Launch your own self-empowerment drive using the One Shortcut Expressway and the best in you

The publisher of Who's Who Worldwide, Bruce Gordon, demanded that each associate director dial the phone numbers of at least one hundred and fifty executives per day. There was mischievous delight in not having to dial more than a hundred and fifty times per week. That's because nearly every phone call I made would paydirt That is neither the result of luck nor talent; only following the tiniest of rules that get what you want almost every single time.

Entering each call convinced that it's going to be successful has more of a physical basis than you may recognize. When you speak with someone over the telephone, they can hear smiles and frowns, just as you can. How many Call someone right now. Put a big, fat phoney smile on your face. It doesn't matter what mood you're in, even if you're angry and yelling at someone on the phone. Pull the muscles of your lips back and put a smile on your face. Call someone and you will notice that, within seconds, they know you are smiling and comment on it. It's hysterical. Everyon in life has enough misery, so when you call with a smile, yoou're more likely to be bringing good news than bad news.

Since the job at hand called for interviewing corporate and institutional leaders, mostly in the top three ranksit wasn't exactly digging coal from a filthy mine, as you can agree. In my case, it was a long-time fantasy come true: the ability to ask masters and champions, those who repeatedly lead how they got to be so successful. Doing it with a huge smile and a kind word for whatever assistant had gotten the call through repeatedly produced the same thing that you have gotten when you throw a smile at someone.

Even if an initial call gets you no further than an assistant, that's great, because that assistant is the gatekeeper, or one of them. That's why this is such a good time to remind you of the next absolute hyper-duper-shumuper secret that multiplies your power instantly, to the delight of those who love to sniff at the egalitarian or lacking in some form of sophistication that has no relation to the subject under focus.

The one catch with this PowerGem, remembering that every piece of wisdom always has at least one big catch, is that you have to be able to temporarily suspend whatever you thought about a subject before. If in fact you knew better, you in most likely fact would do it better. Get past the tough one-catch guarantee that temporarily suspending your previous misconceptions leads to instant doubling and tripling of absorbability factor, processable factor, ability to take in new information and successfully marry it to what you know to create a new and improved position, such as the first time you ever use a paper towel, when your eyes lit up in delight.

The reason you treat this call as if it's the most important one of the day is because it is. Your day is comrised of minutes that you control or float along in. Any and every individual activity that you invest your time in is important, otherwise why are you doing it? Unless there's a pistol at your head, no one's forcing you to anything. If you take out the garbage to avoid getting screamed at, you must be getting something you want that makes it worth your while to take out the garbage.

Treating every call as if it's the most important rapidly transmits itself. Every call becomes a two-way participation when you yourself feel important. Engaging a human being fully, with both hands and all teeth and knowing precisely, in advance, why you're calling, instantly doubles and triples the probabilities of your obtaining immediate success. By the time you've practiced it a hundred or more times, you are without a doubt assured of doing it far better than when you started. By the time you've done it five hundred times, a thousand times, five thousand times and beyond, every single company you call has people in it who repeatedly light up every time you call because you always call with: Smiles; one-liners, stated appreciation, specific need

• A funny one-liner, maybe two, although thousands are available.
• Thanks and appreciation specifically stated to every person who gets on the phone
• A clear and firm grasp on precisely what is being solicited: information, appointment, sale, recommendation?