As I write this, I have to admit, I’ve had a pretty challenging and character building week. I’m in the middle of a large number of sales calls… and when I look back at my results, I have not received as many “yes’s” as I would have liked.

Of everyone I’ve seen, I’ve only had around 1 in 5 people say yes to my offer. In other words, every time I see 5 people, 4 of them say no to me. Either what I have to offer is too expensive, or they think they have a better way or they just don’t see the vision I’m painting.

I don’t know about you, but I hate people saying “no” to me… I hate feeling like I wasted my time seeing someone (who appeared qualified) only for them to turn me down.

But here’s the question…  are they actually turning me down?

When I first got into sales, I hated people saying “no” even more than I do now. I was so petrified of getting a “no” and being “rejected” that I almost would not even turn up for the sales meeting. I also postponed following up people and I rarely asked for the actual order… hoping that somehow people would just pay me. Stupid right?

Absolutely… but it was how I went through life. Little wonder my bank balance was always closer to zero than I would have liked.

So what’s changed for me? Well, I still hate getting a “no” … but I don’t get hung about it. I’m well aware that, regardless of how good my sales pitch might be, how great my product offering could be, people are still going to say no. It’s just a fact of life.

Sometimes they will say “no” and other times it’s a “not now”… but either way, I don’t get paid.

That does not mean that I give up though… and neither should you.

All of us have been seen and heard of the great Walt Disney and his legacy that he left behind for the world. Yet, he heard “no” from virtually everybody that he spoke to when he first came up with the idea of Mickey Mouse. They thought his idea of a cartoon about a mouse was one of the dumbest things they had ever heard. In fact, when he went to banks to get funding for his first Walt Disney theme park, he was turned down and rejected by 302 bankers before someone finally believed in what he had to offer.

Imagine what kind of loss that would have been for the world… for all the children and adults alike who’s lives have been improved by Disney’s creations… if Walt Disney had not persevered through all the “no’s”.

And he did it by playing the numbers. He knew that he only needed a single yes for his vision to be carried out.

I’ve adopted this exact philosophy in my sales duties. I know that everyone won’t say yes (even if I think they are crazy to say no to me   ) However, I know that approximately 1 in 5 will say yes… so I need to see 5 qualified prospects to get 1 sale.

How about you? What are the numbers that you need? Perhaps it’s 1 in 302 like Disney or 1 in 5 like me.

The other thing to remember as well is that when someone does not accept your offer, they are not rejecting you… they are rejecting what you are selling. It is the product that is being rejected, not you.

It was when I realised this that I stopped worrying about people saying “no” to me. Of course it still bothers me because I truly believe that what I’m selling can change lives. However, I am no longer stopped by the fear of people saying “no”.

So whenever you are looking at selling something… apply the Walt Disney methodology. Sell by the numbers, accept that some people will say no to you no matter what… and just move on. It may be hard to do initially… but it gets easier.

And what’s your other option? Give up? That wasn’t an option for Walt Disney, it’s not an option for me and it should not be an option for you.

Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on handling rejection. How can you use the Walt Disney Strategy in your life?

To your success,

Niro

PS: If you thought this post was valuable, please share it on twitter, facebook or stumbleupon. I’d really appreciate it

I’ve been down and out before… many times than
I care to remember.

I broke my arm badly a few years ago and after
expensive surgery with metal screws and plates, I was
told I would never get full movement back in my arm.

I didn’t listen.

3 months later, I walked into my surgeon’s office
flexing my arm like a proud bodybuilder showing a full
range of motion and then some.

…. I was told that I would probably fail my third year at
university because I missed so much of it due to illness.

I didn’t listen.

By the end of that year, my name appeared in the national
newspaper as one of the top achievers in my course.

… My grandfather who suffered from Alzheimer’s went for
a walk one day… and got lost. The police came back later to
say it was getting dark and it was impossible to find him
until morning.

I didn’t listen.

I kept driving around – looking…

And then I found him… 2 hours later, cold, shivering and
disoriented.

I was told later that if I had not found him that night, he’d
have probably died overnight from exhaustion, starvation
and the cold.

…. Just over 2 years ago, I was broke, destitute and could have
been homeless if not for the support of my parents. Bankruptcy
seemed like the only option.

I didn’t listen.

