"I've got some good news and some bad news, which shall I tell you first?" asked the doctor.
"Begin with the bad news first Doc," replied the salesman.
"All right, here goes," replied the doctor. "You had a terrible yachting accident, six months ago, while you were on summer vacation with your family. Your son drowned. Your daughter was eaten by a shark. You're wife survived, but divorced you two weeks later. Your home was completely destroyed by a fire and your sports car was stolen, but since your insurance lapsed you were not covered on either. Oh, I almost forgot, when we were doing routine tests on you last week, we found out that somehow you picked up a rare but incurable disease."
"Good grief! What's the good news?" exclaimed the salesman.
"Ah yes," your sales manager was in to see you last week at year end. Apparently that big deal you were working on came in. I'm supposed to say congratulations on making your quota and President's Club for 2013!"
"Fantastic!" replied the salesman. "When do I leave for Hawaii?"
"Uh, how do I put this?" pondered the doctor. "Your sales manager said he would be stopping by with some souvenirs for you on Friday."
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to be successful at sales they need to be goal oriented. However, never become so focused on your career success that you lose sight of what's really important in life. Your family, your health, and last but not least, your sports car!
"Sometimes things in life happen that allow us to understand our priorities very clearly. Ultimately, you can see those as gifts." - Mariska Hargitay
