By Greg Kuhn
Quantum physics is rather clear in its instructions for manifesting the high levels of success most salespeople and entrepreneurs desire: our beliefs about success must be aligned with our desires for it because our material reality is always a reflection of our state of being. And some of the inspiration to change my beliefs about success came from one of the most successful people I’ve had the good fortune to spend time with and get to know – Jerry Lewis.
Jerry Lewis is one of the most successful and recognizable celebrities in the world. When partnered with Dean Martin, in fact, Lewis’ weekly take-home was in excess of half a million dollars. This, mind you, was in the 1950’s. And that, my friend, is success by anyone’s standards.
But Jerry’s success isn’t best measured by his financial rewards. Jerry has lived a great life, having fun and doing what he loves best. For any of us, what could be more rewarding than the adulation of millions of fans saying, “We love you for making us happy!”?
And I’m about to reveal to you a wonderful secret that has created almost all of Jerry Lewis’ success. It’s a secret you can start using right now and it will rocket your belief system into greater alignment with your desires.
Jerry told me, one morning in St. Louis, that most of his success is the result of telling his own better-feeling story about defeat. Specifically, between bites of bagels and cream cheese, Jerry let me in on his “Seven Out of Ten” story. He learned long ago that 30% of the people he meets will not welcome his 100-watt, effervescent, and outrageously funny personality.
Telling himself the “Seven Out of Ten” story aligns Jerry with his desires for success as it unburdens him from his fear of rejection. He expects to be turned away by three out of ten people – and if he gets a higher rate of acceptance that is just icing on the cake. The end result of telling himself this better-feeling story is that Jerry Lewis believes it’s okay to show his unbridled sense of humor and his enthusiasm to everyone he meets (and I mean everyone!) because he has already embraced defeat.
Let’s bring it closer to home. I know a very successful salesman, Scott Shireman, who was a plodding journeyman until he learned to tell his own better-feeling story about defeat. Scott feared rejection so much that he had fallen prey to the old salesperson’s saw, “The hardest door to open is your own car door.” Today, Scott earns a nice six figure salary in a highly competitive industry simply because of a new story which aligns his beliefs with his desires for sales.
What is Scott’s story? It finally dawned on Scott that in his industry it took nine “no’s” to get one “yes.” In short order he realized that he simply had to root out those nine “no’s” in order to find success. Scott was soon leaving a “defeat” (a no-go sales call) saying, “All right! That’s one more ‘no’ out of the way. I’m that much closer to my next success!” Once again, I’ll let Scott’s success speak to the validity of telling a story of your choosing rather than the story “everybody else” tells.
What will happen when you begin to tell better-feeling, believable stories of your choosing? Will you become the next Jerry Lewis or Scott Shireman? Perhaps, but why stop there? One thing is certain: you’ll no longer be placing yourself in leg irons and imprisoning yourself with your own fear.
After all, as a salesperson or entrepreneur, the sky’s the limit when your most overwhelming fear, your fear of failure, is alleviated by telling a better-feeling story of your choosing and aligning your beliefs with your desires.
