It's All in Your Attitude

I read an article recently on sales and thought it had a great perspective on life in general. I wanted to save it for later ues. Read the original article by Geoffrey James here. It's also below with some highlights I liked.

If you’re going to be successful in sales, you need to be the kind of person that draws other people to want to work with them. With the exception of the mentally ill, most people want to work with people who have an upbeat and positive attitude.

Unfortunately, many people (including some sales pros that I know) have sloppy habits of thinking and speaking that drain the energy of the people around them. With that in mind, here are five quick techniques that will immediately improve your attitude in ways that will increase your ability to influence others:

Technique #1: Stop using negative phrases such as “It’s impossible,” or “This won’t work,” which program you for negative results. Instead, substitute phrases like “That might be challenging” or “We’ll need some alternatives” that leave the possibility of eventual success open and available.

Technique #2: Whenever somebody asks “How are you?”, don’t come out with the something depressing like “Hangin’ in there” or “Same old, same old.” Instead, respond enthusiastically with “Terrific!” or “Fabulous!” or “I’ve never felt better!” Then make that your reality, too.

Technique #3: Stop complaining about things over which you have no control, such as the economy, your company, the customers, etc. Focus on what you can change, what you can accomplish, and what you can do for your firm, your customers, and your customers’ customers.

Technique #4: Stop griping about your personal problems and illnesses. What good does it do other than to depress you and everyone else? Remember: this, too, shall pass. Do what you can to deal with your problems and then use your energy to keep yourself on track and in high spirits.

Technique #5: Substitute neutral words for emotionally loaded ones. For example, rather than saying “I’m enraged!” say “I’m a bit annoyed…” or (better yet) “I’ve got a real challenge…” Neutral words keep your mind from getting into emotional feedback loops that keep you miserable.

Yeah, I know these techniques sound a bit trivial, but actually they’re very important. The bad habits that these techniques correct are like holes in an inner tube. If you don’t plug them up, you’ll end up pumping yourself all the time, just to keep yourself afloat!

BTW, the above is based on a conversation with Jeff Keller, author of the bestseller Attitude is Everything.