Is NO Negative? Only if You Make It So!

There's a scene in the Go for No movie with Art Jonak who is talking about our feelings about the word "NO." In it, Art says, "From a very early age, we're programmed with "No" being negative. Is it negative? Hey, it's just the way we've been programmed, right?"

We couldn't agree more. Almost nowhere do I see push back to "NO" as with our book title, Go for No! Just recently I was told that a person with responsibility over a large organization for sales and development didn't like the title Go for No! because it's negative. This is exactly what we're talking about!

If NO is "negative" then the options are...

1) Ignore and pretend that NO's don't exist. (We've tried this actually and it didn't work). This is a recipe for mediocre performance if not disaster. Pretending that there isn't "rejection" and "failure" and NO's out there in the world is like deciding you don't need flood insurance when you live near the river. Just ignore it and it won't happen. Well, you KNOW all those NO's are out there. And ignoring it, to our mind, just gives it power and makes people deathly afraid of getting the NO's. And if you're getting NO's, well you must be screwing up and failing right? And now how excited are you to keep going? You don't. You quit. This tendency to protect and pretend is not about thinking "positive" or "negative" - it's about understanding the truth and empowering yourself with strength and courage - not fear and hopelessness.

2) Make "NO"positive. Accept the NO's - invite them and become empowered. It's pretty simple: Go for No! When you 'go for no' the yeses will show up your door often in greater quantities than you ever imagined!

Failure & Success: Go for No! vs. PLUCK

Most people know us for writing the book, "Go for No!" Actually we have written and published 4 books altogether. "Go for No!" is our most successful having sold now well over 100,000 copies. Two of the others had decent success (around 25K-30K each) and were in the retail niche. The fourth book was called "PLUCK" and was mostly for service-oriented businesses in the "retail" industry. We printed 10,000 copies. We have 8000 on hand still. It is a good book too. We made some significant mistakes though. The cover being one of them. And the title being another (don't ask).

Bottom line... people think we're so successful with "Go for No!" and we are. But don't forget about the 8000 PLUCK's we still have. Most of the time, you don't know what's a "Go for No" and what's a "PLUCK." So you have to just take action and realize you'll get a bit of both along the journey.

How Go for No! works with "What Is"

Along our Tour we interviewed a lot of people who had an amazing grasp of the "Go for No!" philosophy - one of those is Scott Zimmerman, founder of Cyrano Marketing System (a great way to truly connect with your clients and prospects).

Scott read Go for No! and had a terrific way of explaining how "go for no" works with the reality that is today's marketplace.

Living Go for No! - The Free Club

In combination with the release of our Go for No DVD Docu-Movie ("Yes is the Destination, No is How You Get There") we launched a "members only" (club) for people who want bite size pieces of content from us to help them keep living the Go for No! message.

And, the best thing about it is... it's free! And we're sure people think we are crazy for not charging. But we'd like have 1,000,000 members in the Living Go for No! club -- all enjoying our take on business, life, and success - with a dash of "go for no" throughout -- and living the message.

So, come on - sign up now!

Power of Persistence: Short Segment from the Go for No! Movie

We created this special shorter segment from the Go for No! movie (the Power of Persistence chapter) for our niece, Aubrianna (who also appears!) She is doing a class project on family members and as producers of a movie, well, of course she choose to profile us. Just one of the many perks of making a movie!

Jack Canfield's Go for No! Story

During Jack's interview for the Go for No Video, he shared one of his many "go for no" stories with us... this one about Chicken Soup for the Soul. As writers, it has always been very inspiring to us.

Failure, Success, and Mediocrity

I just read a fabulous quote from Randy Gage (a great guy and one the "stars" in our movie!) and it goes: "The opposite of success is not failure, it's mediocrity. Failures are part of the success process as you learn and grow."

One of the questions we asked for the video was for people to share their definition of failure. Like Randy, these amazing people said, time and again, that failure was quitting, giving up, or as Robert Imbriale mentioned in his clip, "failure is sitting on the couch and not doing anything!"

There is no doubt on your journey you question whether you are on the right path. You question if you are heading the right direction. You may end up taking a different route. You may try a few different things. But always remember that you are IN THE GAME. The only failure, in our mind, is for you to give up on you.

