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SALES
-- November 2003 by Jeffrey Gitomer Looking for Happiness? Are you happy? I mean are you really happy? Happy on the inside? If you are one of the few who are, what do you do to sustain that happiness? I’ve been studying happiness and positive attitude for 30 years – one day at a time. I have an office full of happy. Most everything in it is smiling, or laughing, or funny. There are a couple things that remind me of the “other side.” Unhappy things like “Death of a Salesman,” which reminds me to change my ways as often as possible or I will die penniless in the gutter like Willy Lohman. But 99 percent of my stuff is from the positive side of the fence. Either a comedian, a cartoon character, or something that reminds me all day long that smiling, laughing and being happy is the most important part of my process. I have 16 employees. If I’m not happy, nobody here is happy. Happiness in any organization starts with the leader. Did you ever have a boss who was a jerk? You know, not ever happy. Ever. How long did it take you to get out of there? And didn’t all the relief in the world come over you when you left that dump? If you’re in a dump like that where the boss is a jerk, get out now. Go someplace where you can be happy. Create an atmosphere for yourself where happy is pervasive, because happy is transferable from other things and people to you. And to your wallet. You are what you watch. Why are you watching violent things on TV when you can be watching happy and funny things? If you’re gonna watch something on TV watch a re-run of Seinfeld. It’s funny. A little cynical, but it’s funny. Or at least something that makes you smile, like a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Many people will tell you to get a positive attitude, or that a positive attitude is essential for success, but very few tell you how to achieve one. Here’s how: Surround yourself with “happy.” Create a happy living and home-working space. Expose yourself to happy media. Sitcoms, cartoons. Associate with happy people. Think about it. Why would you do it any other way? Work in a happy place. Happy boss. Happy co-workers. Happy customers. Not two out of three. Respond happy. If someone gives you “unhappy,” you have to respond with a positive expression. Most people begin by telling you their problems, gripes, complaints, tragedies, and other tales of woe. You have to find the silver lining in the cloud, the pony in the barn full of manure, the pearl, the diamond, the glass slipper – you get it. The happy part of their crap. Major clue: Happiness is every day. You have to take some measure of action in each of these areas daily. As I travel and observe, I find that MOST people ain’t happy either in their jobs or their life. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why they won’t change their circumstance or their demeanor. You have an opportunity to be happy by simply surrounding yourself with happiness and you’re not even taking advantage of that. All you have to do is put happiness in front of your face on an every minute basis and surround yourself with basically happy people. That transference will increase your happiness factor by 10, and you’ll automatically be at a more positive state of being. Do that for a few years and you might actually stay happy. You see, when you’re happy on the inside it never goes away. Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, and Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com.
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