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You May Be Leaving Options On the Table – Boost Your Asking Power to Increase Your Possibilities 

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Are you asking for what you really want or only asking for what you think you can get?

You may be leaving possibilities on the table: money, dreams, promotions, and opportunities you didn’t even think were options.

Maybe you are already making courageous asks and getting yes’s. But consider this, if you are always getting a yes then could you have gotten more?

Discover the inside secrets that auctioneers use to get the ‘yes’ you never knew you could ask for and achieve. Stop leaving options on the table and start getting yes’s beyond what you expect. Limitless possibilities await if you ask like an auctioneer.

Awaken your own audacity and trust yourself in the biggest way possible so you can grow to heights you maybe never thought possible.

What is a High Leverage Point?

High leverage points are moments when being masterful can change everything. 

These are the moments where you can’t afford to not be on point. They’re the moments where you end up being seen as a trusted partner instead of the opposite. 

Leverage points are an accelerant, a moment that accelerates something, a moment where you can really nail something, or a moment where you catalyze something. 

The moment where you find the courage to speak from the heart when it really matters instead of rounding the edges. A moment where you choose courage and honesty instead of fear and limitation.

Why You Should Aim For a “No”

A common pitfall that most of us fall into while negotiating or asking for things is that we frame asks to try and guarantee a yes. 

Auctioneers on the other hand actually aim for a no and they can’t sell anything until they get to a no because that means they’ve hit the ceiling.  

We sabotage ourselves by negotiating down to try and guarantee a yes. 

“They’ll never say yes to 10” 

“There’s no way”

“That’s too high it will scare them off”

So you lowball and get an instant yes and feel like you did a great job because you got a yes. But maybe you could’ve asked for 10 and gotten eight instead of settling for 4. 

If you’re only ever asking in a way that is intended to guarantee a yes, what you truly want is a yes.

Finding the Courage to Go for the No

Ask yourself– are you going to go out on a limb or not?

Find the courage by not expecting yourself to feel good when you make a courageous ask.

You may feel like you want to throw up, or you’re sweating. You might have a little voice in the back of your head whispering shame and judgment to you like “How dare you? Who do you think you are?” 

That voice showing up is just Drama. It’s fear rearing its head. Its arrival means that you’re in a place that usually keeps you from moving forward. You feel a state of threat and it’s enticing you to settle for a yes. 

Push through and don’t expect going out on a limb to feel comfortable. Uncouple feeling cozy with the idea of a good ask.  You have to learn to read that feeling comfortable is a sign you’re doing something courageous, not a sign you’re doing something wrong.

Why Not Go For It? Your Odds are Better Than You Think

People are complex, sometimes irrational, and often surprising. You don’t know what they’re going to say yes or no to, and it may change from one day to the next. Your rationale for what they’ll say yes or no to doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with what their rationale is about what they’ll say yes or no to. 

You don’t get to decide for someone else what they will say yes or no to. You are allowed to stop lowballing yourself and aiming for a yes. 

Ask for the bigger number and just see what people will say, because you don’t truly know what they’re going to say. You can’t control anyone but yourself, and you can control whether you ask for more or settle for less. 

Where can you make a courageous ask that could change everything for the better?

Photography by Kelley Raye // kelleyraye.com

Dr. Caneel Joyce is a CEO Coach and social scientist who helps people break out of the invisible traps and make whole-life changes easily and naturally.

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