Go for No Video Trailer

All of the fabulous footage of the Go for No! Video Documentary is currently being stitched together - in the mean time, tah dah! Yes! The trailer... enjoy and share!

Do you wish things were easier?

One of the things we frequently heard from our Go for No Tour interviews was how getting things "EASY" isn't always the best road for us to grow and develop. In fact, it is the "struggle" - or the challenges and opportunities including "going for no" that are the things that make us into the people we want to be.

David Frey does an amazing job of explaining this, watch this quick video from the Tour!

Edison - A Tenacious Goal Getter

For the Go for No! Video documentary one of the very cool people we met was Frank Attwood. Frank calls himself an "actorpreneur" and is a full time "professional" Thomas Edison!

We got loads of fabulous quotes and stories from Frank (and Edison!). One of the little things that Frank mentioned, particularly struck us as we were going through the footage... it reminded us that the "Go for No!" message has a lot of meanings behind it. And one of those things is to stick to your goal and your dream; to PERSIST! Edison wasn't deterred and neither should you be! Watch this clip and think about what or who you may be letting into your head.

Go for No Movie Update

The Go for No Tour is officially over! (Okay, yeah, for the last 2 weeks but we've been settling back in!) We also learned that driving almost 12,000 miles in 44 days to make a documentary video about "NO!" does not leave much time to blog.

We met and interviewed amazing people and are now reviewing these great clips. Over the next few weeks we plan on sharing a little bit about everyone we met. One of the people we sat down with was Laura Gross of no,no,no, yes! Inc.

You did read that correctly. Obviously we have similar philosophies! We were thrilled to have her on board and get her take on "no." Here is a tiny little snippet of Laura and to keep you looking forward to the next update!

Go for No Tour - Second Update

We have been having an amazing time on the Tour having now been on the road for 17 days. The last couple days were in NYC. Not even sure how many miles we've driven, it is at least over 4000. We have met great people along the way all with their unique and inspiring messages of persistence, as well as some great Go for No! stories.

One of the more interesting things that happened was literally almost running over two Missionaries in Portland Maine. As it turns out we ended up interviewing them to get their "Go for No!" story and they did have one. In fact, they told us that for every "yes" they get, they hear about 999 No's! No matter your religious beliefs, you must admit that is one high NO-Quotient!

We also met with Jon Friedman here in NYC, creator of The Rejection Show and author of Rejected! Tales of the Failed, Dumped, & Cancelled. If you have not read Jon's book, you must get it! Jon's mission is much like ours, to remove the stigma of rejections and actually celebrate them so they lose the power over you. In fact, on Jon's show, he has people read and perform their rejected material! We only wish we could have seen a show while here in New York! Off to our Nation's Capitol tomorrow...

Go for No Tour - First Update

Sitting here looking over the most amazing vista just outside Denver. We have driven about 1700 miles so far (okay Richard has) and have had a really great time!

What has been so wonderful, just as we thought, are meeting people along the way for the documentary video. It is turning into much less "travel log" as the information, stories and motivation we are getting from those we have talked to is overwhelming. We met so far with: Chris Widener (www.chriswidener.com) Michael Clouse (www.nexera.com) Margie Aliprandi (www.margiealiprandi.com) Kody Bateman (www.sendoutcards.com) and Dr. TC North (www.courageandconfidence.com) and they each blew us away with their passion and inspiration. It was also gratifying to see how they were all impressed with our little project. (shamless plug)

So, we plug on. We are missing Courage the Cat but he is really being well taken care of. And, we miss the "easy" cup of coffee; you know without worrying about leaving your hotel room, dressed. Other than that, this is a fabulous adventure, the video pieces are amazing and we are off through Kansas today. Somewhere in Topeka I think... Signing off!

Andrea explains Go for No!

Go for No Tour Across America!

We are excited to announce that starting on May 13th we will climb into our vehicle and proceed to drive 10,000 miles across the country on a Go for No Tour Across America. (See below for the 10 reasons WHY we are doing this!)

Tour Dates: The Go for No!® Across America tour will officially begin in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 (our home town) and conclude with a tour "Wrap Party" on Saturday night, June 27, at the Nines Hotel in downtown Portland.

Speaking: We are speaking and appearing at private events and team meetings around the country.... check with us now to see if we can attend your event!

