Enjoy this excerpt from Simply Irresistible, this month’s featured title!
No matter what industry they’re in or what job they do, irresistible people know how to do two things:
— Tune into the needs of others.
— Pay it forward, by generously giving others their time, energy, and ideas.
They’re positive, constructive, and encouraging, and help out whenever they can, plus—and this is important—they expect nothing in return. They don’t do all this hoping to get something back for it.
Then, guess what? When they’re in need, all those people they’ve helped show up with offers of ideas and support. Not every time and often not right away, but on the whole over time, that’s exactly what happens. People found they could rely on them. Now they’re ready to return the favor.
This is why, if we want people to be interested in our opinion, we need to ask for theirs first.
If we want them to listen to our great ideas, we need to listen to theirs first.
If we want them to call us when the best opportunities come up, we need to send a few their way first.
If we want them to connect us with an influential person, we need to introduce them to a few of our favorite people first.
Let’s get more specific
Want them to promote us? We need to make them look good.
Give us a job? We need to do some intense homework and show them what we’ll do for them when we get the position.
Buy our product or service? We need to offer them something of value at low or no cost first.
When we make these regular practices in our own lives, one day, we’ll look around and realize…
We’re surrounded by people who think like us: colleagues, mentors, friends, and coworkers who are generous and concerned.
Since we value their thinking and their positive, breakthrough-bound approach to work, they’re our go-to people when we need a new idea or fresh solution…and we’re theirs. They’re having lunch with someone we’ve been thinking we’d like to meet. They’re making a presentation at the networking event we’re attending. They’re introducing us to influential people, letting us know about exciting new opportunities, and telling us about resources that will help us.
Healthy and hopeful
Because we are high impact, high value colleagues, we make people feel healthy and hopeful. They seek out our company and freely share their ideas with us, confident that we’ll find even the smallest grain of positive potential and help them expand on it.
Since we’re on their minds so often, we’re the one they think of when a great opportunity pops up. The one they want to introduce to the influential decisionmaker. The person they can’t help but help.
The best experiences, people, and opportunities start to show up for us, the struggle to be noticed and respected ends. Surrounded by positive energy and mutual support, we enjoy your work so much more.
Amazingly, by helping others win, we win.
By putting them first, we end up ahead.