Hello and welcome to my blog. If you are a repeat visitor, thank you for visiting again! If this is your first time, I would like to recommend a few of my favorite dreams:
Coldstone Classic
Educating Jimmer
Just Try to Hit Me in the Stomach
I put a lot of effort into retelling my dreams exactly how I remember them. Since I have no conscious control over the material, I admit some of them are more entertaining than others; however, I vow to never post a dream that is completely lame. So if you haven't read the three dreams above, check out the older posts until you find them and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did when I experienced them the first time.
May all of your wildest dreams come true! (As for me, I hope most of mine don't come true.)
P.S. I apologize for all of the ads that are now popping up.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
How to Influence People & Survive a Tornado
My game plan kept running through my mind. Keep him talking. Don't bring up the account directly. Ask him about his interests. Keep the focus on him. Listen. Listen. Listen. I expected the meeting would take place in person. My cell phone started to ring. I answered. It was him. Oh no, I thought, this is all going to go down right now over the phone. I allowed myself two seconds of pity and decided it was game time. I asked him questions about his son who plays baseball. I asked him questions about his alma mater. He shared memories of the past. I listened intently. The conversation continued for several minutes. I was literally enjoying myself. And then after a very lengthy conversation, he said he was under the impression that I represented the corporation that offered products and services that he needed. I confirmed. He then agreed to sign on with his initial account order totaling more than $90,000. I finished the necessary transaction information over the phone and told him I would be in touch soon.
By this time, I had rerouted myself back to my hotel. No need to go to his office now. I was smiling and thinking about how Dale Carnegie really knew what he was talking about when it comes to winning people over to your way of thinking. I briefly considered sending a recap of my experience to his people who still run seminars. I had treated this man like one of my true friends and he rewarded me handsomely with a $90,000+ account, and all of that over the phone. This was a grand accomplishment for me, I started to consider. I was not a trained salesperson, certainly not at this level. I didn't need sales training, I had people training! Then I thought, really this is no big deal. After all, I intend to do the whole process again tomorrow. Look out world, I intend to win you over!
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I informed my mother that I was going out for the evening. She gave me the usual speech about being careful, especially while driving out north in the dark. I nodded my head, but gave little thought to her speech. Of course I would be careful.
I hadn't been on the Acequia Highway too long when the weather started to change drastically. The wind came on so strong and visibility was disappearing. The air was no longer clear, it was the strangest mix of rain, dust, and debris. And then without warning the twister touched down right in front of my passenger headlight. It slammed into my windshield throwing soup cans, soda cans, and other debris against the glass that separated me from its fury. Was this the recycling tornado, seeking it's vengeance on my years of not recycling? Then my car was being pulled in another direction. As I shot off the road, the twister let go of my car and rambled off into the distance. I was breathless. I had just been attacked by a tornado in southern Idaho. Was I injured? No, I concluded, just severely jilted. I decided to go for help.
Leaving my car on foot, I found a dwelling. It couldn't really be called a home. I mean it had different sections. Each section had a roof and walls, but no single section had all four walls. At first I thought the tornado had caused the destruction. After studying which walls were missing, I realized the dwelling had been constructed this way on purpose. A teenage girl met my gaze. I explained my plight and she invited me in. I found several children inside, but no adults. There was in infant crying in the corner and one of the older children went to pick up the baby. The teenage girl was now at what I concluded must be the kitchen sink. She and I watched the weather outside the window until the sky turned blue and the sunlight returned. I listened intently to the children behind us as we watched the weather. I wondered how they came to live in this place. I wondered who their parents were and where they had gone. I wondered if they all had the same parents. I wondered why I had never noticed their strange dwelling so close to a relatively busy road before. But as soon as the sunlight returned, I left without saying a word and began the walk back to my abandoned car.
Disclaimer: Both of these dreams occurred in the same night, although they were two distinctly separate dreams. I have been rereading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" in real life and trying to internalize its principles. And I confess I did grow up in a county that has no recycling program; however, if I really did find children abandoned in a home missing walls, I would not just walk away.
By this time, I had rerouted myself back to my hotel. No need to go to his office now. I was smiling and thinking about how Dale Carnegie really knew what he was talking about when it comes to winning people over to your way of thinking. I briefly considered sending a recap of my experience to his people who still run seminars. I had treated this man like one of my true friends and he rewarded me handsomely with a $90,000+ account, and all of that over the phone. This was a grand accomplishment for me, I started to consider. I was not a trained salesperson, certainly not at this level. I didn't need sales training, I had people training! Then I thought, really this is no big deal. After all, I intend to do the whole process again tomorrow. Look out world, I intend to win you over!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I informed my mother that I was going out for the evening. She gave me the usual speech about being careful, especially while driving out north in the dark. I nodded my head, but gave little thought to her speech. Of course I would be careful.
I hadn't been on the Acequia Highway too long when the weather started to change drastically. The wind came on so strong and visibility was disappearing. The air was no longer clear, it was the strangest mix of rain, dust, and debris. And then without warning the twister touched down right in front of my passenger headlight. It slammed into my windshield throwing soup cans, soda cans, and other debris against the glass that separated me from its fury. Was this the recycling tornado, seeking it's vengeance on my years of not recycling? Then my car was being pulled in another direction. As I shot off the road, the twister let go of my car and rambled off into the distance. I was breathless. I had just been attacked by a tornado in southern Idaho. Was I injured? No, I concluded, just severely jilted. I decided to go for help.
Leaving my car on foot, I found a dwelling. It couldn't really be called a home. I mean it had different sections. Each section had a roof and walls, but no single section had all four walls. At first I thought the tornado had caused the destruction. After studying which walls were missing, I realized the dwelling had been constructed this way on purpose. A teenage girl met my gaze. I explained my plight and she invited me in. I found several children inside, but no adults. There was in infant crying in the corner and one of the older children went to pick up the baby. The teenage girl was now at what I concluded must be the kitchen sink. She and I watched the weather outside the window until the sky turned blue and the sunlight returned. I listened intently to the children behind us as we watched the weather. I wondered how they came to live in this place. I wondered who their parents were and where they had gone. I wondered if they all had the same parents. I wondered why I had never noticed their strange dwelling so close to a relatively busy road before. But as soon as the sunlight returned, I left without saying a word and began the walk back to my abandoned car.
Disclaimer: Both of these dreams occurred in the same night, although they were two distinctly separate dreams. I have been rereading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" in real life and trying to internalize its principles. And I confess I did grow up in a county that has no recycling program; however, if I really did find children abandoned in a home missing walls, I would not just walk away.
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