Great Throughts Treasury

"The most valuable thing you can ever own is your image of yourself as a winner in the great game of life, as a contributor to the betterment of mankind, as an achiever of worthy goals. Unless you have that image of yourself, nothing worth having will stay with you for long."

"Winners almost always do what they think is the most productive thing possible at every given moment; losers never do."

"I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed; and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying."

"Believe me, when I got into sales, I had too much month at the end of the money,"

"An expert is someone who knows a lot about the past."

"Every evening, write down the six most important things that you must do the next day. Then while you sleep your subconscious will work on the best ways for you to accomplish them. Your next day will go much more smoothly."

"Today, you have 100 of your life left."

"We have already done so much that people call dynamics. Look at the bumblebee being unaware of scientific truths, goes ahead and flies anyway. If it is possible, we will do it here."

"Why don't you want to do what you know you should do The reason you don't is that you're in conflict with yourself."

"Do what you fear most and you control fear."

"I never see failure as failure, but only as the game I must play and win."

"No one limits your growth but you. If you want to earn more, learn more. That means you´ll work harder for a while; that means you'll work longer for a while. But you'll be paid for your extra effort with enhanced earnings down the road"

"Repeat anything often enough and it will start to become you."

"Internalization. This occurs when you've exploited impact, when you've molded the standard material to your needs and made it yours, when you've made your new skills strong through hard use. All of a sudden these new concepts stopped churning within you, and a new reality is born You and the concepts are one. They have literally become you. You have become them."

"Getting in touch with your true self must be your first priority."

"I never take advice from anyone more messed up than I am."

"You are your greatest asset. Put your time, effort and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset."

"You begin by always expecting good things to happen."

"Closes that overcome fear are those that help your clients focus on the benefits of what they gain by saying yes. A benefit summary may work here but even better are the Big Bargain close and the Economic Truth close. For procrastinators, you will find the Similar Situation close helpful. Let them see that they?re just like other people and that hesitating when it comes to decision-time is normal. Then, let them envision how they?ll win by going ahead?just like so many of your other clients have. The Time Trap close is another good one where you help people recognize how quickly time passes, creating a sense of urgency to make the decision now."

"Covet your time. Time is precious--only 86,400 seconds in a day. Average people waste most of those seconds in unproductive or unrewarding ways. Successful people manage their time efficiently. They are aware of how they spend it and make conscious choices to use it wisely whether to work, relax or regenerate with family."

"Barriers to Closing. What are you really doing when you close a sale? There are four issues you are addressing, and, perhaps overcoming. The first issue is that the client really does want to make the decision to go ahead and they need your help rationalizing it. That puts you in the position of the ?rationaliz-er??the one who validates their emotional decision or backs it up with facts and other evidence that they?re making a wise decision to go ahead. The second issue is that you?re helping your potential clients head off procrastination. Even when procrastinating turns out to be a good thing, the time between the decision to procrastinate and the final decision is an uncomfortable one for most people. So, rather than allow them to feel the discomfort, you help your potential clients make the decision once and for all. Hopefully, for the decision. This will take the weight of decision-making off their shoulders. Third, you are helping your clients overcome their fears. There are any number of fears that could arise when someone is faced with making a decision. The bigger the amount of money involved, the greater the fears. Clients will always fear making bad decisions, losing face and/or losing money. Fourth, you help your clients overcome indecision. This is different from procrastination. With procrastination, they just put off making a decision. Indecision is when a client feels torn about the decision?unable to decide which way to go. Most clients get hung up on just one of these four areas. Your job is to learn to recognize which it is because each of the four areas requires a slightly different approach to closing. A benefit summary works well to help clients rationalize their decision. The good old Ben Franklin close or the Fact-Weighing Scale Approach work well here, too. In a sale to a business, the Competitive Edge or Increased Productivity closes help them see the value of going ahead."

"Be a follow up specialist. Many people talk a good game and then never deliver. Sometimes the cause is hypocrisy and sometimes it's simply being sloppy and careless. Successful people do what they say they'll do, and they pay close attention to detail so small issues don't get neglected and become major catastrophes."

