BRET BARRIE

Several thousand people travel for work on any given day in the world. I'm right there with them.

The travel required for many jobs is taxing – physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, it’s even more taxing on the families of those business travelers.

Kids don’t get to spend as much time with their parents, and often times parents have to miss sporting events, school activities, parent/teacher conferences, and growing milestones. Business travel may look glamorous, and I’m sure some parents would like the solitude and peacefulness of it, but I’m here to tell you – it’s not as glamorous as it looks.

When traveling, it's important to keep in mind that your family doesn’t know how much you miss them unless you make a CONSCIOUS effort to show them. Otherwise, they’ll just think you’re enjoying being away.

Even in today's digital age, business travel is never going away. If significant travel is part of your career, there...

Everyone has that friend.

You know, the friend you take to a party, social gathering, or heck, even a family gathering. He doesn't know anyone, but you're there five minutes and he's already made friends with half the room.

People with this skill are often labeled as having "the gift of gab", or being a "real talker", "social butterly", or most likely, the life of the party. In reality, the skill these people have is the ability to connect quickly with others. They make people feel comfortable enough with them that they lower their walls and want to be friends.

Instantly.

Whether you're in sales, own or run a business where you need to attract clients, or  are a member of your children's parent/teacher association, these are skills that will make you more effective in many different endeavors.

Here are five tips to getting anyone's attention and forming instant connections with people:

1. Make eye contact

While it's tough to find who the original orator of the saying was,...

I remember being new to sales and wondering how the experienced sales reps were selling so much. Did they have all the "rich" customers?

Were they selling in a geographical pocket no one else knew about? Maybe they were just smarter, went to a better college, or had a bunch of connections from their parents and relatives.

I soon found out that was not the case. At all.

While there can be an element of truth in some of those scenarios, there are other factors that, most of the time, are the real reason for top sales people's success.

One of those factors is how deeply you believe in what you're selling.

You can have the best plan, be willing to learn and grow, and be doing the right number of presentations with qualified prospects. But if you don't believe in your soul in what you're selling, why you're selling it, and the true value of that product or service, you will never achieve better-than-average results in sales.

To be highly effective selling a product or service, and...

When I was in eighth grade, my Mom got a call from my basketball coach to inform her I was hanging out with the "wrong crowd".

Growing up, I was always a good kid. Sports always consumed my extra time after school and in the summers. I always earned above average grades. So when my Mom approached me about the call, I couldn't understand why it was such a big deal.

Although the kids I was hanging out with during break and lunchtime were starting to dabble in drugs, declining grades, and curfew violations, I wasn't doing any of those things, and I pointed that out to my Mom.

She wasn't buying it.

"Bret," she said. "At the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether or not you are actually doing the things they are. Even if you aren't, people will still think you are and they will think you are on the wrong path too. Birds of a feather fly together."

At the time, I didn't get it. In fact, I was angry that my parents and coach would try to "control me" and tell me who I should and...

January 3, 2017 is a day I will never forget. It was the worst day of my life.

It's the day my dad died.

At just 65, he passed far too young and much too soon. He was a great guy, and he will be missed by far more people than he would have ever realized. For someone who never wanted attention, he left a positive impression on all who knew him.

Through his final days, with my family and I by his side, I found myself replaying my whole life over and over again.

I couldn’t help but remember all the fun times we had. The annual summer camping trip to Fort Bragg, CA, our first trip to Disneyland, and all the sporting events and family moments we shared together are all pieces of my life I'll never forget.

Even more than the great experiences and memories, I'll remember all the lessons I learned from my Dad. They were simple in explanation, always well thought-out and timeless.

Here are the 10 biggest lessons I learned from my dad:

1. Do the right thing

When faced with a tough...

Top sales and business coach Grant Cardone says, "White space on your calendar is the devil of productivity and plants the seeds of doubt."

In sales, if there's white space on your calendar, you aren't in front of prospects. If you aren't in front of prospects, you aren't getting paid. That's the bottom line.

Tom Hopkins says, "In sales, work is only the time you spend in front of someone who can say yes to your product or service. Everything else is preparatory to work."

So how do you fill you schedule and ensure you are spending the right amount of time engaging in the right activities to grow your business? Follow these steps:

1. Crystallize your goals

What is your goal to sell this week, this month, this quarter, and this year? Before you take action, you have to know what you're shooting for.

It doesn't matter if your goal is to sell $1,000 this year or $1,000,000. If you don't have that number written down, chances are you won't get to it.

Think about the last vacation you...

Starting a new job can be extremely difficult. When it comes to the world of sales, it can seem downright impossible.

That's probably why no one grows up wanting to be a salesman.

However, there can be significant upside to being in sales. If you're willing to put in the hard work, learn the craft, work your butt off, and stick it out, the rewards can be incomparable to almost any other trade.

I remember when I was brand new in sales. I'd never sold anything in my life, had no clue what I was doing, and went my first 12 appointments before I made a sale.

What I needed was to learn some best practices and strategies. After I did, everything changed for me. Not just in sales, but in life.

Here are five sales tips to getting things going, and keeping them going all the way to the top:

1. Find several great mentors

Although some people have personalities that predispose them to sales success, there's no such thing as a natural born salesman. I've never met one.

Most people end up...