Title: Go for No Author: Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz

Yes is the destination, no is how you get there.

Imagine going to be one night, then to awaken the next morning in a strange house with no idea of how you got there.  Only this house don't belong to just anyone - it  belongs to you... a wildly successful future version of the person you might one day become, providing you are willing to start doing one simple thing.

"Do you want to achieve success?  If your answer is 'yes', then you need to get more no's.  This book will show you why and how."  Darren Hardy, Publisher, SUCCESS magazine. 

We are introduced to Eric James Bratton, “a wonderful husband, terrific brother and a so-so copier salesman.” It all started with him calling his wife excited to tell her that so early on a Monday he was already at 3 for 3 in successful sales. He had only one more before he reached his quota for the week. The next day, at the office, Eric half joked half complained about all the paperwork sales brought. After a quick break a friend came over and asked Eric to join a focus group. Thinking no, Eric was surprised to hear himself say yes. This yes happened to take up most of his next day. To reward himself he decided to book a round of golf for the very next morning. Knowing he only had one more sale to go he booked a late tee time of 10:30 am. That night he realized that the next day was in fact Thursday, not Wednesday like he thought. Monday he reached 3 sales, Tuesday was paperwork, and Wednesday was devoured by the focus group. He still needed one more sale to hit his quota but had foolishly booked golf for the Thursday morning.

“I'll play quick,” he said to himself.

That night, in a dream, he slipped and fell and knocked his head on a rock in the creek of the golf course. When he woke he realized that he had instead fallen out of bed. He told his wife he might need ice and when she didn't respond he saw that not only was she not there, but he couldn't seem to recognize the room nor the bed he just came from. Confused he discovered a maid cleaning an enormous kitchen. She told him his wife was in Europe buying art. He claimed to have forgotten because of the bump before returning to the bedroom to rest. There, to his horror, in the mirror, he saw that he has aged a good 10 years. He saw grey hair and wrinkles where the night before there had been none. Scared, he questioned the maid about himself. She was clearly concerned for him. She revealed that to her knowledge he wrote books. With disbelief he located 3 books on success written by him. The first one written in 1989. He couldn't believe it and called the number on the back of one of the books in an attempt to find out more. He asked the receptionist to put him through to Eric Bratton. She did and he somehow managed to convince the other him not to call the police. The two Eric's agreed to meet.

The other him took Eric for a nice meal at a restaurant Eric usually couldn't afford. They discussed how their lives had been seemingly identical up until a certain point. They identified a conversation with a district manager named Harold which seemed to be the first difference in their experiences. The other him claimed it was a conversation with Harold that had changed his life. Eric James Bratton, as we know him, could not even recall what Harold had said. The other him recounted the memory. He had made a massive sale at his job at a men's clothing store. When Harold had seen him perform he congratulated him. Eric was proud of himself until Harold had asked him what the customer said no to. He suggested Eric ended the sale early, not the customer. The customer didn't actually say no to anything. It was Eric's perception of spending that prevented him from securing an even bigger sale.

“Your fear of hearing the word no is the only thing standing between you and greatness,” the other Eric stated what he had learned.

He also explained how failure was not opposite of success, it was on the way to success. Failure, or hearing no proved you were on the right path, that you ought to keep going. He realized it was important to fail. The other Eric explained the huge difference between being a failure and failing. A failure failed to try. He tried to drill it into Eric's head.

“Repeat after me: I like to fail.”

“I like to fail,” Eric said halfheartedly.

“I fail big and I fail often.”

“I fail big and often,” Eric repeated.

The other him told him that the most important lesson was “no doesn't have to be debilitating.” They both acknowledged how the other Eric became top salesmen in the chain while the real Eric was fired two months later.

The next day the other him invited Eric to accompany him on some business. Eric accepted and was eager to learn from his alter-ego. He used their time together to question the other, more successful version of himself. He still couldn't quite believe that the willingness to fail was what got his other self success. His other self tried to explain it further, that rejection didn't have to hurt. It could instead be energizing. He explained that it was all in how we perceived no. He told Eric that his company gave out an award to the salesperson who received the most no's. This same person had also been top in sales 4 years in a row.

“... hearing yes is the easy part of the job and teaches you virtually nothing. But learning to hear no over and over again and to never quit... now that builds character and self-esteem.”

He told Eric that people who are nearing their quota often slow down. They think they are almost there. But the quota was a bare minimum. No one ever got ahead by settling for bare minimum. He suggested that Eric set goals to reach 16 no's instead of a goal to reach 4 yes's. If the goal was 16 no's at 3 for 3 on Monday instead of being almost done, Eric would still be behind. Setting goals to hit no will also prevent someone from ending a potential hot streak.

The other him started giving Eric examples of people who succeeded due to their high failure quotient. In other words, “how many times someone was willing to fail before finally succeeding.” He reminded Eric of Abraham Lincoln, R.H. Macy, Thomas Edison, Harland Sanders among others. He revealed the magic word doctors used when they 'failed' by losing a patient; next! He outlined how ridiculous it would be if a doctor quit after one failure. Why wasn't that same logic used for sales? Quit after one no? Ridiculous. He stressed the importance of moving through the pain of loss or rejection. He told Eric to numb himself to no, not by staying away from it, or ignoring it, but by experiencing no so often it lost it's power.

“Do the thing you fear and the fear will go away. Remember, the comfort zone is never static. It's either expanding or shrinking,” his other self reminded him.

During a golf game with some of the other Eric's colleagues, Eric (now known as the other Eric's twin, Edward) asked them what they thought of the concept to go for no. One of the colleagues, Kurt, responded that the average person didn't stay average for long when using the concepts of no. He stated that most people kept imaginary boundaries and those boundaries held them back from new experiences. Cheryl, the other colleague, told Edward that it was like panning for gold. The yes's are the nuggets, but you have to separate and sift through the dirt that is the no's. There's more dirt, and you have to get through it to find a yes, but it makes it fun when you do get that desired nugget. She also taught him that no didn't mean never, it meant not yet. The best salespeople sold through the let-me-think-about-it's and broke through five no's before hitting a yes. Five no's! Most people quit after one. They also helped Edward understand that if you're going to fail, you might as well fail big! A no is a no no matter how big the account.

When it came to the other Eric to give his advice he told the group that as a leader of a team the fear of failure is recognized and the team begins to wonder if they should be afraid of failing too. He went on to suggest that as a leader you should reward people for their failures, not just their successes. It showed your priorities are set on the power of no. The more failures the more successes. He also shared his certainty that all his future successes would only be realized by him continuing to take risks, chances and “showing outrageous courage.”

Before his big presentation he confided in Eric how important it to embrace the concepts and become a success. If he didn't the other Eric, his successful alter-ego, might cease to exist as Eric's future. Both of them depended on Eric's ability to embrace no.

Not long after, Eric was back at home in his reality. He found out he did hit his head falling out of bed and had been in a coma for 4 days. Whatever the experience was, he took the lessons to heart. He became the number one salesmen in his league but was most proud of how many no's he received. After hearing and learning about the power of no from himself during a freak accident, Eric James Bratton realized that his definition of success was indeed backwards and by going for no he became the success he was always supposed to be.

This book is small and is full of entertaining and relevant stories outlining further the power of no. Just as one conversation changed Eric's future, this one book could change yours.