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Thinking about success… welcome to the club!

“Thoughts are things” is the title and the first words of the first chapter in the immortal Napoleon Hill book, Think and Grow Rich.

When I first read those words, in 1972, I didn’t really understand what they meant – even when I read the first chapter and the examples offered in Think and Grow Rich, it didn’t resonate – until I got to the end of the chapter and read, “Whatever the mind of man can conceive, and believe, it can achieve.”

I started to get it.

By coincidence, it was only a few days later when I heard the late great Earl Nightingale in his immortal The Strangest Secret say, “You become what you think about.” At that moment I got it – it clicked. And it clicked forever.

Powerful thoughts and concepts that seem so simple, yet elude most people. Think about the way you think. Positive? Happy? Consistent? Attractive? Encouraging? Believing? Self-inspiring? For most the answer is, “sometimes.” And in this political year, almost never.

Positive thinking is a self-imposed challenge in a world surrounded with negatives. Facing that, I began to read all I could find. More reading and studying about thinking and the thought process revealed that neither Hill nor Nightingale had the original thought.

From Socrates who said, “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”
…to Buddha who said, “The mind is everything. What you think you become.”
…to Samuel Smiles who said, “Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”
…to Orison Swett Marden who said, “All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers.” “It is psychological law that whatever we desire to accomplish we must impress upon the subjective or subconscious mind.”
…to Elbert Hubbard who said, “I believe in the hands that work, in the brains that think, and in the hearts that love…I believe in sunshine, fresh air, friendship, calm sleep, beautiful thoughts.” And said , “Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual… Thought is supreme. Preserve a right mental attitude – the attitude of courage, frankness, and good cheer. To think rightly is to create.”
…to Dale Carnegie who said, “It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
…to Napoleon Hill who also said, “Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.”
…to Earl Nightingale who also said, “Before you can achieve the kind of life you want you must think, act, talk, and conduct yourself in all of your affairs as would the person you wish to become.”
…to Norman Vincent Peale who said, “Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture… Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.”
…to Steve Jobs who said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Each of these people had their own way of saying the SAME THING. Your thinking becomes your actions. And it’s those dedicated well-planned and directed actions that lead to your outcomes. Your reality. Better stated, your success.

All of these legendary scholars cannot be wrong.

All of these men told me in their writings – in the same way I’m telling you, that positive thought leads to positive actions, and positive results, if the aim and the purpose are passionately believed.

The way you dedicate yourself to the way you think will have the greatest impact on your life – either one way or the other.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.


About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

There is now an online course to master the principles of Think and Grow Rich. All you have to do is go to http://jeffreygitomer.com/napoleon-hill-special and register.

Breaking YES Attitude down, in order to build yours up!

This is the tenth anniversary of the Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. In this year’s edition – ironically the 10th printing of the book, I have added content, new ideas and new lessons.

Here’s one of the additions to get you thinking…

To make it easier for you to understand where your attitude actually is at this very moment, I’ve created a list for you to rate yourself. It breaks down your attitude into attributes. The key to this self-evaluation is your self-truth, and your willingness, on a scale of 1-10 (1 being the worst, 10 being the best), to rate your present situation in each of the attitude attributes listed below.

These ratings, better stated – these self-evaluations, will give you a “ground zero” beginning to understand the NOW position of your attitude, and where to work on getting to YES! It’s where you are right now, and specific places that you can begin to improve.

MIND THE GAP: As you rate yourself, you will develop gaps – or opportunities as I prefer to call them. If you rate yourself a 7 out of 10, your gap for improvement is 30%. And the more honest with yourself you are in your self-evaluations, the more gaps will appear.

Gaps are good. They provide SPECIFIC direction. They will tell you EXACTLY what needs improving.

Some of your self-evaluations may hurt a little bit, but the goal in this is to bring you to greater attitude awareness. Anywhere you score less than 6 is an area that needs real improvement. The good news is, as you improve each attribute, you narrow your gap, and your attitude becomes closer to YES!

Here are the attributes. Go slow. Think hard. Be honest.

