As a young boy, I knew what people said was not always what they meant or were feeling. And I knew it was possible to get others to do what I wanted if I read their real feelings and responded suitably to their needs. At the age of eleven, I sold sponge rubber (海绵橡胶) door-to-door after school and quickly worked out how to tell if someone was likely to buy from me. When I knocked on a door, if someone told me to go away but their hands were open and they showed their palms, I knew it was safe to continue with my show because they weren't angry or threatening although they may have a cold attitude. If someone told me to go away in a soft voice but used a pointed finger or closed hand, I knew it was time to leave.
As a teenager, I became a cookware salesperson, and my ability to read people earned me enough money to buy my first house. Selling gave me the chance to meet people and study them close and to know whether they would buy or not, simply by watching their body language.
I joined the life insurance (保险) business at the age of twenty. And I went on to break several sales records for my company, becoming the youngest person to sell over a million dollars' worth of business in my first year. This achievement allowed me to become a member of the well-known Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT). I was lucky that the skills I'd learned as a boy in watching body language while selling cookware could be used in this new area, and were directly related to the success I could have in any business closely connected with people.
