ColumnistsDec 28, 2023
On Data: In December, A Tale of Two MarketsColumnistsJan 02, 2024
12 Quotes to Start 2024 on a Positive Note
Peter Smith has picked a dozen of his favorite expressions to help readers start the new year off right.
Peter Smith is an industry consultant, speaker, sales trainer, and author. He can be reached via email at TheRetailSmiths@gmail.com.
As we kick off a new year, I’m dedicating my first column of 2024 to the experts, academics, and authors who inspire me and to you, my industry colleagues and friends.
I hope you’ll find something to help you focus on the tasks at hand this year, and maybe even find a book or two here you might like to explore!
1. “When it comes to your experiences and perceptions, you’re much more in the driver’s seat than you might think. You predict, construct, and act. You are an architect of your experiences.” — Lisa Feldman Barrett, “How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain”
2. “Positive emotions might have evolved to give our ancient ancestors a survival advantage, but to experience them still enhances our lives today.” — Leonard Mlodinow, “Emotional: How Feelings Shape Our Thinking”
3. “Salespeople who truly believe in their product will influence customers in their favor. The unconscious expression of belief by sales personnel is a powerful cue that customers process both consciously and unconsciously.” — Gerald Zaltman, “How Customers Think: Essential Insights Into the Mind of the Market”
4. “Advice from every quarter, ancient and contemporary, backs up the observation that to change our feelings, we should change our actions.” — Gretchen Rubin, “The Happiness Project”
5. “Your mind, when focused on appreciation, has an unparalleled power to trigger physical and emotional healing.” — Dan Baker and Cameron Stauth, “What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better”
6. “Decades of work from multiple different subfields within psychology all point towards the conclusion that regularly resting your brain improves the quality of your work. When you work, work hard. When you’re done, be done.” — Cal Newport, “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World”
7. “Develop the habit of letting small things happen. If you don’t, you’ll never find time for the life-changing big things.” — Tim Ferriss
Related stories will be right here …
I hope you’ll find something to help you focus on the tasks at hand this year, and maybe even find a book or two here you might like to explore!
1. “When it comes to your experiences and perceptions, you’re much more in the driver’s seat than you might think. You predict, construct, and act. You are an architect of your experiences.” — Lisa Feldman Barrett, “How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain”
2. “Positive emotions might have evolved to give our ancient ancestors a survival advantage, but to experience them still enhances our lives today.” — Leonard Mlodinow, “Emotional: How Feelings Shape Our Thinking”
3. “Salespeople who truly believe in their product will influence customers in their favor. The unconscious expression of belief by sales personnel is a powerful cue that customers process both consciously and unconsciously.” — Gerald Zaltman, “How Customers Think: Essential Insights Into the Mind of the Market”
4. “Advice from every quarter, ancient and contemporary, backs up the observation that to change our feelings, we should change our actions.” — Gretchen Rubin, “The Happiness Project”
5. “Your mind, when focused on appreciation, has an unparalleled power to trigger physical and emotional healing.” — Dan Baker and Cameron Stauth, “What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better”
6. “Decades of work from multiple different subfields within psychology all point towards the conclusion that regularly resting your brain improves the quality of your work. When you work, work hard. When you’re done, be done.” — Cal Newport, “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World”
7. “Develop the habit of letting small things happen. If you don’t, you’ll never find time for the life-changing big things.” — Tim Ferriss
8. “We all say we want to achieve things, but we don’t really want to achieve them unless we are willing to take the necessary steps to achieve what we say we want.” — Jeff Haden, “The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win”
9. “Being busy is not an accomplishment.” — Morten Hansen, “Great At Work”
10. “Grit has two components: passion and perseverance.” — Angela Duckworth, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance”
11. “High dominance or ego-driven people may passionately believe that you should have product and feel compelled to sell it to you, no matter how much you resist. This may sound pushy, but if blended with empathy, this person will close with perfection.” — Chet Holmes, “The Ultimate Sales Machine”
12. “Risk taking is integral to learning. You have to push your boundaries and take a few risks if you want to improve at a given task.” — Kayt Sukel, “The Art of Risk: The New Science of Courage, Caution, & Chance”
Thanks for reading my columns.
Here’s to a healthy and happy year ahead!
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