Reasons for the Tour: What reason could two people possibly have to climb in a vehicle and take a month and a half out of their lives to drive 10,000+ miles across America? Actually, we have TEN!

1) Celebrate the 100,000th copy of Go for No!® in print, including translation into French, Portuguese, Hindi and (coming soon) Spanish!

2) Introduce our new, Living Go for No!® online membership club

3) Launch of the Go for No!® Kids Foundation

4) Develop relationships with Key Influencers to help spread the Go for No!® message

5) Capture the Go for No!® Stories of highly successful people for a documentary-style video

6) To let meeting planners know we speak!

7) Speak at various events and team meetings.

8) Check a few new steakhouses off the list (if you've ever heard Rich & Andrea speak you know they're fanatics for GREAT steakhouse experiences!)*

9) In truth, Richard & Andrea love a good road trip… and this one is going to be a BLAST!

10) And, of course, to continue the mission of turning your greatest obstacle in to your greatest asset by reprogramming the way people think about failure, rejection, and hearing 'NO!'

Be sure to follow this blog as we post photos, video snipets, and stories about the tour!

GFN for Direct Selling Success

Being on twitter (follow me at www.twitter.com/goforno) has really led to meeting a lot of wonderful people especially in the world of direct selling where "Go for No!" had a fantastic impact.

I am really excited to be partner up with the Direct Sales Success Summit. Lisa, the event organizer, asked if Richard and I would be a part of her summit and of course we were thrilled to do it and be in such great company. The experts for this are amazing!

I was also stunned to discover that this summit is... Free! However, she only has enough space for 1000 lines and I have no doubt they'll be completely taken up. So, if you're interested in this amazing program, sign up now!

Happy Go for No! Day

It's March Fourth and that means it is the first annual Go for No! Day. So, how do you celebrate on Go for No! Day? And why would you want to?

It is our position that there is virtually nothing you can't achieve if you are willing to hear NO often enough. But most people have been taught and conditioned that "no" is bad. That if they hear "no" they have failed and they must be doing the wrong thing. And because of this, often they give up and quit.

Our goal is to create a mind-shift and teach people how to use "no" to their advantage. Because ironically, when you go out of your way to increase the number of No's you hear, the yeses will show up at your door in greater quantities than you could have imagined.

So, let's celebrate on Go for No! Day doing a few simple things...

1) Enhance your NO awareness by counting your no's. If you are not already, today is the day to count your No's! See how many you get. Make it for everything you do throughout the day. See what happens!

2) Set a NO GOAL! Set a goal for the number of NO's you are going to hear.

3) Reward yourself for the No's you've gotten all year. On March 4th get yourself a treat or do something you enjoy (Andrea's getting a pedicure!) and celebrate your courage and persistence.

4) Share and teach to others. Share the "go for no" philosophy with your friends, colleagues, team members, etc. Everyone can benefit from using this philosophy whether to grow their sales, build a team, get a job, raise money, and more!

5) If you have not read "Go for No!" the 80 page fable that teaches these lessons in a fun, easy read, get it today from www.goforno.com or on www.amazon.com.

Go for No in Brazil

Go for No is now being offered in Brazil! So, if anyone you know needs to learn to "Go for No!" and they only speak Portuguese, then you are in luck! Visit: http://www.bestlevel.com.br/

Go for No Day

We have just decided that March 4th will be the official Go for No! Day. We like it because "go for no" is about persistence and nothing says persistence like March Forth! Get it? March 4th!

To celebrate Go for No! Day you should be especially mindful of collecting and counting your No's. And even more important, celebrating all of the failure, rejection and No's that you collected throughout the year!

We will be holding a special call to help you celebrate Go for No! Day and tap into the Power of No! Stay tuned.

After the day passes we will be submitting our celebration details to the organization that officially tracks all of these "special days" so that every year March 4th will be officially recognized as "go for no" day.

Now, we are assuming we'll have no trouble getting approved. It would be ironic if they turned us down and said, "No."

Bliss & Slumdog Millionaire

Over the last 88 days, Richard has been maintaining a personal blog at Achieving Breakthrough Performance detailing his goal of losing 40 pounds in 100 days; his "100 Day Challenge."

His January 1 2009 blog says everything that either one of us could want to share with those following us here, so please go read his entry now!