This document discusses how self-talk impacts success, particularly in sales. It observes that top sales performers generally have positive self-talk where they believe in their abilities and see opportunities, while poor performers have negative self-talk where they doubt themselves and focus on challenges. A key difference observed between a top salesperson and one who was dismissed was their mental messaging - the top performer conveyed messages of success to themselves and others, while the poor performer focused on negatives. The document suggests improving one's self-talk through positive affirmations and gratitude to impact outlook and results.

1. “ Why most people with large egos are successful and why the majority of people can not sell” By Sasha Pete

2. Observations over time I have often wondered why people with large egos often became successful in business and in my world of sales and sales management and the one thing that is central to their combined success is the language that they use in describing themselves, their capability and their outlook of mindset that somehow that they were a little bit better than the average person. These people had a swagger about them, they dressed better, they acted more sophisticatedly and they pumped up their own tires and often The opposing was often true about the salespeople who were not performing well – they had a negative view of their capability, the marketplace in which they sold into, the chances of them finding customers let alone winning deals I tried to work out what was the fundamental difference between performers (of which I was one) and non performers and our skills and experience were often the same, product knowledge was approximately on par and so too was our capability to present, and so on – I hope you get my drift The main difference was ATTITUDE Not only the attitude in the office that spurred action But the self talk that the performers said to themselves and sometimes to others in their gloating

3. Clear intent - Positive I had a former colleague (who will remain nameless) that was as tenacious as a bull, he was not the sharpest tool in the shed – but thought he was a brilliant and insightful salesperson. He used to talk himself up to others on many occasion – how he did this deal and the other. Other salespeople used to talk behind his back that he wasn’t that smart or roll their eyes every time he went on one of his rants of self-proclamation. Often sales managers used to talk him up in front of others because they realised that if they stroked his ego that he would become more tenacious and call on more customers – resulting in more sales. This salesperson was so tenacious that he often burned clients, argued, and sometimes even told them off if they rejected him. He did not care. He (in his mind) was the best and if you did not want to deal with him then you must have been crazy. The scary thing is his strategy worked. He often overachieved target – made a lot of money and prestige in the business as being a tenacious salesperson and even won prizes (very expensive ones – if I mention what type then the people I have worked with wll know whom I am talking about – they probably can guess – but if I don’t give away too much about the scenario then maybe I can avoid an unwanted conflict with this person) The fact is that this salesperson had a clear view of what he wanted. He wanted to be successful and he believed he was good, better then good – the best. On more than one occasion this attitude spurred him onto action (more cold calls – even going through others peoples old pipeline to resurrect deals). Good on him – He was a DOER. The important thing to remember is he had a positive outlook on his future and believed he was good and with that followed action that resulted in success.

4. Clear intent - Negative I had another former colleague (who again will remain nameless) that sat 3 metres away from me and not 7 metres away from the bull that I described on the previous page. He was on paper a capable salesperson. Looked sharp on most occasions often better than the bull. He was tall and very presentable. He would try to put action into play and sometimes even get meetings with customers. He worked hard. Cold called flat out. But would take breaks from his day and when I was in his presence talk negatively of what a tough day he was having, how the market was in a down turn, how only if he could find the clients, when he found the clients that only if we had the right product set, and then when we had that – only if our price point could be discounted. I could go on and on. But to sum it up this person was negative. He had a negative viewpoint of the position he was in and I now realise that this has a subconscious level of interaction with your mannerism and customers can feel that and would prefer not to deal with such people. To cut a very long story short – this person did not sell much – even when he sold something did not sell enough to make little if any commission and was eventually asked to resign

5. Clear intent - Differences What was the differences between the top performer and the guy who was dismissed Attitude that could be observed – but more importantly the mental messages that they conveyed to themselves and others that manifested over time into their reality of results of success and failure. The interesting thing is that the guy who was the top performer (not overly liked) was even by-passed to being selected in a team when we got new sales managers. The new sales manager picked the poor performer (remember He looked at the overt characteristics – his intelligence, his dress and demeanour, his sales capability). What the Sales Manager did not do was evaluate the two candidates internal beliefs about themselves and suffered in the process because his number was made up of the sum of the salespeople underneath him so when his team did not hit their number neither did he. One guy had positive self talk and the other guy negative – that was the main difference and the results showed

6. Self Talk Henry Ford once said “If you believe that something can happen or you believe that it can not – either way you are right” Was capability so simple the mere fact that if you can think you can do something as opposed to you couldn’t the difference between success and failure Maybe this was not the only contributing factor – obviously skill and experience had something to do with it. But it is obvious to me that SELF TALK was probably the most important differences Successful people retold a story of success to themselves and others. The opposite was true for those struggling. Another thing I have noticed successful people don’t focus on the negatives – they focus on what they can control and how they can navigate whatever situation/problem to their advantage. They put their mind to what they want to achieve and then achieve it. Good salespeople talk highly of themselves and their product or service. Its this self talk that manifests into action and reinforces self belief.

7. So why is it that most people can not SELL If you were to ask these questions of the vast majority of people they would rate their ability higher than average and probably higher than their capability These are: Ability to drive Love making ability Ability to communicate ones opinion to convince others The first two humour me but it is the last point that is central to selling Most people understand what they think and have a clear and concise agenda and believe when they speak this translates to others understanding them - in essence the heart of selling Why most people interested in a proactive sales role often drop out in the first weeks is that they suffer what they see as rejection once they are unable to communicate and get others to understand their position. Hence why good sales people make more money than doctors and lawyers. Good sales people are rare as hens teeth. Every good salesperson I have met has a positive self language and this translates to positive outcomes.

8. Some simple suggestions to improve your SELF TALK Now that you have read my thoughts on why self talk is so important I am going to give you a couple of suggestions that will improve your outlook and sales results. At the very least you will feel better. These are: Use positive affirmations (these are more powerful when you talk these into the mirror. Look yourself in the eyes and mean what you say from the heart) a) “I am healthy, I am happy, I am successful, I love my work and everyone who comes into contact with me will benefit from the experience. I deserve happiness, joy and all the luck to go my way. Thank you” Be grateful – its amazing how the world rewards those who are truly grateful for what they have. This is often the case why rich people keep getting richer and happiness flows to those that grateful for what they have a) Write a list of all the things that are great in your life and job. This can be an uplifting experience. Stop talking about negative instances and particularly stop associating too much with negative people. Their energy can pull you down without you realising it.

9. Conclusion I hope that you have found some points useful in this presentation – if you are interested in learning more about this philosophy or potentially training others in the most fundamental shift to improve your results or the results of others – I would love help. Simply contact myself via linkedin and I will be happy to expand on the benefits. Best wishes Sasha PS The trick is to achieve the same results without having a big ego.