I tried my hand at being in commissioned sales years ago. I came away from it realizing that most everyone has to be a salesman as part of living to some degree, having your ideas accepted, or "bought" by others, or other sales-like behaviors. However some people are more in phase with sales than I am. Some people actually get a pleasure out of the "winning" of a deal or coming out on top. I see the value in that, but never had it affect me that way. Any successes I did have, I perhaps found gratification in the money earned, and sometimes proud of the knowledge I brought to the table that made it happen, but not the actual sales rush that I have seen in some people.

However, I once met a man, Ira Hayes, who could have inspiration for anyone's doings in life, even though he considered himself a sales trainer, and champion of the sales types. He spoke to a conference I went to, and he is was a motivational speaker of national note, like Zig Ziggler, W. Clemant Stone, etc. Early in his career, he sold cash registers on the street for NCR, and he rose to management in that company. I won't go into the pitch, but I really loved his enthusiasm, and I still think about and use some his simple, no nonsense ideas. For instance, he said, when somebody asks you how you are, just say Great! That's all, Great! They don't REALLY want to know how you are. they have troubles of their own. It's better to be a listener than a complainer. It's hard for me to say something bad about someone without at least sandwiching it with good comments, even if a stretch. Although I do, and have done my share of grousing and whining, I truly am impressed by people who keep the positive attitude out in front, and I try to do the same. They're Great! I'm inserting here a scan of the Hayes dollar I have kept in my wallet for ?? years.

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