Power Up: Taking Charge of Your Financial Destiny

Chapter Two

Start to Become Empowered

I don’t want to brag, but the reality is I’m a pretty good negotiator. I like it. I have fun with it and I’ve become very experienced. Negotiating is a big part of what I do for a living. I’ve also incorporated those same skills into my non-business life. One of the keys is I never take it personally and certainly never get emotionally involved or attached to the negotiation and deal. Frankly speaking, whatever I buy or sell, I really don’t care if the deal happens or not. My life is not going to change if I buy, say, a chair or not. The only major benefit I could see under those circumstances is that my beautiful bride will stop telling me how much she hates the existing décor—which may or may not be a contributing factor to my decision. It’s certainly not a driving force making me part with the money in my pocket.

There you have it. Don’t become attached to the transaction, emotionally or otherwise. Once you are emotionally engaged, you are at a terrible disadvantage. More importantly you need to figure out early on who the boss is—is it the vendor, who is trying to sell you something you probably don’t need, or is it you, the guy or gal who the vendor is trying to persuade into spending money? I say it’s you, and you need to believe that with the proper conviction. You need to embrace this line of thinking, and no matter how big or small the transaction you must apply this concept in full force and with the necessary belief in yourself. ...