Within 6 months I’d cleared the bulk of my debts, gotten
my creditors off my back and was moving forwards again.

Bankruptcy be damned!

Ok, so what’s the point Niro?

Simple… and this is something that many of us struggle with

Bad stuff happens to good people.

There are a lot of people out there who say that if you just
think good stuff, you’ll only get good stuff.

Horse’s ass!

Bad stuff happens. Accept it.

And when you are down and out… when things are at
their worst, there will be people (perhaps with good intentions)
who tell you to just give up and accept it.

Don’t listen.

Don’t give up.

Don’t throw in the towel.

Here’s the truth – if something bad happens to you, it’s because
you are supposed to learn something like perhaps how to handle rejection… and then do something.

That’s it. There isn’t anything more magical than that.

Look, at times I know that things happen that are completely
out of your control… and it sucks.

I lost a close friend of mine a few years ago. He went to bed
and just never woke up. I was holding the books he wanted to
borrow off me that morning when I found out.

It sucked! It wasn’t my fault… and it certainly wasn’t his.

But it was no reason for me to get all grumpy… or think life
sucks and allow myself to just be pushed around by the
whims of fate.

No way!

You look for the lesson – you get smarter and you
get stronger!

From my friend who died so young, I learned that
life is fragile.

Value it.

From my broken arm, I learned that your body can
break.

Look after it.

From my grandfather who got lost, I learned how
valuable your health is.

Treasure it.

When I was told, I’d probably fail my university degree,
I learned that the system was flawed.

Screw it.

And when I was facing bankruptcy, I learned that my
ego, my greed and my impatience were a triple threat
to my happiness, my wealth and my relationships.

So I’m trying to squash them (I’ll let you know when I
get there )

Yet from all of this, I learned the most valuable lesson
of all.

Never give up, not matter how tough things get. You
can get through it even if you initially think you can’t.

Believe me! Persistence is the key.

In the words of Winston Churchill’s great speech…

But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through
in this peril — I am addressing myself to the
School — surely from this period of ten months,
this is the lesson:

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never,
never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty
– never give in, except to convictions of honour and
good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the
apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

My final thoughts are this:
Bad stuff happens to us all. It sucks but it’s true. But
what determines the course of your life is what you
do about it.

If you constantly suffer from a bad attitude towards
life, then check out my post “7 tips on how to change
your attitude from negative to positive”

Some guy once said that “all good things
must come to an end.”

He was an idiot!

Why? Because he only gave us half the truth.

The second half is more important.

“All bad times must also come to an end… eventually”.

That’s it from me,

Niro

PS: If you think this rant can help someone going
through tough times, do them a favour and share
this on facebook, twitter on stumbleupon. Thanks!

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Why Your Fear Is Killing Your Dreams

I’m not sure how to feel right now – it’s a cross between being livid and feeling sorry for these people.

If you’ve been reading my stuff for any length of time, you know that I’m a big believer in pushing through your limits and your fears to live the life of your dreams.

So you can imagine how I felt when I recently saw two people give into their fears…. and prevent themselves from achieving what they want from life – even though it was right in front of their face… available for the taking.

Here’s the scenario:

A lovely couple on low incomes had worked very hard over the last 25 years to pay off the debt on their home. However, they were both completely burned out from all the overtime they have had to do and were looking for a way out.

When they met me, they said they would like to be in a position where they could retire within 5 years…. and retire comfortably.

So I put a structure in place for them where they could achieve this goal easily… and retire with an income of $100,000 per annum after tax. It was quite different to anything they had seen before so they had lots of questions.

I spent hours answering every one of their questions and by the end of it, the only question that was left to ask was,

“Why wouldn’t you go through with this?”

Her answer? “I’m chicken!”

Top marks for honesty.

By the time we got to this stage, it was late on Friday night. I told them to go sleep on it over the weekend and I would be in touch on Monday. I gave them a lot of reading material as well.

Guess what happened over the weekend?

She went to work on the Saturday and told her colleagues about the idea. Who were her colleagues?

Other factory workers on very low incomes. And what did they say?

“Something like this could never work… it’s too good to be true…. you’re just a factory worker – who are you to be able to achieve something like this… forget about it” and more.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I have nothing against factory workers but the question to ask is, “Are they the right people to be going to for financial advice?”

