In this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount Jr. sits down with sales guru Kristie Jones as she shares her secrets to success, including powerful mindset shifts and strategies to unlock your full potential. Key Takeaways:  – The Importance of Positivity in Decision-Making: Positive decisions about entering a sales role, rather than trying to escape a current job, can lead to more fulfilling outcomes. Sales success often comes when you're focused on going toward something, not just getting away from something else. – The Power of Financial Transparency: Open conversations about money and commissions lead to better financial decisions. Early exposure to financial planning, like saving for retirement, gives a long-term advantage in wealth-building.  – Understanding Your Sales Superpower: Knowing yourself is key to excelling in sales. The first step is to identify your sales superpower—your unique strength that sets you apart in the sales process. Once you understand this, you can match it to the right product, industry, and role. – Self-Awareness is Crucial: True self-awareness, including recognizing strengths, weaknesses, and natural abilities, is critical in achieving success. You need to ask yourself and others about your strengths to identify your superpower, which helps guide career decisions. – Leveraging Your Secret Weapon: A secret weapon is a strategy or skill that, while not always obvious, can turn the tide in a difficult situation. It’s the “ace up your sleeve” you can use when you need to close a deal, much like leveraging your unique strengths at the right moment to get results. – Leveraging Your Strengths: Focus on identifying and doubling down on what you're naturally good at, especially in negotiations and closing deals. Emphasizing your strengths allows you to excel in areas where others may struggle. – Mindset Matters: A positive mindset is crucial for success. Self-talk plays a significant role in shaping this mindset. Avoid statements like "I'm bad at sales" or "I'm not a good negotiator" and instead focus on positive actions, such as "I made a mistake, but I'm not a failure." – Challenge Negative Self-Talk: Negative self-talk is natural but can be countered. Recognizing when it's happening and replacing it with affirmations or positive phrases like "I'm the winner" helps refocus your mind and combat doubt. – Visualization for Success: Mental visualization is a powerful tool for success. Visualize achieving your goals—whether that's winning a tennis match or closing a deal. This helps your brain work towards these outcomes even when you're not actively working on them. – Proactive Career Management: Don't be reactive about your career. Be proactive, conduct research, and approach potential employers with a tailored message, showing why you're the right fit even when no job is advertised. This sets you apart from others who take a more passive approach. – Intentional Job Search: Treat your job search like a search for a life partner, not just a "job." A career should align with your long-term goals, and you should actively seek out companies and positions that match your vision. A more intentional, tailored approach is more effective than just applying everywhere. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laJlmjse754 Negotiation: A Key to Unlocking Opportunities Negotiation is often seen as a key skill in sales, and rightfully so. However, what if negotiation could be viewed as a superpower, a tool that could unlock countless opportunities and elevate one's sales game? In many ways, getting an appointment or making the initial connection is already a negotiation in itself. By shifting the mindset to view negotiation as a strength, it opens up a world of potential.