Straight to Yes: Asking with Confidence and Getting What You Want

CHAPTER 1

Asking: The “Inner Game”

You Were Born to Ask

You were born to ask. It’s your natural way of being. Think about it: have you ever noticed that children ask for anything and everything with no shame? They ask as if they expect to get it and if they don’t, they ask again and then ask someone else. They’re annoyingly per­sistent sometimes. And they have a million and one creative ways of getting you to finally say, “Yes.”

Here’s the problem. As they get older, we erase this natural skill from their make-up by saying things such as, “Stop asking, it’s annoying,” “Don’t be cheeky,” “Don’t be greedy,” “It’s rude to ask for that,” “You don’t hear other people asking all the time, do you?” or just a definitive “No!” in answer to each outlandish ...