The pay was strictly commission so it was entirely possible to spend 60 hours working in a week just to make a grand total of nothing, not a dime.

薪水是嚴格的佣金制度，所以非常有可能在一周內工作 60 小時，但賺不到什麼錢，一毛都沒有。

Now luckily for me the training that they provided was rather exceptional.

幸運的是，對我來說，他們提供的培訓非常特別。

And one particular concept has continued to stay with me till this very day.

其中有個特別的概念一直深植我心。

A concept so powerful that it has brought me massive success in all areas of my life.

這個概念是如此的強大，以至於我生活的各個層面都取得極大的成功。

The law of averages.

平均法則。

Now to understand this law and what it has to do with you, let me paint a picture of what exactly my job entitled.

若要了解這個法則以及它與你的關係，請看以下這些關於我工作內容的插畫。

I sold telecommunication services, think TV internet and home phone.

我做電信銷售，試想電視、網路和家用電話。

I would spend the majority of my day knocking on doors looking for potential buyers.

我會花大部分的時間敲門尋找潛在買家。

There were three categories of people that I would meet throughout the day.

我在一天當中會遇到的客戶可以分成三類。

The first was the most common they were the hard-nosed customers they loved their current provider.

第一類是最普遍的，他們是頑固的客戶，他們喜歡目前的供應商。

They had no issues with them and they did not want to hear your pitch.

他們與供應商之間沒有任何糾紛且不根本不想聽你推銷。

They're the same ones to chase you off their porch with their surprisingly large collection of Pitbulls. True story by the way.

他們就是那種會放狗咬人，把你從門廊趕走的那群人；順帶一題，這是真實故事。

Now only the best of the best salesman could get them to buy.

只有最優秀的銷售員才能說服他們購買。

And even then the rate of success would be extremely low.

即使如此，成功的機率也還是非常低。

These guys made up about eighty percent of all consumers.

這些人占總客戶數的 80%。

Next up, were the medium difficulty consumer.

接下來，是中等難度的消費者。

They were much less common than the hard consumers and they made up about ten percent of the consumer base.

他們比頑固型的消費者要少得多，大概佔消費者總數的 10%。

They were indifferent about their provider.

他們對於自己得供應商沒什麼特別的感覺。

They didn't love them at the same time they didn't really hate them either.

他們沒有特別喜歡供應商但也不會真的討厭他們。

There would always be one or two things that they wish could be improved upon but for the most part they weren't really looking to buy.

總會有一兩件他們希望可以改進的東西，但大多數情況下他們並不是真的想買。

However they were willing to listen.

但他們很願意聆聽。

The best of salesmen could close a decent amount of these guys while the moderately good salesman could also grab a couple.

最優秀的銷售員可以成功吸取相當數量的購買者，而好一點的推銷員也可以吸收個一兩位。

But if you are new to the game you'd have a pretty hard time making the sale.

但如果你是新手的話，將很難進行銷售。

And finally there were the easy consumers, they were extremely rare.

最後是好上鉤的客戶，他們真的很稀有。

But they were straight out buyers they were already having issues with their providers.

但他們是會直接購買的買家，因為他們與供應商已經有些糾紛了。

And were considering on changing but never really got around to it.

他們想要換廠商但從未真正付諸行動。

If you as a salesperson were to find these people no matter how bad of a salesperson you were, you basically had a sale.

若你作為銷售人員找到了這些人，無論你是多麼糟糕的銷售員，你基本上一定可以成交。

All you had to do was not screw up the paperwork and the chances of finding these was about 1/100.

只要不要搞砸文件的部份就能成功，要找到這種買家的機率大約是百分之一。

Now the law of averages states that the likelihood of certain events evens out if the frequency is increased.

現在，根據平均法則，如果頻率增加，某些事件的可能性就會均勻分布。

Which meant that if I spent an entire day bumping into only hard-nosed consumers, I was not to get discouraged.

