Go for No! Yes is the Destination, No is How You Get There by Richard Fenton Summary

Go for No! by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz is a motivational business fable following Eric Bratton, a salesman who learns to embrace rejection as a path to success. Through a fictional narrative, it teaches readers to reframe failure, increase their resilience, and overcome fear by actively seeking "no" responses to accelerate growth.

This book is ideal for sales professionals, entrepreneurs, and anyone facing frequent rejection. It’s particularly valuable for those seeking mindset shifts to build confidence, resilience, and persistence in career or personal goals.

Yes—the book’s concise, story-driven approach offers actionable insights on turning rejection into progress. Readers praise its practical lessons on reframing failure, making it a quick yet impactful read for sales training or personal development.

• Five Failure Levels: A framework showing how embracing rejection leads to mastery.
• Celebrating "No": Viewing rejection as feedback, not failure.
• Fear vs. Courage: Acting despite fear to build resilience.

The book argues that seeking "no" responses reduces fear by normalizing rejection. Eric Bratton’s journey demonstrates how accumulating "nos" builds confidence and statistically increases "yes" outcomes, a strategy backed by real-world sales tactics.

This model outlines progressive attitudes toward rejection:

1. Fear of failure
2. Fear of rejection
3. Acceptance of failure
4. Pursuit of failure
5. Mastery of failure
   Progressing through these levels helps readers reframe setbacks as growth opportunities.

• “Courage is acting in the face of fear” emphasizes taking action despite doubts.
• “Yes is the destination, no is how you get there” reframes rejection as necessary for success.

Unlike tactical sales guides, Go for No! focuses on mindset over techniques. It complements classics like The Psychology of Selling by addressing the emotional barriers to persistence.

Yes—the book’s lessons on resilience and growth mindset resonate in entrepreneurship, creative fields, and personal goals. For example, embracing rejection in job searches or pitching ideas.

Some readers note a narrow focus on sales scenarios, with fewer examples for non-sales contexts. Critics suggest expanding applications to broader life challenges.

In an era of rapid change and AI-driven interactions, the book’s human-centric lessons on perseverance and adaptability remain critical for navigating uncertainty in careers and innovation.

Fenton co-authored the Onyx Webb supernatural series and business titles like The Fear Factory and Million Dollar Year, blending storytelling with professional development themes.