclusion that many people are far more comfortable with 'NO'.

The easiest and safest thing to do is accept what you've been given, to assume that you can't change, that the cards you've been dealt are the only ones that are available to you.

When you assume this, all the responsibility for outcomes disappears, and you can relax.

I meet people who tell me, sometimes proudly, that they don't believe in this "self-help" stuff. Most commonly because they are fully set, they don't need any more development.

I'm surprised. First, because all help is self help (except, perhaps, for surgery and the people who work at makeup counters who give away freebies). But even this sort of help requires that you show up for it. Mostly I'm surprised because there's just so much evidence to the contrary.

Fear, once again fear, is the driving force here. If you accept the results you've gotten before, if you hold on to them tightly, then you never have to face the fear of the void, of losing what you've got, of trading in your success for your failure.

And if you want to do this to yourself, well, I guess this is your choice. But don't do it to others. Don't do it to your kids, or your students, or your co-workers. Don't do it to the people in underprivileged neighborhoods or entire countries. 

Better might be difficult, better might involve overcoming unfair barriers, but better is definitely possible. And the belief that it's possible is a gift.

We owe everyone around us the optimism that they can reach a little higher. To write off people because you trade getting better for staying comfortable is terribly sad.

Better is a dream worth dreaming!

Is Social Media the NEW Television?

If, like me, you think that social media is the new television then you need to be entertaining and informative with your social media.

You’ve worked hard to build your content strategy but having a laser beam focus on your brand doesn’t always build or maintain people’s attention - which is as best around seven to ten seconds. The average attention span was twelve seconds in 2000 and was eight seconds in 2012 according to Statistic Brain. You’re kidding, right?

So, what does this mean for today’s social media marketers and professionals? You need to be entertaining and add some fun into your social media content mix.

Promoting only your product, book or blog non-stop won’t be interesting to anyone, most likely not even yourself. Keeping your ratio of content at 90 percent other people’s content (OPC) and 10 percent your own content will help you but don’t be too dry or stuffy when you create your social media calendar. 

Let me know how entertaining and informative that I have been.

Business Tips: The Secret of Business to Business Selling

Don't Blow It!

If you sell to businesses, you're calling on one of two types of companies. Unsuccessful companies, who are panicking and afraid and don't have a lot of resources to spend on new things...a tough sell.

Or you're selling to successful businesses. And in those companies most people walk around with a three-word mantra imprinted in their thinking: 'Don't blow it!'

In most companies more cudos are awarded to people who keep things moving and protect the status quo. If you're the gambler, the one strived for better, who risked and failed, well, it's understood at many places that this isn't good. You are a risk and need to be kept on track.

So, the story that resonates more often than not is a story that's built around those three words, 'Don't blow it!