There are lots of bumpers out there plastered with the following words:

S#@! Happens

Here are three translations of what this really means:

Shift Happens
I’ve yet to meet the individual who couldn’t benefit from a shift in thinking. This could be believing you can do something that you’ve told yourself you can’t, seeing the positives in a negative situation, or finding possibilities when there appear to be none.

How do you start? It’s much easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than trying to think your way into new way of acting. Shift happens when what you do becomes what you think.

Selling Happens
Everyone sells; many people just don’t call it selling. Whether it’s a job interview, sharing an idea with friends, or rolling out a new strategy to your team, all of these involve selling.

As a result, everyone, everywhere has the capacity to be a Collaborative Evangelist for their company. This is one reason I wrote Sales Yoga—to help salespeople simplify how they sell while also helping those without sales jobs leverage their natural sales abilities. Selling happens when you own and use your inherent talent.

Service Happens
Too much in the realm of customer service is reactive, often in the form of a response to a problem. The best way to solve any problem is to never have it come up in the first place.

Cutting edge service happens when companies anticipate instead of respond, provide more value instead of more excuses, and find ways to say “yes” instead of explaining away a “no.”

So, next time you see one of these bumper stickers, take this as your cue from the universe to double-check that you’re making good S#@! happen.