This poor lady was so freaked out by what her colleagues said that she completely shut down… and decided to just do nothing and continue to work the crazy hours she has done for the last several years for very little return.

And why did she choose this course of action?

Because she was scared. Because it was different to what everyone else in her inner circle was doing and because her so called friends told her it was a bad idea.

Result? Nothing…

She will let the opinions of her well meaning but unqualified group of friends stop her and her partner from achieving what they want from life.

So what about you? Who are you listening to? Who have you allowed to speak into your life?

I have a very strict rule on this– there are certain people I have allowed to speak into my life on certain issues. For example, I have a couple of friends who advise me on almost everything finance related. They are absolute experts in this area. However, I don’t go to them for advice on health – I have someone else for that.

What about you? Do you have a group of people who can support you in the achievement of your goals?

Remember, the major reason people don’t achieve what they want from life is fear. To help us overcome this fear, we sometimes try and get advice from people we know… even though they are not qualified. And that can kill you!

Remember, fear will kill your dreams – just like it did with this couple.

If you want to have something you’ve never had before, you need to do something you’ve never done before… that means you need to do something for the first time. And that’s almost always scary! So the question to ask is what’s bigger – your dream or your fears?

Whenever I’m scared of doing something (and I frequently am), I ask myself these 3 questions;

1.       What could I get if I go ahead?

2.       What could I lose if I go ahead?

3.       What could I lose if I continue to do nothing?

If you find that fear is continuing to stop you, then the answers to these questions almost always help me get over my fears. If you want to find out more about how to overcome fear, primarily the fear of failure then read my post – Don’t fear failure, use it as a learning experience instead.

What about you? Where has fear stopped you from being all that you can be… and what are you doing about it? I’d love to find out.

To your success,

Niro

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to constantly do things that sabotage their success and jeopardise their relationships? For me, it’s something that I have always wondered – not just because I see others do it but I have been guilty of this in the past as well. As many of you know, I have been broke many times in the past and I’ve narrowly avoided bankruptcy on two different occasions – there were of course many external contributing factors but the truth was that I was the one who was at cause. So if you are struggling with low self esteem or you know someone who is / might be, then I hope this poem written back in the 1960s helps. This video also shows that through love and caring, we can overcome any obstacle.

I hope you enjoyed the video and if so, please leave me a comment below and then share this on twitter, facebook, digg and stumbleupon. Thank you so much,

Niro

Failure is something that most of us will do almost anything to avoid for fear of pain, punishment or loss of face. Yet, failure is a natural part of success. Think of the young child who learns to walk. She has to fall over and fail several times before she can succeed at walking. Yet, I don’t know any mothers who would say, “Look child, you’ve fallen over 7 times – I just don’t think you’ll learn to walk, so stop trying.” No, a mother will say, “My child will walk! And she will keep trying until she can walk!” And even if the mother did not say that, the child would never give up anyway. Yet, as mature adults, we seem to have lost that sense of drive and conviction that we can achieve anything we want. We seem to be afraid of failure and try and avoid failure at any cost and avoid taking any risks. Many of us in fact stick our head in the sand and just hope things will turn out for the best. Many of us do the same things day in day out, hoping that life will change. Yet, we’ve all heard the saying that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.” In fact, I believe that the fear of failure is the primary reason why so many of us do not actively pursue the life of our dreams. The irony is the person who is willing to have a go and persist, might fail many times, sometimes even painfully so but in time he will succeed. However, the person who avoids failure at all costs, ends up on their death bed regretting their failure to take action and wishing they could have another chance at life. Regardless of what you believe, this is the only life you will remember, so why not give it all you got. Your life is not a rehearsal. Mark Twain said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Many of us seem to have forgotten the very truth that every child knows – when you set a goal you might fail several times, but you only need to succeed once. Regardless of how often you fall over, you only need to succeed once at walking and once you do, your failures become immaterial. When you are pursuing the partner of your dreams, you might have several failed relationships, but you only need to succeed once. Why? Because once you succeed once, you have achieved the goal, learned the skill and enjoyed the experience. Ask any person who has succeeded in achieving the life of their dreams or any goal for that matter, and they will tell you that their success was worth every ounce of pain, every sacrifice and every perceived failure. In fact, I’ve spoken to people who have not achieved their goals despite giving it their all and they will tell you that they are glad they tried because at least they know that gave it their best; they gave it a shot! It seems that there is no real long term downside to giving something a go, pursuing a goal or chasing the life of your dreams.

