Selling One’s Self

I was writing an episode for the 5Cs podcast when I realized it contains some nuggets that pertain to everyday life. Here are some very abridged thoughts for you to ponder.

No doubt you’ve heard at least once in your life that you need to sell yourself first before you accomplish anything, sell an idea, product or service, set yourself up for that next promotion and generally, get anywhere decent in life. Sell yourself first.

It’s absolute rubbish.

Humans do not need to sell themselves; they need to sell their ideas. All humans are in the business of selling ideas. Want to get married? Sell the idea. Get your kids to behave? Sell the idea. Have your boss/colleague make some changes? Sell the idea. Get your siblings to do as you want? Sell the idea.

Here’s proof.

Most of us have had the experience of standing in a checkout line, and the cashier gives us the standard spiel about signing up for their proprietary credit card. It’s a boring spiel, told in a dull monotone, and nine times out of ten, we never ever hear someone say sign me up, right?

Recently, my husband and I were standing in line, and the cashier was a young man, maybe twenty years old. He asked us, ‘Would you like $45 cash today?’ My husband stopped and considered his offer, and then, when I glared at him, he said no thanks.

To which the young man exclaimed, wow. You’re the first person I’ve met who doesn’t want free cash. Are you sure?

Shortly after, the young man’s supervisor approached him and congratulated him for “being on fire.” He had set a momentous record signing up so many for those proprietary credit cards. Well done.

Notice how he did it.

Definitely not by following the usual bland corporate spiel. Instead, he asked a direct question that would elicit a strong yes from just about everyone.

The young cashier did NOTHING to sell himself. Honestly, he wasn’t an exceptionally efficient and effective cashier. But he knew how to communicate. And that communication had absolutely NOTHING to do with selling himself first. It had everything to do with how he POSITIONED his offer, idea, service and product.

Humans do not need to sell themselves. For the simple reason, all humans attract similarly-minded people. Then they are able to present their ideas effortlessly and easily.

Don’t believe me?

Everything comes down to our personal values and strengths. Do we believe in honesty and integrity and practice honesty and integrity? That will show up in our lives. Do we believe everyone is out to get us? That will always show up in our lives. Do we believe white lies and small deceptions never hurt anyone? That, too, will show up in our world. Do we think money is hard to make, or do we believe cash is easy to make? Either way, we are correct, and that, too, shows up in our lives.

We don’t sell ourselves. We ARE ourselves. And we attract similar-minded people to ourselves. This is the only way it can work honestly and authentically. Any other way is highly manipulative.

In the case of the cashier, he valued a quick buck and did not care about any of the strings attached. My husband and I see things a bit differently, so we were not drawn into his circle. That is why we did not agree to his offer of instant $45 cash.

Let me leave you with some final thoughts.

Are the right kinds of people in your personal and professional life today? Do you like the types of people you are attracting? What can you do to increase or change that?

If you want to know more about my thoughts, tune into next week’s podcast.