Score | Attitude Attribute
____ Attitude of receptiveness. You are totally open to new ideas all the time, and eager to listen and self-evaluate.
____ Attitude of listening. You are positively listening with the intent to understand and question BEFORE you respond.
____ Attitude of friendliness. Your mindset is permanently adjusted to friendly and you greet everyone with a warm smile.
____ Attitude of willingness. You serve from your heart because you love to be of service. Serving makes you feel good.
____ Attitude of gratitude. Grateful for all gifts and opportunities that life has given you. How grateful are you? Really?
____ Attitude of awareness. Looking at all things around you, and seeing the bright side. Listening to all things around you, and seeing the bright side.
____ Attitude of enthusiasm. Full of visible happiness so strong it’s transferrable to others.
____ Attitude of cooperation. You’re a true team player that’s happy to help and eager to support and serve.
____ Attitude of positive anticipation. Believe things and people will go your way and have a great and positive outcome. Belief in YES!
____ Attitude of encouragement. Helping and encouraging others win actually helps you to win.
____ Attitude of desire. Your desire to succeed. Your desire to be of service. Your desire to be your best as a salesperson AND a person.
____ Attitude of achievement. Your drive to get what you’re working hard for, and be both happy and grateful when you do.
____ Attitude of harmony. Your ability to get along and be at peace with others, and be at peace with yourself.
____ Attitude of excellence. Striving to be your best at all times and be happy at the end of a hard day, a good day, or a tough day (there’s no such thing as a bad day).
____ Attitude of praise. Not receiving praise, giving praise. Genuine praise makes others feel good about themselves and gain self-confidence to continue.
____ Attitude of pride. Your personal pride owing to your state of mind, and your accomplishments.
____ Attitude of wonderment. Looking at the world and smiling in awe at its majesty. Content with yourself, your life, and your lot.
____ Attitude of kindness. Sharing, giving, helping and volunteering so that you feel great about yourself.
____ Attitude of acceptance. Taking the lemons, and figuring how to make lemonade.
____ Attitude of performance. Positive things happen because you make them happen.
____ Attitude of do the right thing. Striving to do well by doing right – by yourself and by others.
____ Attitude of forgiveness. A willingness to forgive is at the core of your inner peace and ultimately your positive inner feelings and thoughts. Forgiving will set you free.

Whew! There’s a dose of “opportunity thought.” You don’t need to add up your score. You’ve just painted your own inner picture. You know what it is, and no one else (except your family or spouse) really cares.

YES! CHALLENGE: You are the director and the producer of you. And you are up for an academy award nomination in the category of: BEST ATTITUDE.

I hope you win!

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.


About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Why do some persist and some quit? Because…

Is there a secret to follow-up? No.
Is there a best way to follow-up? No.
Why do people quit too soon? Big question.
Why do you quit too soon? Bigger question.
Have you ever read Think and Grow Rich? Biggest question.

Reason? Think and Grow Rich (written by Napoleon Hill 78 years ago) has an entire chapter on persistence that provides real insight as to the characteristics of what makes some stick at it until they win, while others stop either just after they start, or stop just before they are about to taste victory.

Rather than be so presumptuous as to paraphrase the great Napoleon Hill, I am going to give you the EXACT words of the master (now in the public domain).

Here are some excerpts (and insights) on persistence quoted exactly as they were written seven decades ago, and still applicable in your sales process today.

Persistence is a state of mind, therefore it can be cultivated. Like all states of mind, persistence is based upon definite causes, among them these:

a. Definiteness of purpose. Knowing what one wants is the first and, perhaps, the most important step toward the development of persistence. A strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties.
b. Desire. Its is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence in pursuing the object of intense desire.
c. Self-reliance. Belief in one’s ability to carry out a plan encourages one to follow the plan through with persistence. (Self-reliance can be developed through the principle described in the chapter on autosuggestion).
d. Definiteness of plans. Organized plans, even though they may be weak and entirely impractical, encourage persistence.
e. Accurate knowledge. Knowing that one’s plans are sound, based upon experience or observation, encourages persistence; “guessing” instead of “knowing” destroys persistence.
f. Cooperation. Sympathy, understanding, and harmonious cooperation with others tend to develop persistence.
g. Will-power. The habit of concentrating one’s thoughts upon the building of plans for the attainment of a definiteness of purpose leads to persistence.
h. Habit. Persistence is the direct result of habit. The mind absorbs and becomes a part of the daily experience upon which it feeds. Fear, the worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of acts of courage. Everyone who has seen active service in war knows this.

How to Develop Persistence

There are four simple steps which lead to the habit of persistence, They call for no great amount of intelligence, no particular amount of education, and but little time or effort. The necessary steps are:

1. A definite purpose backed by burning desire for its fulfillment.
2. A definite plan, expressed in continuous action.
3. A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances.
4. A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose.

These four steps are essential for success in all walks of life. The entire purpose of the principles of the (Think and Grow Rich) philosophy is to enable one to take these four steps as a matter of habit.

Now I will grant you that some people will have read this and spit the word “Hokey” at the end. Reason? It’s too simple and does not have an immediate “how to” answer attached to it.

The secret of persistence is not an “answer,” it’s a “realization.” And if you read the above and didn’t “get it.” You will get beat by someone who did.

