72 STATE OF THE MAJORS 2018 ENDING ON A POSITIVE NOTE One of National Jeweler’s most popular columnists shares his favorite quotes on optimism BY PETER SMITH final analysis T he best salespeople come equipped with their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. But there is one thing they all have in common— they are optimists. They don’t like rejection or failure any more than their less successful colleagues, but they go to work each day expecting to be successful and that positive bias is what fuels their consistently great sales performance. Here are a few of my favorite quotes on optimism. I hope you find one that resonates with you. “People who are optimistic see failure as due to something that can be changed so that they can succeed next time around, while pessimists take the blame for failure, ascribing it to some lasting characteristics they are hopeless to change.” —Daniel Goleman, “Emotional Intelligence” “TOP SALESPEOPLE ARE FAR MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN AVERAGE PEOPLE. BECAUSE OF THIS OPTIMISM, THEY HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS OF SUCCESS. BECAUSE THEY CONFIDENTLY EXPECT TO BE SUCCESSFUL, THEY MAKE MORE CALLS ON MORE PROSPECTS THAN THE AVERAGE SALESPERSON.” —BRIAN TRACY, “BE A SALES SUPERSTAR” “Optimism is not an unchangeable trait or characteristic that is hardwired into us, like the color of our eyes. Optimism is actually a skill. As with all skills, some of us show more basic talent than others but almost all of us can improve our level of optimism with practice.” —David Alter and Henry Emmons, “Staying Sharp” “THE EFFECTS OF POSITIVITY DURING A SALES ENCOUNTER INFECT THE BUYER, MAKING HIM LESS ADVERSARIAL, MORE OPEN TO POSSIBILITY.” —DANIEL PINK, “TO SELL IS HUMAN” “Optimists do better in school, win more elections, and succeed more at work than pessimists do. They even seem to lead longer and healthier lives.” —Martin Seligman, “Learned Optimism “THE MORE POSITIVE EMOTIONS WE FEEL, THE MORE POSITIVE THOUGHTS AND EXPERIENCES WE WILL ACCRUE, TO THE POINT WHERE OUR POSITIVE EMOTIONS END UP DEVELOPING A LIFE ALL THEIR OWN, TRIGGERING A HEALTHFUL UPWARD SPIRAL.” —SONJA LYUBOMIRSKY, “THE MYTH OF HAPPINESS” “Optimists succeed in sales, which leads to more optimism and more success. They feel the opposite of learned helplessness: learned optimism. Optimism and pessimism turn out to have a compounding effect on success in sales.” —Philip Delves Broughton, “The Art of the Sale”