Fundamentals for Life: 12 Cliches of Achievement and Why They Work

Fundamentals for Life: 12 Clich s of Achievement and Why They Work

I started out my work life as a salesperson. Now, I do many different things, and one of those things is teaching other people how to be better at selling. In fact, I recently wrote a book on the subject—a book that is based on 12 of the most fundamental truths every salesperson must learn in order to be successful: The 12 Clich s of Selling (and Why They Work). They are so fundamental, in fact, that they have become cliches. But the thing to remember about cliches is that just because an expression is time-worn, just because it may be conventional wisdom or common knowledge, doesn't make it any less true or useful.

I soon realized that although these cliches were originally meant to apply to selling, they can be applied to all of life. They're really the fundamentals of achievement. One reason is that everybody sells something. Even if you're not selling tangible goods, you're selling your ideas, you're selling yourself to those around you. So the cliches of selling are also fundamentals of building a good foundation for life:

Clich Number 1: It Takes All Kinds. The beauty and wonder of life is that you don't have to be born with a specific set of talents to be able to achieve success or fulfillment. In fact, a deficiency in one area often leads us to make up for it in other areas. It makes us fight even harder to get what we want. Never compare yourself to others and try to get what they have; instead, make the best of your gifts.

Clich Number 2: Never Take No For an Answer. This clich does not mean that we should push our way past others with no consideration for anyone else. It's about being persistent, not pushy. It means that you keep on going, no matter how many times you hear the word "no." It's about exploring all avenues to reaching your goal, being creative in your approaches, and being professionally tenacious. It means being confident without being cocky, not letting "naysayers" stop you from pursuing your dreams. What is the fundamental reason, the biggest reason people get ahead? The ability to keep going when others might give up is one of the surest paths to success.

Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.

—H. Ross Perot,
businessman

Clich Number 3: The Relationship Is Everything. In sales, the one thing that most often gets you past barriers and through objections is the relationship that is formed between the salesperson and the customer. That is true in life as well. When you're reaching for a goal, ask yourself, "What kind of relationships do I have?" Are you adding value to that other person? People buy from people they like, trust, and respect. Are you earning those things from the people you know? That means you have to keep their needs in mind, as well as your own. Are you nurturing your relationships so that they will blossom for you later on?

Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in real life grows.

—Ben Stein,
speechwriter and game show host

Clich Number 4: Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude. Effective action is 30 percent what you know and 70 percent how you feel about what you know. Attitude is everything. Once, when I was hosting my television show, someone told me about a woman with whom I would be working. "You'll love her," he said. "She's so dynamic and enthusiastic." People never say, "She's so intelligent and has so many degrees." It's not what this woman knows that really impresses people, it's how she gets that knowledge across. She's excited about what she's doing, and that excitement is truly contagious. If you were about to hire a new employee and you had to choose between two people with the same background, the same skills, and the same academic degrees, which would you hire? You'd choose the one with the highest degree of excitement and enthusiasm. It's what makes the difference, hands down.

Clich Number 5: The Harder You Work, the Luckier You Get. Often, we see the results of someone else's efforts and we don't realize the blood, sweat, and tears they put into their achievement. We think, "How lucky he is." But the truth is we create our own luck through hard work and effort. But the work ethic of one individual is far superior to any luck. People who get rich quick, who inherit large sums of money or win the lottery, never appreciate their wealth. They always feel that they have not earned it. It's only when we have worked hard for something and reached our goals that we can say, "This success is mine. I have truly earned it." Those who have truly earned success are truly lucky.

The average person puts only 25 percent of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50 percent of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100 percent.

—Andrew Carnegie,
financier

Clich Number 6: Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail. Turning a dream into reality is like turning a rough stone into a beautiful gem. In the diamond industry, the first person to deal with a stone is called a planner. It can take six months to a year for some of the larger diamonds, to decide just how a stone should be cut. If done incorrectly, a valuable stone can shatter into thousands of worthless pieces. Human beings are not always that careful with their own lives. If you study high achievers in any field, you will find that they have clearly articulated goals that they are constantly striving to achieve. What's more, they don't sit back and rest once a goal has been met; instead it inspires them to go on and make the next goal that much more challenging. Not long ago, while walking through the sales department of a client's office, I noticed a huge banner hanging on the wall. This is what it said: "The most important thing about a goal is having one." Talk about simplicity. Most people don't have goals—the kinds that are specific and achievable. We all need not only have goals, but to write them down, to keep them in mind, and to take the daily actions necessary to reach them.

