Contemplate:
When researching successful people to write Think and Grow Rich, Napolian Hill discovered that they all practiced what he labeled R2A2. Whenever ANYTHING comes up on their life’s screen, they see it as a “lesson”, and they RECOGNIZE the principle within it, RELATE that principle back to their own life or business, then ASSIMILATE what they just learned, and finally APPLY it.
Recognize
Relate
Assimilate
Apply
When you practice R2A2 you learn and grow all day every day as a result of the things you encounter.
There are lessons EVERYWHERE for ANYONE and EVERYONE. You just need to think positively as you encounter the “Stuff of Life.”

24 Hours Every Day
I made the case in Success Made Easy that we all have 24 hours every day. Both the busiest person in the world as well as the one with nothing at all do get the same amount of time.
If you are closer to the busiest than the other, the keys to getting it all done are organization and priorities. Steven Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People offers a great tool for both of these.

Four Time Quadrants
Steven Covey first of all suggests identifying the important things to do, the unimportant things to do, and then those that are urgent and the the ones that are not urgent. To get the most out of your time, Covey suggests that you “live in” Q2. Spending time in Q3 and Q4 forces people to live in Q1.

To move into Q2, do these three things;
1. Write down all of your current Quadrant 1 and 3 activities.
2. Determine what you can do to eliminate or lessen the urgency of these activities.
3. Identify your activities that should be in Q2, schedule them and stick to your schedule.

You CANNOT “Train” People!
I am oftentimes introduced as a “trainer”, or “sales trainer” and I quickly deny that description of what I do.
I have heard, “People are a part of the animal kingdom; if you can you train one, you should be able to train the other.” I can accept the “should be” part of that statement, but the reality is that there are some major differences between the human animal and the others.
A dolphin can be “taught” and then “trained” through repetition and reward to jump through a hoop every time the whistle blows. The dolphin (or other animals) will do what they have been “trained” to do, regardless of their mood that day, the weather, or what the other animals are doing.
People can surely be taught to do something, however they may or may not do it depending entirely upon their mood that day, the weather, or what other people are doing.

Coach
In professional football, where we find the best of the best, there are more coaches on the sidelines than players on the field, and the head coach never misses a down. In addition to teaching, people need coaching, watching, critiquing, praising and sometimes even reprimanding just to get them to do what they were taught to do.

It’s Tough Sometimes
I am always amazed when I run an ad on Craig’s List looking for salespeople. I am usually bombarded with inquiries. What amazes me more than anything are the sloppy e-mails and horrible resumes I get. You would think that someone looking for work would realize the importance of the first impression made via e-mail. I see such things as blank subject lines, empty text boxes, attachments without labels, basic misspelling and poor grammar with no sense of punctuation rules. Most amazing of all are the college students and even graduates that are among the poorly worded applications.
Besides the bad imagery and poor wording, I get people applying for a clearly defined retail selling job with absolutely no relative experience. I get the feeling that they are just responding to every ad listed. I want to send them a copy of E-Mail Etiquette Made Easy, but I doubt if it would ever be read.

Diamond Diving
I have always been willing to dig through the garbage (not literally) to find the occassional diamond in the rough. Out of  50 responses recently, I found eight great prospects for three great jobs.

Saying the Right Thing
Knowing what to say and when can make a big difference in selling to your Japanese customers. These phrazes will help you. Print them out, learn as many as you can, and don’t be afraid to read them aloud to your customers. They will appreciate your efforts to help.

Please try this on. - (As in jewelry) TSUKETE-MITE-KUDASAI (sue-kate-ay-me-tay-kuta-sigh)
Please try this on. - (As in clothing) KITE MITE KUDASAI (key-tay-me-tay-kuda-sigh)
How about this one? - KORE WA DOO DESU KA (core-ay-wah-doe-des-kah)
It looks nice on you. - TOTEMO ONIAI DESU (toe-tay-mo-oh-knee-eye-des-yoh)
Please wait just a second. - CHOTTO OMACHI KUDASAI (cho-toe-oh-mah-chi-cuda-sigh)
More expensive. - MOTTO T AKAI (moe-toe-tah-kai)
Less expensive. - MOTTO YASUI (moe-toe-yah-sue-ee)
Bigger (than) -MOTTO OOKII (moe-toe-oh-key)
Do you prefer this one, or this one? - KORE GA II DESU KA, SORETOMO, KORE GA II DESU
KA? (Core-ay-gaw -ee-des-kah -sore-oh-toe-moe-core-ay-g aw-ee-des-kaw)
I understood - WAKARIMASHITA (wah-car-ee-mosh-ee-tah)
I don’t understand -WAKARIMASEN (wah-car-ee-moss-en)
Thank you - DOMO ARRIGA TO GOZAMASHITA ( doe-moe-are-ee-got-toe-go-zye-mash-tah)
Your welcome - DOO I TASH IMASHITE (doo-ee-tash-eh-mash-teh)
Please come back again. - MATA DOOZO IRRASSHATTE KUDASAI
(mata-doe-zo-ear-ah- shot-teh-kuda-sigh)
One more phrase, Happy New Year - SHINNEN AKEMASHITE OMEDEETO GOZAIMASU
(She-nen -ah -kay-mosh -tay -oh-may -day -toe-go -zye-moss)

Gift Packaging
Since much of what’s being bought is OMIYAGE, packaging TEISAI (tay-sigh) is very important. These customers will want a separate bag; FUKURO (foo-koo-row) for each purchase. Be prepared to make this offer. Once your customers see that you understand the importance of gift packaging, they will buy more from you.