You're a Natural Born Salesperson

Often, you’ll come across someone very successful at something, you’ll be told that she or he is a natural born [whatever].

Now, that’s a nice thing to say. Really. It’s sweet.

But it’s also total nonsense.

The myth of the natural born [whatever] lingers on thanks to two kinds of people: those who are extremely good at what they do and yet don’t want others to be as good; and those who are addicted to tedious self-talk that prevents them from achieving success. After all, why bother trying when you aren’t a natural born [whatever]?

Blah!

The blatant truth is that characteristics – both those expressed outwardly, and those felt internally – drive individual success. Yes, some people possess success-friendly characteristics because of their childhood experiences or lucky breaks or whatever. Good for them. But to extend this belief and accept that only people with these helpful childhood advantages or whatever experience professional success is absurd at best, insane at worst, and mediocre at all times.

There are successful people in every field who simply weren’t born with a silver spoon, and whose life daunting experiences should have easily crushed long, long ago. These successful-despite-the-obstacles people aren’t the exceptions to the rule. There are too many of them. The truth is simpler. They just don’t believe in natural born [whatevers]. Neither should you.

You must accept, before you actually do anything in your professional life, that you have the potential to cultivate every success- friendly characteristic that you want. If you want to get religious about it (and perhaps you don’t; I’m not sure I want to either), you can indeed become a natural born again sales professional; and you can do this at any time. (Hint: start NOW.)

Here are some very effective success-friendly characteristics to cultivate. These will guide you to success for longer than any “lucky break” ever could:

• Optimism: expect to solve problems, and portals to achievement mysteriously open up (don’t ask me how, they just do).
• Resilience: nothing in nature – ever – survives, let alone thrives, unless it’s resilient. And guess what: you’re in nature! Might as well survive and thrive.
• Empathy: “it’s not just for Social Workers anymore.” Decisions are based on feelings, and logic supports them. Always. Get in touch with your feelings and discover your innate, instinctual intelligence.
• Personability: this isn’t a word. But it should be; because the word personable is far too lightweight; and static. Personability is personality in capable action; it’s the ability to connect with people on the level that people were meant to connect to each other upon: as a human being.