"Would you tell me please, which way I go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don't much care where—," said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

—Lewis Carroll,
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Clich Number 7: It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know. It's all about connections. The relationships you build can give you the ability to springboard into different areas of life and work. One person can introduce you to another, who can introduce you to someone else...and so on. Connections can also come to your aid when you're facing a challenge. It's much easier to solve a problem when you have a network of people you can call on to help you move forward when you're blocked. It's fundamental for success to build relationships that keep your Rolodex full. Remember, the key to networking is to strengthen your relationships. Anybody can take your Rolodex away, but they can't take away your relationships.

Clich Number 8: Knowledge Is Power. Bobby Fisher was the greatest chess player in the world. This was because from morning to night, from when he woke up to when he went to sleep, all he thought about was chess. It was his obsession. He knew more about chess than anyone else. And it was this knowledge that made him a champion. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you apply that kind of depth of knowledge. That's why it's so important to keep studying, learning, and improving. The more we learn, the more we earn—not just in dollars but in the rich intangible rewards life has to offer.

Clich Number 9: You Can't Fit a Square Peg into a Round Hole. One of the most difficult things for a salesperson to learn is when to walk away from a sale. There are times when this action makes the most sense; when something just isn't right. Perhaps the other person's values and yours are not the same. Perhaps you realize that pursuing your present course isn't going to get you where you really want to go. Perhaps you are doing something out of habit or because someone else has told you it's what you should be doing. That's when it's time to reevaluate what it is you're trying to accomplish. You always want to end with a win-win situation. There are times in life that we try to force a situation to fit our goals. But to get—and keep—the best footing in life, we have to make sure every step is moving us in the right direction. We need to ask the right questions and listen to and learn from the answers. Only then can we understand if the move we're considering is the right one—in terms of who we should be working with and what type of deals we should make. Sometimes we continue to push in the wrong direction because we don't see another option, or we're too tired to try something else. When that happens, we always end up suffering.

Clich Number 10: Don't Sell the Steak, Sell the Sizzle. The saying "Don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle" first appeared in 1936, when, according to advertising executive Elmer Wheeler, it was deemed to be "principle number one of salesmanship." In life, the sizzle you sell is yourself at your very best. The pianist Arthur Schnable once said, "The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes—ah, that is where the art resides!" A note on a piano is a note on a piano, no matter what you do. What makes you an artist is your own interpretation, the timing and pauses you put in between the notes. Whatever your profession, what makes you unique is what you bring to the table. That's what you must let people know about what you do. That is your sizzle; it's your special value.

Clich Number 11: You Get What You Pay For. In life, there is no free lunch. If you want to get ahead, you have to pay your dues. And in most cases, those dues are the fundamentals. You must learn the fundamentals before you can go on. People who have paid their dues have an added value. That's why so many owners who want their children to take over their business want them to start from the bottom and work their way up. They want them to spend time in shipping, in customer service, in sales, in management. They want them to pay their dues by building relationships and getting respect in all those different areas and by getting the big picture of how the entire business works. When they do take over the business, they'll have earned the respect and the credibility to run the company. It's only after you've paid your dues that you get what's due you.

Clich Number 12: Honesty Is the Best Policy. Most people think that this clich is about telling the truth to others. It is, and that's a fundamental part of life. But it also means being truthful with yourself—truthful about what you're doing and what you believe in. You cannot work passionately and steadfastly toward a goal unless it is something that has real meaning for you. If you're really honest with yourself, you will live with a sense of purpose and choose "a path with heart." You will not become so obsessed with achievement and material possessions that you forget how to enjoy life and appreciate the people who love you, and whom you love.

My crown is in my heart, not on my head,
Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones,
Nor to be seen: my crown is called content;
A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.

—William Shakespeare,
poet and playwright

I Dare You...

Sweat both mentally and physically, every single day of your life. Fundamentals require hard work, but with hard work comes great rewards. Do something that is mentally challenging; push yourself beyond the limits; push yourself to another level. Think about the bigger picture. Reach for more than you think you can possibly get. You may get discouraged, but you'll be surprised, too.

Break things down to simple steps—the smaller the steps, the easier the climb. Do a little bit toward achieving your goal every day, even if it's five minutes here, five minutes there. Break everything down into its simplest elements.

Remind yourself that the basics are foundations forever. When you're getting bored or frustrated because you're doing something over and over again, remind yourself that you're trying to build a habit. Your goal is to get to the point where the fundamentals are ingrained and you don't have to think about them anymore. When the fun of learning something new has lost its luster, I dare you to keep going until you have built a foundation so strong that nothing can tear it down.