The Art of Negotiation

Doreen and Jack Canfield

To succeed at making the best deal, many people tout the art of negotiation. It’s all about your leverage, positioning, ability to bluff, and knowing the exact moment it’s time to nod yes and shake hands. As a matter of fact, many of us have mastered the skill of negotiation.

We have haggled over cars, business deals, house chores, and even pre-nuptial agreements. Unfortunately, some of us have gotten too good at negotiating. In fact, we begin to think that everything is negotiable. And that includes our goals.

This past week, I was in Dallas and had the pleasure of hearing Jack Canfield talk about your “goal percentage”. It’s the percentage that you are committed to achieving the goal that you set.

The co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books and the bestselling book The Success Principles, Jack is considered a leading authority on peak performance and teaching fundamental, timeless strategies for creating your extraordinary life.

The good news is, there is no complicated calculation to figure out your personal “goal percentage”. It’s actually quite simple. There are only two options. You are either committed 0% or 100%. You are either doing it or you are not. Point blank. End of discussion.

For example:

You are either sticking to your financial budget or you are not.
You are either making smart food choices or you are not.
You are either open and honest in your relationships or you are not.

But because we have gotten so good at negotiating, we allow ourselves to negotiate inconsistency in our plans to achieve our goals. We say things like “just this once”, “I’ll get back on track tomorrow”, “it won’t make a difference this one time”, “no one will know”, and then there’s the all time favorite negotiation: “I’m doing so well/been through so much…I deserve this”.

The problem with winning these types of negotiations is that you are actually taking a loss. Remember, you are never standing still in life. You are either moving towards living out your passion, purpose and making a contribution, or you are moving backwards. Each time you are not giving 100% to your goal, you are giving 0%.

So get the most you can out of that car, house, salary, or business deal. But when it comes to crossing the finish line to your goals – make that non-negotiable.

RADICAL Success Coach Doreen Rainey helps her clients define success for themselves and then get the guts to go after it. For information on her RADICAL Success Institute and other coaching programs to help you reach your professional and personal goals, visit her website.