The rest of us could stand a little self-improvement
Yesterday I posted about the ±40 acres in Grayson County I have listed (and am part owner of).
It’s a great tract for a rural showplace, although it’s not for everyone. Super private, so I shared it with a number of sports agents. It could be perfect for someone who wants to be away, but within an hour or so of the airport.
Beat them to it — check it out here.
That’s not what I want to talk about today, though. If you follow sports, you know that a lot of what you read isn’t about the game itself. It’s about contracts, money, and the drama surrounding them.
The agents I spoke with are on the frontlines of that, negotiating high-dollar deals with billion-dollar owners. It sounds intense, but for them it’s just the job. Players may get nervous, but the agents and teams do this all the time.
Most of us will never negotiate at that level. But negotiation is everywhere.
Your salary.
Working conditions.
What you pay for a car.
Which vaccines you take (or don’t).
Even where to eat dinner or when your kid goes to bed.
Improve your skills here, and you improve just about everything in your life.
The problem is, most people see negotiation as either intimidation (bad) or “win-win” compromise that gets you run over by the pros (worse).
This is why people run from negotiation, sales, and salespeople. Even though it’s where most of the money is.
If there were a better way, would you still run from it?
I first read Start With No by Jim Camp almost 10 years ago. It changed everything for me, and I still reread it at least once a year.
In just a few hours you’ll learn:
- The most important thing to control in a negotiation (hint: it’s not your opponent).
- How to make it harder for you to be manipulated.
- The real factors that actually drive a negotiation.
- Why “yes” is to be feared and avoided, and “no” is your friend — especially at the beginning.
Many of the concepts apply to life generally, not just negotiation. Outside of the Bible, I can’t think of another book that has helped me more.
And the Kindle version is less than twenty bucks right now.
(Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you buy something — anything — after clicking that link, I may receive a small commission. It doesn’t change your price.)
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