Zen and the art of selling.

I have a cousin Donald. Don and I grew up in the same town in upstate New York; we're about six months apart in age; we both have Ukrainian parents. That's pretty much where the similarity ends. Don was an excellent student. He always got good grades, and he was also an excellent baseball player. In Little League he was one of the best pitchers around. He had a fastball that smoked, and his RBI record got his team into the playoffs and sectionals each year.

My formative years, however, were not that awe-inspiring. I had a difficult time in school, and my grades reflected the fact that I had a limited attention span. A lot of teachers breathed a sigh of relief when I finally graduated from high school. As far as my athletic ability went, try coupling "lack of coordination" with "accident-prone," and you'll get the picture.

Parents do their best to make their kids a success, and the one phrase that I always heard through those years was, "Why can't you be like Donald?" It wasn't easy.

We both went to college. I dropped out after the first year and got a job. Don graduated from a major university. He went on to get his Masters, and I went into business. Our lives took different paths. He became a university professor in New York City.

Now this is where the story takes a sharp turn. My cousin was not happy with the role of a college professor. He wasn't happy at home. He wasn't happy, period. He separated from his family and moved from New York to the upper peninsula of Michigan. He became a welder. For a while he was a school bus driver. Sometimes he just collected unemployment. Then he left the country.

Don's back in the states now. Only his name isn't Donald any more; it's Nonin. He went to Japan, studied Buddhism, and became an ordained Zen Buddhist priest. Shaved his head, Gandhi glasses, the whole bit. My Mom doesn't ask "Why can't you be like Donald?" any more. Now she says, "As long as he's happy." Makes sense to me.

I get Don's--er, Nonin's--newsletter called The Nebraska Monkey. I read every word each time because it kind of lets me know where his head is at. Actually it's pretty interesting. Not only that, some of the teachings apply to day-to-day selling. I'll give you an example.

Here's an excerpt from his last newsletter: "Everything we do in life deserves our full attention; we must `burn ourselves like a good bonfire, leaving no trace' with each thing we do. Today life can be very busy. We get involved in so many things. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in doing this, and then that, and more and more, that we bounce from one thing to another trying to cram it all in and end up not fully participating in anything and also leaving little unburned particles of ourselves all over the place. Life is basically simple: Just do what is in front of us moment by moment. But we complicate it by trying to cram too much in, by holding on to past events, by not finishing one thing before going on to another, by savoring the results of an action, or thinking of how poorly we did, or how it didn't turn out the way we wanted."

Selling can be that simple as well. It takes focus. It takes complete attention and desire. If you want to do something badly enough and devoted all your time and attention to it, you will succeed. We all have days when we feel like we're being pulled in nine different directions. Mail stacks up; leads have to be followed up; the phone rings off the hook; fires have to be put out; deals fall apart; sales have to be closed. But taking one thing at a time, giving it full attention and doing it well, can make a big difference in sales at the end of the month. It can also make a big difference in your life.

My cousin chose a life of no bills, no credit cards, no income tax, no amenities, no assets, and few possessions. As a matter of fact, he told me recently he can put all the things he owns in the comer of one room. He came to my office about a year ago, and we went to lunch at one of the local restaurants. People who usually would say no more than "hello" came over to meet Nonin. It was kind of a kick. He compared his life to a gyroscope. Everything around him is spinning at a terrific speed, and he's in the axis with everything going around him.

Most of us are not wired for a life like that. Staring at a wall for hours on end is not my idea of a fun afternoon. But try a half hour with your door closed with no phone calls, working on one project, one task, or one idea at a time. Maybe there's something to this. I often wondered why I was able to get so much work done on the plane from Chicago to L.A. It's because of the opportunity for total concentration. No incoming calls, no mail, no interruptions--unless you choose them.

In a recent phone conversation with my cousin, I asked him about some of the practices he lives by. Here are some rules for the daily practice of Zen that were given to him by a priest, Joen, at Hokyo-ji Zen Monastery years ago in Japan:

* 1. Get up at 4.15 a.m.

* 2. Service to prepare for the day.

* 3. Say something nice to someone.

* 4. Do not criticize or judge.

* 5. Two cups of coffee.

* 6. Reflect upon yourself.

* 7. Eat wholesomely and considerately.

* 8. Do not clutch at yourself, but open your arms to help others.

* 9. Hug your best friend.

* 10. Don't be afraid of anything.

Well, for starters 4:15 a.m. is a little tough, but anyone who has to get up to help get kids off to school knows that 6:00 a.m. is not out of the question. and it's also a head start on the day. If you look at the list, you can see how many practices can fit into your daily pattern.

Some of these rules by themselves probably won't make anyone a better salesperson, but they probably wouldn't hurt, either. If your lifestyle is going at a speed of 160 mph, maybe it's time to slow down and think about what you're really doing. Focus. One thing at a time. Burn yourself to an ash with each thing you do. Bet your sales increase as well.