"Every evening, write down the six most important things that you must do the next day. Then while you sleep, your subconscious will work on the best ways for you to accomplish them. Your next day will go much more smoothly."

"I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep trying."

"I commit to learn more, thus I'll serve more, thus I'll build more, thus I'll earn more, thus I'll save more, thus I'll be able to bless others by giving more."

"Don't be a lemming. If you are always heading the same direction as everyone else, you may move forward, but you'll have little control of your destiny. Successful people often figure out what everyone else does only to do the opposite, which many times puts them ahead of the pack."

"Have a personal mission statement. Hopkins has his personal mission statement at his desk: I must do the most productive thing possible at every given moment. Mine is peppered throughout my published writing: Inspire people to pursue the awesome experience. Successful people identify what they are about and make their choices accordingly."

"If you struggle with closing, start thinking about situations where you didn?t win the sale. What might have been the real challenge faced by those folks? Was it fear, procrastination, indecision or a need to rationalize? Start training yourself to recognize which of those aspects is happening in each future sale and you?ll soon find yourself applying the best, most appropriate close to each situation."

"Keep a thick skin about rejection. For many each no is like taking a punch in the gut or a slap in the face. The way to get up and keep going is to remember that it's just business. Successful people know that the key to getting life's few brilliant "yeses" is to positively cope with the many "noes" you get on the way to receiving them."

"In this profession, no one limits your income but you. There are no income ceilings."

"Indecision is often overcome with the Colin Powell close where we quote a recognized authority on the negative effects of indecision. The Higher Authority close is also helpful here. Let your other clients brag about you and your product to new potential clients."

"If you stop training and learning you start sinking. Nobody can float: You're either rising or sinking. It's been this way for a thousand years. The only difference is that you can rise, or you'll sink, a whole lot faster now."

"Keep your eyes open and try to catch people in your company doing something right, then praise them for it."

"Mastering the art of selling involves mastering the craft of providing your clients the education, products, services, and personal contact before, during and after the sale that they want, need and, more important, deserve. That?s how you succeed. That?s how you?ll not only survive and grow in this business, but will thrive, prosper, and achieve greatness through it."

"Make others feel important. The greatest craving of most people today is recognition. Unfortunately, so many people are so tightly focused on their own status and problems they are ignorant to the needs of others. Successful people recognize, support and encourage others on their journey, which brings synergy, energy and satisfaction to all involved."

"Read something positive every night and listen to something helpful every morning."

"No one limits your growth but you. If you want to earn more, learn more. That means you?ll work harder for a while; that means you'll work longer for a while. But you'll be paid for your extra effort with enhanced earnings down the road"

"Spend 5 minutes a day prioritizing. Without prioritization, it's difficult to be efficient and productive. Hopkins suggests taking 5 minutes at the end of every day to sit down, assess and choose the 5 or 6 priorities for tomorrow so you can begin with clarity. Successful people don't squander effort and energy on unimportant issues."

"Surround yourself with likeminded people. Wealth, status and accomplishment have their own rewards, but the more success you attain, the lonelier you can become, since others may no longer feel comfortable or relate to your lifestyle. Successful people are careful about who shares their time. They look for people with a similar outlook, who can help them grow emotionally and spiritually."

"Take the best of the past to create the future. The world is full of shiny new toys and methods. It's easy for humanity to get lost in the glitz and glamour of modern technology. Successful people embrace modern tools for communication efficiency and continue to use traditional and rare methods like handwritten thank-you notes to enhance connections."

"Successful people begin where failures leave off. Never settle for ?just getting the job done.? Excel!"

"The number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying."

"Today, you have 100% of your life left."

"The human body has two ears and one mouth. To be good at persuading or selling, you must learn to use those natural devices in proportion. Listen twice as much as you talk, and you?ll succeed in persuading others nearly every time."

"You are and will become that which you think about most of the time."

"You must do what you fear most if you want to overcome the fear."