Our RE/MAX broker made an interesting challenge to our team at the beginning of the month: he challenged us to get 10,000 NO's by the end of December! You should have heard the reactions!...
I know what you're thinking: "I focus on the POSITIVE and don't want to focus on negative NOs or that is ALL I will get. Thanks, but no thanks." (Well, maybe you should read my other blog about opening your mind to the other side of the story!) You'd be in the majority of the people in that room, but hear me out. I'm a believer and here's why:
Yes is the Destination. No is How You Get There.
What kind of crazy-huge success can we have if we try to get rejected by 20 people today, rather than try to get ONE lead? What happens if you call two people today and the first says "no" and the second says "yes!" and you've met your daily goal? Many of us may call it a day and start again tomorrow. BUT, what if we still have 19 more NOs to get today? Think of how many more YES's may happen along the way...
Say You've Failed
Why are we so afraid of failure? People use the words "adjustment, glitch, hiccup" just to keep a positive attitude, but let's call it like we see it: We all fail. Fine. Learn and move on! The more we use a word the quicker we become desensitized to it. The sooner you accept that and CRAVE those lessons, the better off you'll be. Fail faster. Fail bigger. Success will follow.
Failing isn't the same as being a Failure
OK, we've all heard the Wayne Gretsky quote, but I'll throw it in here and get it out of the way: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Think of Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth and how many times they have FAILED to win the game for their team, but are they failures? No. They go ALL IN and make success a byproduct of their failures.
Expand Your Comfot Zone
The area we feel comfortable is always in a state of flux (expansion or retraction). Are you pushing it on a daily basis? You can honestly answer this question if you can think of 5 things you have failed at in the last month. If you're not failing, you are comfortable. Put your neck out there and be courageous!
Mine for Gold
Going for NO is like searching for that Golden Yes in the ground. We dig and dig by tossing NO after NO behind us until we finally unearth that precious YES! Think of all that dirt we had to go through and there is MUCH MORE dirt than gold out there. Keep on digging!
So How's That Working For Us?...
OK, Jay, quite a story there. Show me the results! You bet I will! I've applied this to my door-knocking and I CRAVE those NOs because I know that the more I dig away puts me ONE MORE NO away from that YES! My mantra is "Thanks for that NO! That YES is right around the corner now!" I'll post results in the new year, so stay tuned!
So are you still TAKING NO FOR AN ANSWER? I hope so and then using that to propel yourself to that awaiting YES!
(This conversation was inspired by the amazing book, "Go For No" by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz. It's a quick read, less than 100 pages and you can knock it out in a sitting!)
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