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These three critical components have always been, and always will be, at the core of success in any endeavor in life. While they may seem obvious at first glance, my twist on them is not.
Three Keys to Ultimate Success
Key #1: Be likeable and get along with other people
Everyone knows that if people are going to buy from you, assuming it’s a substantial investment or the buying cycle is longer than ten minutes, the buyer needs to like you, but Key #1 goes way beyond that.
Key #1 shows up when you’re looked up to, not just by family, friends, peers, and subordinates, but even by those who outrank you on the chain of command. It shows up when everyone respects you, even those that don’t respect themselves. It shows up when you get along with the person no one else can and they get along with you. It shows up when people talk behind your back about what a nice person you are. The room is a better place when you’re in it and darker when you’re gone. Your ability to be respected, liked, and get along permeates gender, race, class, generation, and personality type. You don’t see any of that and people feel it. You intuitively treat people the way they want to be treated, show them respect, and make sure they know they matter. You don’t just get along in sales situations, or with your crowd, you get along all the time with everyone, from the young child, to the laborer, to the CEO. You let others be right, let them be important, you let them have the spotlight if they want it. You’re not a pushover, you know there are battles to fight and yet, you recognize that most things in life are simply a matter taste or opinion and not life and death.
Key #1 is embodied in the consummate “nice person” who genuinely likes other people and really cares about them. This person realizes that other people come before the sale, or anything else for that matter. They also understand at the deepest recesses of their being that life really is all about relationships and that our happiness or sadness depends upon the quality of those relationships.
Key #2: The ability to sell
To get anywhere in life, you need to be able to sell yourself and your ideas. All people, from children to adults, need to learn to sell effectively. Every important accomplishment in life will involve working with and influencing other people.
The ability to sell goes far beyond being great at selling a product or service. It also involves your ability to sell your ideas to coworkers, to get them to willingly work hard for you and with you. In your personal life the ability to sell means you are able to effectively sell your ideas at the Town Hall Meeting or at the Parent Teacher Conference. It’s the ability to sell ideas to your neighbors, business owners whose stores you frequent, and in general, all the people you run into during the day. It means an open and full relationship with your significant other in which your and their needs are met. It means having more influence over your children than their friends do. It means gaining an understanding with parents, siblings, and other family members.
In short, the ability to sell is the ability to effectively connect, communicate, and positively influence others on all levels. To clearly articulate and educate such that others see and adopt your view point. It means effectively selling yourself, not just as a salesperson, but also as a mate, parent, friend, member of the community, and member of society.
Key #3: Motivation
Motivation is more than just being fired up and ready to go. Motivation includes all the mental weaponry necessary to bring a high level of performance at all times. Motivation means you keep going when times are tough and you don’t rest on your laurels when times are good. Though motivation is important when you are comfortable and things are going well, it is more important when times are tough because nothing is more difficult than enduring the hardships of life.
Life is full of lots of great things but it’s also full of lots of really bad things. If you’re lucky you’ll have far more good than bad but the reality is, as boxer Rocky Balboa said, “Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.” Perhaps Robert Service said it better in Carry On: “The [person] who can fight to Heaven’s own height is the [one] who can fight when [they’re] losing.” The reason most people give up on their dreams is because they get tired of being beaten down and they lose their motivation and give up. You must not let this happen. When health issues, relationship issues, flat tires, down economies, bad sales, and other bad things happen, you must not let them keep you from your dreams, from the best you can be. This is where motivation comes in. Motivation is the optimism and enthusiasm, the persistence, resilience and perseverance to carry on and get up even when you can’t.
Motivation means suffering the slings and arrows, damning the torpedoes and moving forward despite seemingly impossible obstacles, and still working harder than everyone else. It means regaining a positive attitude after being human for a moment. It means never giving up on your dream until your very last breath. That is true motivation and with it, nothing will stop you from achieving anything you want.
