“Sunday Negotiation Insight”
“Success, like love, can be cruel. Tend to it, respect it, shape it, and always monitor it. In so doing, you’ll give success the meaning it has to you.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert
“Success Can Be A Cruel Lover”
Everyone wants to be successful in the endeavors they engage in. But, exactly what does success mean? It implies different things to different people; most people will agree on that. In particular, you must mentally understand what success means to you and the meaning you give it. That’s important because your perception of what success is, or lack of, will have a profound impact on the actions you engage in, and how you go about doing so.
Most people obsess on being and becoming successful. They reach some modicum of success and when it subsides their mental level of energy subsides too. That sends them into a downward spiral of despair.
To combat the alluring siren song of success, accept the fact that like life, success ebbs and flows. Plus, your perspective of what success is, is based on the meaning you give it. Thus, you’re in control of your interpretation of the activities that lead towards or away from success.
Success can be a cruel lover, but it’s a lover that you have full control of. You can control it by the way you view and think of it. Do so from the point that it best serves you and it’ll serve you better … and everything will be right with the world.
What does this have to do with negotiations?
In a negotiation, the meaning you give success determines how diligently you’ll engage in the negotiation. That’s to say, if your expected outcomes are too grandiose you’re more likely to stay engaged in the negotiation passed a point that is beneficial. You’ll be driven to reach your goal(s) of what success means in that negotiation.
Like everything you do in life, manage your expectations per what success means. Be aware that your drive to seek too much of it may be the cause of you losing it altogether. The greater you manage your expectations and the meaning you give to success, the greater control you’ll have of yourself and the negotiation.
What’s your opinion? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com
Remember, you’re always negotiating.