Being able to reinvent yourself is very important at every age. Being a mature person, I have reinvented myself many times, and in this age of change you will have the chance to reinvent yourself many times during your life. It can be a great adventure that we can be excited about, or it can produce fear of the unknown, “Oh no, please no more change for me, I just want to be what I am right now.”

Well it just doesn’t happen any more- in modern society we will change jobs, and change the direction of our lives, many times.

We will marry and/or divorce, we will have people close to us die or leave us, we will get fired or quit our jobs throughout our lifetime.

And how do we accomplish this reinvention? Does it happen for some, but not others? It is through active seeking that reinvention will happen for us. Anyone can do it, but we have to be able to take the initiative, look around and discover things for ourselves.

I talked to a mature woman in her 70’s who loved to travel, but didn’t have the money to do the traveling she wanted to do. So she thought, looked around at different travel magazines, and researched different travel opportunities. She found that on cruise ships people often need or want someone to be a helper, or caregiver, during parts of the day, which would leave the other parts of the day to spend as she wanted. She loved to cruise and now is cruising for a living. That was a good reinvention.

I spoke to a young man who wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He could not find anything that seemed to suit him, and then he started to go to work, and started listing hobbies that he enjoyed and other things that he liked to do. One of the things he enjoyed doing was talking to people about places, a tour guide of sorts. He found a travel agency that needed American tour guides in Paris, showing people the city of Paris on Segways (you know, vehicles that run on two wheels side by side on battery power) and now he is having a lot of fun meeting new people and making money while improving his French.

Now just by chance these are stories that both involve travel, but it can be anything. How about search engines? Two programmers put together a thing called Google that hadn’t been thought of before, but had come from some ideas around them, and are now ranked 16th on the richest people in the world list.

Now these things had to have been thought out and thought through, explored, and approached with some adventure. You too can have the adventure of life. Just try it!

What ideas do you have around you that will help you reinvent yourself?

Do you know someone who always wants to be right, and then has to tell you why they are right and you are wrong? They always have an opinion, and when something goes wrong, they have to tell you why it went wrong and why they knew it was going to go wrong.

You might pose a question to this person that they might not know the answer to, but that they think they should know or you think they should know, and then the fur goes up on their back like a cat and they spew forth their superior knowledge. Whether it is or not, they will tell you it is superior.

They just have to tell you why they are right and you are wrong, and they do this from a perspective only they can understand. So you just stand or sit there shaking your head wondering why they have to be right all of the time, when most of us are wrong most of the time.

They have their mental model of the world so tightly compacted around themselves that they think they are the smartest and the greatest ever to live.

Well I’ve got news: they are just a pain in the ass. And I am sure you know one or two of these people, and I hope it is not your boss, because that is a royal pain.

Why do people have to behave like this? Why do people think they have to know it all? Why do they have to be right and everyone else has to be wrong? Is there some low self-esteem working in their head, so they have to prove to everyone how good they are?

Now here is an interesting question: do you have a little of these behaviors in yourself?

I know you tell me no, but I am not so sure. We probably all have a little of the defensive in us, but let me share with you that if you have any of these behaviors it is wise to unload these thoughts of defense. They are not persuasive, people say things behind your back, and they just prove that you are not smarter than everyone else. Believe me, people will try to convince you of their superiority- but they are not superior. So if you have any of these behaviors you have to be honest with yourself, make a change and watch things turn around with your relationships.

Lets try the next success characteristic: a positive self-attitude. How is this going to affect you and the people around you? Are you beginning to see how the success characteristics affect you and the people around you, and how you can be more successful by examining these characteristics and how they affect you and the people around you?

PS: Check out the recent Weekly Challenges as an introduction or to find a new success technique.

“The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.”

How about today we jump to the end of the sale and talk about closing. How do you close? “Would you take...”, bring in a gang of people to surround the customer like Custer and wipe them out, only to have them return the next day to be unhappy and unsatisfied? One of the best closes I know is the negative response close, “If I could do (insert offer here), is there any reason we shouldn’t get the (product) ready for delivery?” If they answer yes, you force an objection, if they answer no, you have a sale. And because of how this question is delivered in negative response manner you have a low-pressure situation. Now it is important to practice this before you use it, but give it try, “If we could do this for only $199 a month would there be any reason we shouldn’t get the car ready for delivery.” “If we can put this (accessory) on the car for only $99 is there any reason we shouldn’t get the documents started?” “If we can deliver this today is there any reason we shouldn’t get the documents started?” “If we can get the payment lowered ten dollars a month is there any reason we shouldn’t get the car ready for delivery?” This is a great close, because it is low to no pressure, and it gets a positive response from a negative answer. You know the customer has whistled their lips to say no at the first sign you might be close to a deal. Go ahead and let him do it, just say no. Use this and you will get more sales, conquer more objections, and most importantly make more sales.

PS: See the recent Sales Tips of the Week from Step Jones

This person suffered abuse and molestation up to the age of 13, when she ran away from home and was sent to a juvenile detention home only to be denied admittance because the beds were full. She grew up to become one of America’s hottest stars, and her net worth is estimated to be billion dollars.

1. Martha Stewart
2. Louise Veronica Ciccone
3. Oprah Winfrey
4. Hillary Clinton
5. Julia Roberts

Email us the correct answer and you will get a FREE Mp3 download of Step Jones’ CD, You Are a Winner

The answer to last week’s trivia question is #2, Napoleon Hill.