Harry, a salesman, was also a compulsive gambler who would bet on
anything. Cards, horses, roulette, dogs, football, baseball, dice,
basketball, anything with odds, Harry couldn't resist. One day after a
run of bad luck, the salesman said to his friend, "Buddy, I hate asking
you this, but I need $3,000 dollars urgently. We've got no food in the
house, I owe three months rent, the kids need new clothes and my wife is
too ashamed to go out anymore because we have bad checks at every store
in town. Is there any way you can help me out?"
The friend thought for a moment before writing Harry the salesman a check for $4,000 so he could get back on his feet.
"But there's one condition," the friend said. "I don't want you using the money for gambling."
"No worries," said the salesman. "I've already got some money set aside for that!"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that bad habit of
any kind can wreak havoc on a sales career. When it comes to gambling
on anything from a lottery ticket to a sports event, remember that the
safest bet in the entire world is to bet on yourself. Invest in your
own career and improve your own odds of winning rather than throwing
your money away on long shot, short-term victories.
"I would say, stay the hell away from the party
scene. Anything you put in front of your goal, and especially something
like that, whether it's too much gambling, too much food, too much cold
beers on the weekend - anything that you put in front of the prize is
going to end up getting in the way and hurting you in the end."
- Brad Renfro