這表示如果我一整天都只遇上頑固的消費者，我並不需要感到氣餒。

Because if I kept on knocking I would eventually bump into an easy consumer and this was very often (that's) not the case.

因為如果我繼續敲門，我最終會遇到好上鉤的消費者，但事情往往不會那麼順利。

There's even one particular day which I remember extremely vividly, I had just finished training.

甚至在某一天，我記得非常清楚，我剛完成訓練。

And I was finally out on the field on my own.

我終於可以獨當一面了。

I was in this humongous apartment complex with about 15 floors and over 300 doors.

我在一幢巨大的公寓裡，大約有 15 層樓和超過 300 戶的居民。

I spent 10 hours that day knocking on doors getting yelled at left and right.

我花了 10 個小時挨家挨戶推銷，也被左右鄰居破口大罵。

In my head I was thinking law of averages my ass.

我心裡想，「平均法則」就是狗屁。

It's all about the territory and the price of the product and the weather outside.

這完全取決於所在的區域、產品的價格以及外面的天氣。

You know what I'm gonna prove them wrong.

但我還是想證明他們錯了。

I'm gonna finish knocking on all the doors and I'm going to show them that the law of averages is a hoax.

我要挨家挨戶的拜訪完所有的居民，並向他們證明平均法則是個騙局。

And when I got to the very bottom of this 15 floor complex the last three doors, guess what?

當我走到這棟 15 層大樓最底層的最後三戶人家時，你猜發生了什麼？

Were all easy customers back-to-back they were practically begging to be switched over.

接連都是很好上鉤的客戶且他們幾乎要求要換廠商。

I remember going home that day baffled by the power of the law of averages.

我記得我那天回家時，對於平均法則感到困惑。

And over the years working there it only became more and more ingrained into my mindset.

但隨著多年的工作累積，它變得越來越根深蒂固。

Now what does the law of averages have to do with you. you don't do sales.

所以平均法則對你來說有什麼影響呢？你又不從事推銷工作。

Well, no matter what your goal is you're gonna bump into a large majority of hard rejections.

嗯，不管你麼目標是什麼，你將會遭遇到很多次的強硬拒絕。

A couple of indifferent rejections ones that if you are skilled enough you can win over.

有一些無傷大雅的拒絕，當你足夠熟練時，便能夠戰勝它。

And once in a blue moon you're going to bump it some opportunities that are literally just waiting for you to show up at their doorsteps.

總有一天，你會碰到一些機會，那些客戶就是等著你出現在他們家門口。

Whether it be in regards to your dating life getting a job or even getting recognition for your creative work.

無論是關於你的約會生活、求職，或是對於創作的認可。

The large majority of people are going to reject you.

大部分的人將會拒絕你。

What you have to keep in mind is the more times you take action the more times you get rejected the closer you are to finding those who are excited to actually work with you.

你需要記住的是，你採取行動的次數越多，被拒絕的次數也就越多，那麼就越容易找到那些真正想與你合作的人。

So if you want a girlfriend, you gotta go out there and approach more women.

所以如果你想要一個女朋友，你必須出門並接觸多點女生。

If you want to get a decent job all you have to do is apply to more places.

如果你想要找到一份好工作，你必須向更多的公司投遞履歷。

And if you want to get recognized for whatever creative expression that you tinker in.

如果你無論做什麼創意表現都想被認可的話。

All you gotta do is keep on creating.

你所要做的就是繼續創作。

Now don't worry if you bump into a wall of rejections early on because that's how the game works.

現在不必擔心很早就到處碰壁，因為這場遊戲就是這樣。

You're supposed to get rejected.

你一定會被拒絕。

Life is all a numbers game and the odds are never going to be in your favor.

生活就是數字遊戲，而勝利的機率一定不會站在你這裡。

But if you keep playing you're gonna win and that my friend is the law of averages.

但如果你繼續玩下去，你將會贏得勝利，而我的朋友這就所謂的「平均法則」。