Neutral is Negative

“A truly living human being cannot remain neutral.” — Nadine Gordimer, South African writer, political activist, and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature

This month’s topic, introduced to me almost two decades ago, is a principle and technique all rolled up into one idea, and I’ve held onto it.

It’s something you can use to combat ambivalent feelings and moods. Have you ever felt “out of it,” and when you’re asked how things are going your response is “oh, it’s just fine” or “I’m OK,” or you just feel kind of neutral? I also often hear people say things like: “everything’s good” or “it’s cool” and “it’s alright” — and while those sound somewhat positive, the principle is to understand that neutral is negative.

When you’re neutral, you’re not changing the world. You’re unable to truly make a difference in people’s lives. Neutral is standing still.

And I ask you now to really take a minute to own this idea. Think about the people around you. Think about whenever you’re not doing anything (this concept is different from resting, which is needed to refresh and focus). Think about when you’re standing still in your life, and it could be anything — including when you’re prospecting. When you have a neutral attitude, whenever you’re on the phone with people, and you say things like, “yeah, it’s ok, everything’s alright” — that is not going to get somebody to want to do anything with you. Being neutral with someone is not the way to move them in the direction you want to move them.

Neutral is negative! Think about that with your family. Think about that with your kids, and with the people you are closest to, including your friends. When you have a neutral relationship with any of them, it’s not growing — it’s negative.

Let me give you a visual. Picture the dashboard of a car. Do you see the “N”? It means the car isn’t moving. It means it’s not going anywhere. You know what’s ever crazier than that? When the car has that “N” showing on its dashboard and you’re sitting on a hill, what happens? It slides backwards, a perfect example of why neutral is negative in life.

And when you’re prospecting, you’ve got to be tuned in to your neutral feelings, because they will really throw everything off.

Here is this month’s prospecting nugget:

Love is a choice every day. When prospecting, you choose who to show it to and you choose who to keep it from.

It’s important to note that when you have a neutral attitude, you’re not showing or sharing love. If it’s truly neutral, it’s negative. So go out and get on fire, get positive, get excited, and let’s get away from these neutral feelings whenever you’re prospecting — and living!

Thanks again for reading along, and I’ll see you all here again next month. Go get it!