“Everything Lies Ahead” — An Excerpt from Unleashing Your Superpower

I walked out of immigration in the Miami airport with Nina now sleeping in my arms. I paused. I looked at her. I reflected on the past six and a half months, and felt the tears fill my eyes. The feeling of accomplishment was overshadowed by a greater understanding. Throughout the process, I had dozens of people that I needed to make respond in my favor. This adoption could not have happened on my own. I needed others to do what was best. This journey had taught me that I don’t have to accept what is. I can persuade.

My ability to get things done was limited; every success was dependent upon my actions. Every step was dependent on coaxing others to action.

In this book, I’ll be guiding you in crafting a captivating message and developing an irresistible call to action. What I hope to convey is that whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish – whether it’s policy you’re trying to move forward, a business deal you’re striving to seal or an election you’re trying to win – it isn’t just about this one moment. It’s about the unknown that lies ahead – the possibilities it opens up – that wouldn’t, couldn’t, have happened if you hadn’t employed the powers of persuasion.

Now everything lies ahead – the unknown, the potential.

And it clicked for me in that moment in the Miami airport. Up until then, the checklist was the objective. Now I realized that this was no longer it. All of this was toward a greater good. I want you to see that it’s almost always about more than the immediate task at hand – that all such things lead to something much bigger.

The first time I really knew that it was all going to be OK was one day when Nina was about 3. She was sitting in the floor arranging different toys, and I asked her what she was doing. She said she was making families. They don’t all match, she said, but they’re still a family. Just like I don’t match but we’re still a family.

What a feeling that was. So much lay ahead.

It’s not like anything has yet been completed. There’s no nicely wrapped package. It’s an awareness that starts a spark, leads to the next, and then the next. It just gets bigger and bigger.

Bottom line: This isn’t about the quick win. It’s not about selling one car and you’re done. It’s about how we approach life, in all its aspects. It’s about how each little win can lead to transformational change.

I’m going to be asking you to embrace the power of persuasion – to open yourself to its full potential.

Some people view the world as a pie; there are a limited number of slices, and once they’re gone the pie is no more. I’m more of a banquet-table guy. The more people that come to dinner, the better. We can always pull up another chair.

The greatest success I can hope for with this book will be if you tell me you’ve experienced a win. That you persuaded people along on your journey. While you may master some of the tips in this book, if you close its back cover and have just one new tool in your arsenal, I believe it will be worth the read. Just one minor shift of a rudder can take a boat in a whole new direction.

Again, I don’t think persuasion is about one-off wins. I think it’s about mindset. It’s a mindset to forever strive to win.

So you’ve made it through the introduction with me. I’d now like to ask you to proceed with me through these chapters, and then to begin to practice it all on your own. Why start if you’re not going to finish? And why finish if you’re not going to put the skills to practice?

To paraphrase Aristotle, “We need the means to persuade.” This book gives you those means.

Let’s do this!