To become a master at any skill, it takes the total effort of your
heart, mind and soul working together in tandem.

― Maurice Young

I don’t play chess, but if I did, I wouldn’t want to face a chess player who was a Master, let alone a Grand Master.  Just the title “Master” tells me all I need to know.  Everyone respects someone who is a master at what they do.  Implicit in mastering any skill is the time spent honing that skill through practice and competition.  More than that, however, the mindset needed to be a master is the critical component.  There has to be commitment, together with intent of purpose, to get great at what you do. Nobody ever became a master at something by dabbling in it.

In the context of selling and negotiating, the good news is you don’t need to be a Master Negotiator before you can achieve excellent results. Nevertheless, the difference between excellent and good results must start with an intention to get excellent.  It’s intending to do what is necessary to achieve consistent excellent results.  The intent has to be there.  It’s not enough to do some of things that will help you sell or negotiate.  You must possess intent to do whatever is necessary to get excellent at selling and negotiating.

For instance, if you struggle with making presentations to groups of people, then you have to tackle making these types of presentations with the intent to get great at them. That means discovering what you need to practice to master making presentations.  This could just mean improving your public speaking skills or gaining more subject knowledge.  It could also mean committing to memory what you need to say.  Sometimes, it could mean just relaxing more and getting out of your own way to free yourself to be more creative and comfortable.  Find people to help you in any of these areas and just keep practicing and presenting. Make a habit out of intending to master your presentation until you actually can master it.  That is the mindset needed.

Lastly, visualize yourself feeling fantastic having just negotiated for exactly what you wanted.  Picture yourself feeling that quiet confidence knowing you were excellent in making your presentation and meeting any objections that came up.  Having those visualizations in your mind daily combined with a committed intent to take whatever action necessary to achieve those goals, and you will possess the mindset of a master.