American born Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich the most successful business book in history, is considered by many to be the most influential self-help writer in history.

Born in 1883 in a one-room cabin on the Pound River in Wise County, Virginia, Hill began writing, at age thirteen, for small town newspapers, and went on to become America’s most beloved motivational author. Fighting against all class of great disadvantages and pressures, he dedicated more than 25 years of his life to define the reasons by which so many people fail to achieve true financial success and happiness in their life.

His big break came when he was asked to interview steel-magnate Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie commissioned Hill to interview over 500 millionaires to find a success formula and write a series of success stories of the famous that could be used by the average person. These included Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, Elmer Gates, Charles M. Schwab, Theodore Roosevelt, William Wrigley Jr, John Wanamaker, William Jennings Bryan, George Eastman, Woodrow Wilson, William H. Taft, John D. Rockefeller, F. W. Woolworth, Jennings Randolph, among others.

He became an advisor to Andrew Carnegie, and with Carnegie’s help formulated a philosophy of success, drawing on the thoughts and experiences of a multitude of rags-to-riches tycoons. It took Hill over twenty years to produce his classic. The book has sold over 50 million copies, and has helped thousands achieve success. The secret to success is very simple, but you’ll have to read the book to find out what it is!

In chapter 15 “The Six Ghosts of Fear” Hill writes “Indecision is the seedling of fear! Remember this as you read. Indecision crystallizes into doubt: the two blend and become fear! The “blending” process often is slow. This is one reason why these three enemies are so dangerous. They germinate and grow without their presence being observed.”

As I coach business owners and high-income sales professionals, I have observed the ability to make decisions quickly is one of the key differentiators between the highly successful and the mediocre.

I have observed this to be so true that I no longer will take a client that needs to “think it over”, ruminate or procrastinate when they have seen all there is to see and heard all there is to hear.

What about you? Do you pursue prospects that have perfected the art of procrastination or do quickly disqualify them. More importantly, are you a decision maker or are you a procrastinator?

The most successful salespeople know that only decision makers can get others to make decisions. Chances are if you are getting a lot of stalls, put offs and think it overs it is because you are guilty of this behavior yourself.

Funny how our life experience mirrors who we are.

Though the left brain / right brain lateralization is a well-established fact, documented by the research of Nobel-winner Roger Sperry, many people misunderstood what this really means.

While there are definite differences between the functions of the left brain and the right brain, these differences pale in significance when compared with the differences between the Old Brain and the New Brain.

The task of a salesperson or marketer is not to just reach the right brain or the left brain, which are both parts of the New Brain, but to reach the Old Brain which is the seat of emotion and emotional response.

If you want to read the long detailed explanation written by internationally renowned neuroscientists Júlio Rocha do Amaral, MD & Jorge Martins de Oliveira, MD, PhD, follow this link: Limbic System: The Center of Emotions.

The practical, condensed version continues below.

The primitive or Old Brain one is responsible for self-preservation. It is there that the mechanisms of aggression and repetitive behavior are located.

Middle Brain or limbic system, which developed with the emergence of the primitive mammals, commands certain behaviors that are necessary for the survival of all mammals. It is where emotions and feelings, like wrath, fright, passion, love, hate, joy and sadness reside.

The third cerebral unit, the cortex or New Brain, is a highly complex net of neural cells capable of producing a symbolic language, thus enabling man to exercise skillful intellectual tasks such as reading, writing and performing mathematical calculations.

What does all of this have to do with influencing and persuading others? First we must realize that buying decisions are made more with the reptilian old brain and the limbic middle brain than the cortex.

That is why when asked how or why they made a purchase most people can’t explain it. It is an unconscious, emotional process that is not easily understood or explained. To be successful marketers and sales professionals would do well to study the emotional underpinnings of why people buy what they buy. People do not buy products and services; they buy the emotional attachments associated with those products or services.

Take buying a Hummer for example. There is no logical reason for ninety-nine percent of the American public to own a Hummer. Yet why are they such a hit? According to Market Research Guru and former child psychiatrist, Clotaire Rapille, “The Hummer is a car with a strong identity. It’s a car in a uniform. For women, they say it’s a new way to scare men. Wow. And women love the Hummer. They’re not telling you; buy a Hummer because you get better gas mileage. You don’t”.

Yes buying a Hummer is “not logical” as Mr. Spock would say but it sure does appeal to the old reptilian brain’s need to dominate and survive.

What reptilian appeal does your product or service have?

If you can’t answer that you are in trouble, you just don’t know it.