Henry Ford said, “Failure is only an opportunity to more intelligently begin again.” I constantly remind myself of this statement because I know I have “failed” in my life so many times. I choose to also adopt Michael Jordan’s belief which is that “I have failed time and time again… and that is why I succeed.” Personally, I believe that it is because I have failed so many times in my life that I succeed. Every successful person knows that failure is simply a rung on the ladder to success.

Yet, there are those among us who discount this theory arguing that it is a philosophy put forward by those “positive thinking” and “motivational” people. They argue that everyone knows that failure is the opposite of success. Isn’t it amazing how people will go to great lengths to justify their ignorance? Let’s look at failure from a scientific perspective – which ironically argues that there is no such thing as absolute failure. Even failing to get the desired outcome is still a successful outcome in and of itself because failure is a required part of every experiment. Thomas Edison understood this perfectly.

The story of his apparent failures are legendary – it is said that he failed 9,999 times before he succeeded in inventing the light bulb on his 10,000th attempt. The story goes that he and his assistant were working on the light bulb when Edison did something that caused an explosion. Edison and his assistant were thrown backwards and glass smashed everywhere. Edison’s assistant was frightened witless, yet Edison got up, calmly dusted himself off and started writing in his journal. The assistant was incredulous and started yelling at Edison. “Are you crazy? Can’t you see you nearly killed us – why do you keep trying when you just failed…. AGAIN?” Edison, again calmly, looked up and replied, “I have not failed. I have simply discovered the 9,999th way not to invent a light bulb. However, I have also found a way of making an explosion and I better write it down before I forget.” Now that’s the positive mindset that gave human kind the light bulb and changed the course of our destiny forever.

Sometimes it is in fact our failures that lead us to our greatest results. For example, the simple “Post-It Note” from 3M is a classic example of this. Apparently, 3M were looking to create something that could be stuck on permanently and they failed. However, they looked at how they could use their “failure” for a benefit and they marketed it as the”Post-It Note”…. the rest is history. What about you? What do you do when you fail?

Tony Robbins says that there is no failure. There are only ever results. Some results we expect  and we like which we call success and others we don’t like, which we label failure. For me, I try and look at situations where I don’t achieve my goals as stepping stones and lessons. I believe that as long as I’ve learned something in the process and I’m a better man for the experience, then my effort was worth it. Now I know more for next time. I also believe that if I fail to get the outcome I wanted it is because there is something even better in store for me so I always try again. Besides, for me “Giving Up” is the ultimate failure. I don’t want written on my tombstone when I die – “He Gave Up Before He Could Succeed”. Do you? Remember the line “Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit.”

There is another famed fable from Napolean Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” about the gold digger who went digging for gold. He dug and he dug, and he finally gave up saying that there was no more gold to be found there. So he sold his gold digging equipment, which I imagine was just a shovel (clearly gold digging is not my speciality ) and then went home. The person who bought his stuff continued to dig and just 3 feet from where the first gold digger gave up, this guy struck gold – literally. In fact, it ended up being one of the richest veins of gold ever found during the gold digging era. The man who gave up, gave up just 3 feet from his greatest success. His failure was not in failing to find gold. His failure was giving up too soon. Have you ever given up too soon? Remember, the greatest success stories would never have made it if they gave up at the first sign of failure or rejection. The Beatles were told their music would never be main stream, the authors of “Chicken Soup For The Soul” were told on countless occasions that “nobody reads short stories anymore”, Michael Jordan did not make his high school basketball team, Richard Branson’s first business did not make any money and Steve Jobs was actually thrown out of Apple! Often the single difference between those who make it and those who do not is the unwillingess to give up, regardless of the challenge.

How often do you give up? And what if you give up just at the point when you are about to succeed. Remember, our biggest failures come just before our biggest successes. The night is always darkest just before dawn and the start of a new day. Remember the gold digger who gave up just 3 feet from his greatest success. So never give up on going after the life of your dreams. And never shy away from trying something new. Remember, it is only by trying something new that we can get a different result. Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is, as I said above, the definition of insanity. Are you insane?