Brian Tracy delivers a short motivational talk arguing that the single quality shared by successful people is ambition — a hunger and commitment to excellence. He emphasizes that ambitious people see themselves as capable of being the best, recover from setbacks, and persist until they win. In a sales context he cites an 80/20 outcome (the top 20% of salespeople make 80% of the sales) and urges listeners to resolve to join the top performers. Tracy shares a personal insight that everyone in the top started at the bottom and gives two concrete prescriptions: get in line (decide to be the best) and stay in line (keep developing skills daily/weekly/monthly) until you reach the front.
Chapters
Successful people in every field, including sales, seem to have one quality or attitude in common. They are ambitious. They're hungry. They want more than they have today, and they're determined to get it. The more ambitious you are, the more driven and determined you will be to achieve your goals. Nothing will slow you down or stand in your way. If you're ambitious enough, you will bounce back from every setback or temporary failure and keep on going until you win through. Ambitious people see themselves as capable of being the best. They commit to excellence. They know that the top 20% of salespeople make 80% of the sales, and they are determined to be among that top group. Ambitious salespeople are optimistic about their chances and possibilities. They're absolutely convinced that they can achieve their goals by selling lots and lots of their product and services. And they are completely determined to do it. Perhaps the most important step you take in the field of selling is the commitment to excellence. This is the commitment to be the best in your field. Resolve today that you are going to join the top 20% and then the top 10% in your industry in terms of earnings. Here is something that changed my life when I was 28 years old. After going around in circles for years, it suddenly hit me. Everyone in the top 10% today started in the bottom 10%. Everyone who was doing well today was once doing poorly. Everybody who's at the front of the line of life started at the back of the line. Now, let me ask you something. How do you get to the front of the buffet line of life where all the good stuff is waiting for you? And the answer is simple. It consists of two things. First, get in line. It's absolutely amazing the number of people who want to get to the front of the line of life and admire the people who are already at the front of the line, but they don't get up and get in line themselves. You get in line when you make an absolute decision to be the best in your field. And the second thing you have to do is to stay in line. Once you have decided to be the best in your field, get in line and stay in line. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep developing one new skill or ability each day, each week and each month that moves you ahead. And as sure as God made little green apples, you are going to get to the front of the line in your profession. There's nothing in the world that can stop you from becoming one of the best and highest paid people in sales. If you'll just get in line and stay in line.
