Say NO to No!

There are a lot of fears people deal with. Many of them seem irrational to those of us who don't suffer from these fears. I'm afraid of heights, but I feel perfectly at ease in an airplane. Doesn't make sense, does it? I realize they are two different fears, but why does either exist? How can I have one fear and not the other when they seem so similar? (Both involve falling to my death... bummer)

There is one fear many people suffer from that we can all agree is irrational. No, not the fear of squirrels, that makes perfect sense! I mean the fear of a tiny little thing that cannot hurt you, but can ruin your life. I'm talking about the fear of No. If you're in sales, you've heard No. In fact, I'll bet you've heard NO more than you've heard YES.

But if you've heard No, and you're reading this... you survived! No did not kill you! You must have some kind of special power! Are you from another planet? Are you some kind of a freak? Of course not! You just know that No can't hurt you. Although, it is possible to take that No someone gives you and hurt yourself with it. Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." When you allow a No to derail your day or to bum you out to the point where you don't want to make the next call or knock on the next door, you've taken the No someone handed to you and used it to smash your dreams.

No means No. It doesn't mean give up on everything. If a prospect says No, you say, thanks! (and try to set up a follow-up appointment or call back, of course) and move on to the next prospect. Every No gets you closer to yes - unless you let it stop you. Think of it as a trip. You don't reach your destination in one step, you take hundreds or thousands of steps. The important thing is that the steps are in the right direction. Each NO is a step. YES is your destination.





Adolfo Jimenez is a John Maxwell Certified Coach, Speaker, and Trainer based in Hollywood, FL. He can be contacted at www.adolfojimenez.com