Saying Yes
Author: Kenrick Cleveland

"All that man achieves, and all that he fails to achieve is a
direct result of his own thoughts." -James Allen

John Lennon, at the height of his popularity, had his heart
captured by one simple word: yes. He was rich, talented, desired
and loved by people all over the world and had the option of
nearly any woman he wanted. And 'yes' was what did it for him.

He attended an exhibit in England and Yoko Ono was one of the
artists. The piece in question was a ladder which led to a tiny
sign and a magnifying glass. In order to see what was written on
this tiny sign, one had to climb the ladder and look through
this magnifying glass. It said, 'Yes'.

It started with a yes. John later said he liked the piece so
much because of it's positive message. He said if it had been
something negative, he wouldn't have found Yoko or her work
interesting in the least.

We all say 'yes' or derivatives of it every day (yeah, uh huh,
ya). A positive response to a question or situation. Yes.

When we say yes, many times we are projecting an attitude and
an affirmation, more than just agreement, and we are showing an
openness and welcoming.

As a persuader, I love to hear 'yes'.

Self awareness and attitude go hand in hand with persuasion.
This requires that you "check in" with yourself and pay special
attention to all the signs and feelings we experience.

There's a young women who works at the cafe where I work
sometimes. She has the ultimate 'people suck' attitude. 'I'll
never get what I want. Why can't I ever find a parking spot. I'm
so fat. I'm always broke. . .' Wow. This is not a 'can do'
attitude. She is most certainly not saying 'yes'.

By changing our loops, our negative tapes, for positive ones,
and you'll be rewarded immeasurably. It takes a lot of conscious
work and can sometimes be uncomfortable.

There have been days when I let negative moods get the better
of me. Sometimes it happens without you even knowing it. I'm not
normally a complainer. I take action when action is warranted,
but I had a bad day not too long ago where I was irritated by
absolutely everything. I noticed the ugly paint job on the house
down the street, I noticed the horrible driver in traffic. And
then something happened that interrupted my (temporary) pattern
of negativity. Someone just said, 'Are you okay?' It made me
realize that, yeah, I had really been complaining a lot, it had
been a bad day. I took a deep cleansing breath, checked in with
myself, and intentionally readjusted my attitude. Presto! That
ugly paint job was inconsequential.

Life happens. Part of life includes 'bad' things. We have the
choice to respond with either positivity or negativity. Emotions
are choices.

Charles Hannel, author of 'The Master Key System', (an
incredible study in self-improvement and higher consciousness)
said of attitude, "The predominant thought or the mental
attitude is the magnet, and the law is that like attracts like,
consequently, the mental attitude will invariably attract such
conditions as correspond to its nature."

As you begin to reorient yourself to a 'yes' attitude, you will
get more 'yes' in return.


About The Author: Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to earn
the business of affluent clients using persuasion. He runs
public and private seminars and offers home study courses and
coaching programs in persuasion techniques.