Avoid America's Favorite Pastime!

What is America’s favorite pastime? Many would think it is baseball. After all, it is called our “National Pastime.” True, a lot of people attend all types of baseball games... from little league to major league games. However, baseball is a bit slow. Someone said that baseball is 12 minutes of excitement packed into 3 hours! Many think it is golf. Golf certainly has gained in popularity over the years. Personally, I’m not good at golf because I stand too close to the ball... after I hit it!

However, there is another pastime that Americans are crazy about. Despite its popularity, this pastime is one you should avoid at all times!!! It is called “transference of blame.” It is easy to blame others for our condition, our problems, and our state in life. We do it all the time:

“Mom, it’s not my fault I failed the test. You see, the teacher asked questions from the book! I thought it would be from his lectures!”

“Boss, it’s not my fault the customer didn’t buy. I showed up at 7:45... for the 7:00 appointment!”

Of course, it’s not our fault that we do this. The blame goes to Adam and Eve. They started it all! God asked Adam if he’d eaten the fruit. Adam transferred the blame by saying, “Lord, let me tell you about that woman you gave me.” Eve transferred the blame to the serpent. And we all know the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on!

www.TheNetworkMarketingMagazine.com 1 We are responsible for our thoughts and our actions. We are responsible for our hits and our misses. We are responsible for our successes and our mistakes.

If others are responsible for our success, then we need to invest in those people! We should send them to schools and to seminars. We should educate them... and we can stay home. Once they are better, we will get better. Once they are great, our lives will be great! No, I don’t think so.

You know that it doesn’t work that way. We must stop blaming others. We must stand on our own and make our own way in this world. We all need to avoid the pastime of “transference of blame.”

This ten word, 20-letter sentence says it all: if it is to be it is up to me!!! Good luck and good selling!

Bryan Flanagan is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and a 1971 graduate of Louisiana State University. Bryan began his career as a delivery boy for the IBM Corporation in Baton Rouge. He then invested the next 14 years with IBM as a salesman, a "people" manager, and a sales instructor at IBM's national training center. In 1984, Bryan joined the Zig Ziglar Corporation in Dallas, Texas. For the next 20 years he served clients in a variety of industries ranging from professional services to high tech to

pharmaceutical companies.

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In 2005, Bryan founded Flanagan Training Group. In this capacity he designs and delivers training programs that improve team and individual productivity and growth. He is also available for speaking engagements. Whether you need a keynote address or a rousing end-of-the-conference wrap up, he can deliver tailored programming that ensures your meeting is a success. Let Bryan put his real-world experience to work for you and your team. He understands what is required to achieve success in today's competitive environment. One thing you can count on... Bryan has fun during his presentation and so do his audiences.

You'll laugh as you learn!!!

Bryan Flanagan is the author of So, You’re New to Sales and the Sales Ambassador for Ziglar, Inc.

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