Some of my best sales training experience came from years of marriage. I’m reminded of an argument I had with my wife some years ago. We were going through some kind of innocent discussion that led to an argument that led to a fight that led to the silent treatment! Both of us were declaring victory, but there seemed to be no clear winner!

Suddenly I realized that the very next day I would need my wife to wake me up at 5:00 AM for an important early morning business flight. I’m a very heavy sleeper and need to actually be shaken to wake up!

I like to think of myself as a rational sales trainer and leader. I like to think I'm a straight shooter and not one to mix or water down my thoughts. That's one reason I enjoy my career as a sales and leadership trainer so much. I can tell you what I think and go home. In sales and leadership, my responsibility is to share what I know while the listener's responsibility is to decide what to do with that which I share. I also don’t lie to my audiences. You won't hear me tell an audience that “they can do anything if they just put their mind to it!” I can say that all day long, but if I entered Spring Training Camp for the Green Bay Packers football team, I'd be thrown out on my ear! I simply don't have a body that can play professional football! It would be a lie to say otherwise. For that matter, I won't ever get elected to the White House. I will never be President of the United States of America! I'm not smart or wealthy enough!

I graduated from my high school in the half that made the top half possible! I smoked pot in high school too, and I inhaled every bit of it! My point is this; let's focus on the things we “can have a victory over,” and not get everyone hyped up just for the sake of a short lived motivational high!

Sales trainers, leadership gurus and sales professionals are like every other person on planet Earth. Like so many individuals, perhaps you get up each morning angry because you don’t like your job. Maybe you start each day frustrated because your marriage fell apart and you did nothing to stop it. Maybe you are feeling disappointed that your kids are struggling and they didn’t turn out the way you had planned. Maybe you get up in the morning and feel helpless! If that person is you or someone you are training, there is hope!

Successful sales trainers and leaders have trained their minds and thoughts over time to think about the amazing possibilities that still exist, not the impending defeats that seem to lie at hand. No successful leader or sales trainer ever got to the top of Mt. Everest by resting! Those who make it to the top plan ahead and work hard.

One of the reasons successful sales trainers and leaders overcome so many difficult obstacles and sell more is because they tap into the power of feeling special. When I was nine years old, I had a life-changing conversation with my mom as we sat in our kitchen. My dad was a Lutheran pastor and mom was a school teacher. We lived in the church parsonage next to the church.

As a kid, I would often sit on the window ledge and watch the neighborhood kids play in the large grassy area between our house and the church. They would play kickball, football, baseball and all kinds of athletic games.

As I sat watching them through the window, I would often look down at my crippled and deformed legs, constrained by heavy knee-high metal braces. My feet were wrapped in big ugly black leather boots and I could hardly walk without the aid of crutches.

I am reminded of a story I read on a long flight home from Australia some years ago. I started to get antsy because the flight was very long. We spent over twenty-eight hours in flight. I had read my books, watched my movies and finished my study. Soon I found myself walking back and forth in the aisles getting some exercise in hopes of shaking off the boredom. The life of a motivational speaker is not always glamorous.

I came across a senior citizens magazine and much to my surprise I really enjoyed reading it. In my sales training work, I often help companies re-train or coach their “more mature” workers. While in flight, I read a story about a young man heading to Africa for his first safari. He was understandably anxious because he knew the jungle held many mysteries. He remembered with great trepidation, stories of those poor souls who had been eaten alive in the jungle. He had no intentions of being the next meal for a hungry lion!

My friend Wally Cato is the founder of Cato Inter-Group in Atlanta, Georgia. He recently told me about a street vender he met on the streets of New York who was selling flowers. His sign read, "Buy a Flower, Only $2.00!” As the vendor and Mr. Cato visited, the vendor complained that sales were limp and not many people even bothered to stop and smell the beautiful roses. Many a sales trainer or company leader can sympathize but on a larger scale!