The Napoleon Hill philosophy of persistence is strong, yet soft. The only omission from the strategy is that it leaves out “what” to persist with. Let me give you that answer in a word – value. Something more than you calling to imply, “I’m calling about the money, is it ready yet? Can I come over and pick it up now?”

Want a few value ideas? Here are four. You may not like them. They require work.

1. Get your prospect a sales lead or give them a referral.
2. Give your prospect an idea how to serve his customers better.
3. Give your prospect a list of things he or she can do to improve morale, productivity, absenteeism, or profit.
4. Get your prospect some free publicity or social media exposure. Help them win.

Get the idea? See the work? Make your persistance pay dividends for the customer. Now look past the work to the victory. If you can see clear to victory, then the secret of persistence is at last yours.

And add to that the final wisdom of Hill: What you need to develop persistence is will-power and desire. In other words, how bad do you want it? And how far are you willing to go to get it? Unless the answer is all the way, you will not persist, you will give up.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.


About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

There is now an online course to master the principles of Think and Grow Rich. All you have to do is go to http://jeffreygitomer.com/napoleon-hill-special and register.

For the love of sales, not the love of money.

Do you love sales?
Do you love what you do?
Do you love your product?
Do you love your company?
Do you love your customers?

These are not questions I pulled out of the air. These are questions that directly affect your productivity, your attitude, your income, your success and your fulfillment. Not to mention your longevity at your present job.

Many salespeople are reluctant to come to grips with “why” they are in sales and “why” they’re in their present job. Some salespeople will respond, “I’m in it for the money,” others will respond, “I need the money,” others will respond, “I have bills to pay and debt to overcome,” and even more will say, “I have a family.” Not many will say, “I haven’t got enough saved up to go to what I really want to do” and even fewer are willing to take the risk.

If you don’t love what you do, you’re doing no one a favor by staying in your present position. Your attitude and morale will be negative, you’ll be complaining about everything, and you’ll be blaming everyone else and their dog for your unhappiness and inadequacy.

And there’s a bonus: Your boss will be all over you to increase your numbers, your customers will be upset for lack of attention and in general, you will rise to a level of mediocrity.

What are you thinking?

Some salespeople hate their job, but stay because they “make a lot of money.” CLUE: The worst reason to keep a job is because you’re making a lot of money. When money is your motive, then its all about making the sale without regard to building the relationship. A formula for long-term disaster.

Oh, you may have some short-term success, but when you go home at night, you’ll be drowning your misery in television, beer, and in general anything but preparation for the next day.

You can even get away with it for awhile, but in the end you’ll be looking in the paper every Sunday, or posting your resume on-line hoping for a better opportunity.

It’s most interesting to me that the salespeople looking for a “better opportunity” are the very ones not looking in their own backyard (see Russell Conwell’s Acres of Diamonds for the full lesson). Most salespeople fail to realize that by building themselves into the best person they can be, that they will attract the right offers rather than seek them.

Let me flip back to the positive side. The purpose of this article is to give you a formula that you can to use to figure out if you are in the right place, or how to find the right place.

Here’s the formula: If you’re in sales and you love sales, first ask yourself, “If I could sell anything, what would I sell?” If the answer to that question is not what you’re currently selling, therein lies part of the problem. However, this formula is not about switching jobs immediately, this formula is about becoming the best salesperson that you can in each job you commit to. If you’re going to leave a job for another job, why don’t you set the company record for most sales before you walk out the door?

Selling is a lot like running a road race, you don’t have to win the race, but you do have to achieve your personal best each time you run one.

If your numbers are low or mediocre at one place, what makes you think they will be better someplace else? You see, part of the formula is not just love what you do, it’s also possessing the skills (or dedicating yourself to getting them).

So far we’re at: What would you love to do and dedicating yourself to getting the skills to master what you love.

The third part is believing. Belief in company, belief in product, belief in service and belief in self. If you believe deeply that everything is “best,” then your message will be so enthusiastically delivered that others will catch your passion. A deep self-belief will create enthusiasm and a deep self-belief will create passion.

LOVE TEST: You MUST believe the customer is better off having purchased from you. And you can’t just believe it in your head – you must believe it in your heart.

The final part is internalizing your attitude. Attitude starts from within. It’s the mood you’re in when you wake up in the morning, the mood you stay in all day long and the mood you’re in when you go to bed.

But attitude is not a feeling. Attitude is a life long dedication to the study of positive thought and the character/charisma/happiness that you display as you interact with others. If it’s not internal, it can never be external.

So there’s the formula, No, I’m not going to summarize it. If you want it bad enough, you’ll reread it. Love moves mountains – and students.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.


About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].