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Create Your Own Fate, Don't Wait. If you do nothing to change, don't expect your lifestyle to ever improve.

By Grant Cardone

entrepreneur daily

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The middle class is no longer the majority. You either move up or you'll get squeezed out. Don't wait and do nothing. I keep saying the new middle class is the millionaire. In order to move up you need to figure out how to increase revenue. At my company, that's what we do everyday -- we increase revenue for people. I give the tools, the strategies and the secrets to help people skyrocket their income. Thousands of people can attest to this fact.

Even if your job title does not have the word "sales" in it, you must realize that any potential future income increases you make are dependent on how well you will be able to sell. The skill of selling is vital to everything in life. If you want to increase your income, I want to first give you some of the basics -- some of the things all of the great salespeople share.

1. Finish what you start.

Great salespeople are good at starting things, and great at finishing them. I know some people who can finish really well, but just don't start enough. The greats do both. They start a lot of activities and finish them all. Most people start too few things and then quit.

2. Invest in networking, community and building relationships.

Great people know obscurity -- not being known -- is their biggest problem. The great salespeople solve the obscurity problem by getting attention. To become great, you must make yourself known. Your product won't do it by itself. Get involved in politics, get involved in the Chamber of Commerce.

Whether it be churches or schools, get involved in your community. Go where people are and solve the problem of obscurity.

3. Don't compete, dominate.

The greats aren't interested in competition. They want to dominate. They don't want to play fair or be in a race, they want to be the only person in the field. Be the only one on the field because you've done things to separate yourself. Dominate and own the space. Be the only player and do what others refuse to do, then you won't have to compete anymore.

4. See problems as opportunities.

The greats don't see problems, they solve problems. They seek problems that others avoid. You need to have the mindset of doing what others refuse to do and seeing things from a different perspective.

5. Invest in yourself.

Great salespeople invest in their education, development, and personal motivation. They know these are their tools. The average don't stay connected and never read. The basics of your business may not change, but the greats know that things can always be improved.

6. Listen, but be deaf.

Great salespeople are great listeners but they also can be deaf. They know who to listen to and who not to, when to listen and when not to. The greats are deaf to those who say it can't be done. In fact, they get inspired by it. Don't listen when others say it can't be done. Believe you are the only one who can make it happen.

7. Disrupt the status quo.

The greats want to disrupt the status quo for their industry. Think about inventors or business people who have disrupted complete ways of thinking and changed conditions. They don't change things just for the sake of change, but because they see a better, quicker way of doing things. They are not just renegades, but they have something in them that is renegade about wanting to change something for the better.

Take these basic rules of success and will help you to create your own fate. If you do nothing to change, don't expect your lifestyle to ever improve. The middle class will continue to be squeezed. You have the choice to either move up or go down in class. To get the skills you need to raise your income, take advantage of my premium training products at 90 percent off right now in my store.

Grant Cardone

International Sales Expert & $1.78B Real Estate Fund Manager

Grant Cardone is an internationally-renowned speaker on sales, leadership, real-estate investing, entrepreneurship and finance whose five privately held companies have annual revenues exceeding $300 million.

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