The next day, Cato, a famous celebrity promoter, walked down that same street only to find the street vendor in the same predicament as the day before. Sales were lagging and the vendor was discouraged. Mr. Cato, a veteran sales trainer and corporate leader then offered the following advice, "Change your sign; I'll tell you what to write and sales will skyrocket!" So the vendor changed his sign to read, "Want to feel important all day long? Buy a flower today! Only $2.00!" He sold out of flowers in just one hour.

As sales training professionals, we need to teach our people the importance of turning disadvantage into advantage. It is a powerful skill to develop and a helpful state of mind.

As a motivational speaker, having spoken to over a million people in my career, I know all too well that some people moan and groan because of their adversity or handicap. High level leaders and achievers rise above and live successfully because of and in spite of them.

People react differently to any given situation. Empowered people and empowered leaders react with a determined positive spirit that says, "I will overcome! I will not be defeated!"

As a seasoned motivational speaker, I’m always looking for good stories to tell about people and their victories. Abraham Lincoln has such a story. He had a 35 year history of failure before being elected President of the United States. Lincoln failed in business in 1831. He was defeated for the legislature in 1832. He failed in business a second time in 1833. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836.

He was defeated for speaker in 1838, defeated for elector in 1840 and defeated for Congress in 1848. He lost the election for Senator in 1855 and was beaten for Vice-President in 1856. He was defeated again for Senate in 1858. Finally, after all that defeat and struggle, he was elected President in 1860!

I fly a lot as a motivational speaker and sales trainer which takes me all over the world. In the last two months alone I’ve been to Dubai 3 times, Kuwait once and all across the USA speaking. What fun! But when I think of flying, I never imagined what could have happened to Captain Timothy Lancaster. He knows about overcoming obstacles and "hanging in there," quite literally.

On June 10, 1990, Captain Timothy Lancaster was piloting British Airways Flight 5390 out of Birmingham, England. At 23,000 feet, the cockpit windshield of his jetliner blew out and he was sucked out of the cockpit window onto the nosecone of the jet. He would have plunged to his death had not his co-workers grabbed his ankles until the plane landed safely fifteen minutes later. Nigel Ogden and Alistair Atcheson landed the plane.

Can you even imagine what might have been going through his mind during that fifteen minute ride?

Sales trainers and motivational speakers know that one of the most exciting challenges in life is to rise above misfortune and walk in peace and prosperity. I've dedicated my life to teaching people skills that will allow them to do just that. I'm often encouraged by the heroic stories of others.

Each Christmas I think of the Lutheran traditions that were a part of my childhood. One of my favorite memories is singing and listening to the music of George Handel's Messiah, including the Hallelujah Chorus. What an extraordinary piece of music!

What makes that particular musical masterpiece so valuable to me personally is that when George Handel wrote the Messiah, he was recovering from a stroke and was still partially paralyzed. He rose above his misfortune.

Sales trainers know that if their sales team believes a problem has destroyed their lives, their careers or their health, it often will! One of the great skills a good sales trainer has is the ability to encourage people to decide today (as George Handel did so many years ago) to rise above that which seeks to destroy you.

Build, strengthen, use and rely on your faith!

As a sales trainer, one thing I have taught sales people and audiences for the last 30 years is this: “In every situation, crisis, or tragedy that comes your way you have a choice.”

Every good leader and sales trainer knows that the two most common choices are to:

1) React in FEAR; or

2) React in FAITH.

It's a choice!

Let’s suppose you’re standing on the railroad tracks like the old newspaper cartoon. Your feet are in cement, you can’t move and the train is coming. The light from the train engine is getting closer and you’re about to get run over. You’ve got two choices; choose FEAR or choose FAITH.

Before I was a sales and leadership trainer/speaker, I was a minister. During those years of ministry, I was no stranger to funerals. I was a chaplain at the local hospital for a time and one of my duties was to be available for emergencies. I had to be on call for the Emergency Room. Today I’m on call for training and leadership emergencies all over the globe! Ha!

During my hospital chaplain days, some patients were flown into the Emergency Room by helicopter and did not survive. When people did not have a church home