I am often asked to name the single most important quality of a great salesperson. I usually say it’s three things:

1. Hungry fighter.

2. Hungry fighter.

3. Hungry fighter.

Bottom line: All great salespeople must have enthusiasm. It’s the one critical trait that you cannot teach. You can learn sales skills, product knowledge, how to plan, networking and pretty much everything else.

Enthusiasm is about passion, gusto, excitement and infectious energy to light up any sales call. But it’s hardly limited to sales. Even though I like to remind people that all of life is sales -- as in, you are always selling something, whether it’s a product, a project, an idea or yourself -- unless you project enthusiasm, you might as well give up and take a nap.

Enthusiasm is crucial in every profession. Major League Baseball star Pete Rose once was asked which goes first on a baseball player -- his eyes, legs or arm. He said: “None of these things. It’s when his enthusiasm goes that he’s through as a player.”

Here are a few examples of enthusiasm worth noting.

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said: “If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm (to play for the Green Bay Packers), you will be fired with enthusiasm.”

Kemmons Wilson, founder of Holiday Inn, said, “If you don’t have enthusiasm, you don’t have anything.”

Motivational author Tom Peters said, “Nothing good or great can be done in the absence of enthusiasm.”

Walter Chrysler, the founder of the automotive company that bears his name, said, “The real secret of success is enthusiasm.”

Mark Twain was once asked the secret to his success. He said, “I was born excited.”

Enthusiasm is a commodity more important than all other commodities. It will find solutions where there appear to be none, and it will achieve success when success was thought impossible.

Enthusiastic people never give up. They understand that the hardest sale they'll ever make is to themselves. But once they're convinced they can do it, they get the job done.

Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet many people don’t believe in themselves as they should, and they find it difficult to become successful. Confidence enables you to perform to the best of your abilities, without the fear of failure holding you back. It starts with believing in yourself, even when no one else does.

That attitude is absolutely essential. Stay upbeat no matter what happens. A can-do attitude is the mind’s paintbrush. Enthusiasm can color any situation.

What can you do to boost your enthusiasm? It all depends on how much you want to succeed. Take control of your own destiny. Success comes from knowing what you want, not wanting what you know.

It helps to have a little bulldog in you to achieve your dreams. The pioneering pilot Amelia Earhart said, “The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity.”

Find something that makes you happy. If you love what you do, you will work harder. Having a purpose is the best motivation, better than money or fame. To me, happiness is the key to success. Only you can draw the map of the route to your happiness.

Here’s the best part: You can take any detour on your roadmap where your enthusiasm leads you. Therein lies the beauty of living an enthusiastic life, that you can see possibilities beyond your original plan. There are many paths to achieve your ultimate happiness and success. Don’t let your fear of following them get in the way.

Consider the story of a 94-year-old woman in Arizona. Her friends always described her as charming, delightful and always positive. When asked her secret of living, she responded: “It’s my enthusiasm for life. Because I think positive, I am positive.”

Pausing for a moment, she continued: “Even at 94, I have four boyfriends. I begin each day with Will Power. Then I go for a walk with Arthur Ritis. I usually return home with Charlie Horse, and spend the evening with Ben Gay. Need I say any more?”

If she can have that kind of enthusiasm at 94, there’s no excuse for you not to have it at 24, 44 or 74. The choice is yours: Are you living with enthusiasm?

Mackay’s Moral: The world’s work is done every day by people who could have stayed in bed ... but didn’t.

In the beginning, it was the button. Then came the zipper. And then came Velcro. How? The ubiquitous "touch fastener" was invented about 60 years ago by a Swiss engineer named George de Mestral, who based his idea on his observation of the way burrs stuck to the fur of his hunting dogs after a walk in the woods.

Many good ideas have been discovered because someone poked around in an outside industry or discipline and applied what they found to their own field.

Dan Bricklin took the "spreadsheet" concept from accounting and turned it into VisiCalc, the program that helped create the microcomputer software industry.

World War I military designers borrowed from the cubist art of Picasso and Braque to create more effective camouflage patterns for tanks and guns.

Mathematician John von Neumann analyzed poker-table behavior and developed the "game theory" model of economics.

The "unbreakable" U.S. military code used in World War II was based on the Navajo language.

"I've known advertising people who got ideas from biology, software programmers who got inspiration from songwriters, and investors who spotted new opportunities by going to junkyards," said Roger von Oech in his book "A Kick in the Seat of the Pants."

In my experience, listening to customers is a tremendous source of inspiration. Hearing what their specific needs are often turns out not to be exclusive to that customer, and can benefit other accounts that our company services. We've added products and features because one customer needed a particular item.

I've heard it said that there are no new ideas, just improvements on old ones. I'm not sure that's true, but many of the great "inventions" have been a next generation or hybrid of a tried-and-true product or system.

Some problems require fresh, innovative thinking. One way to search for creative solutions is to SCAMPER toward a better result:

Substitute. Replace an element that's part of the problem. Use a different material, ingredient or person and see what happens. Try a variety of options to improve the process or product.

Combine. Put elements together. Do you have two departments working on related problems? Plan some joint sessions so they can brainstorm a better solution. By seeing the whole pizza instead of one slice of the pie, you create the potential for an exciting new recipe for success.

Adapt. Look outside the problem for something you can use to address it. Refer to the Velcro example: De Mestral wasn't actively seeking a new fastener, but he recognized the potential use of such an accidental discovery. Be open to possibilities.

Minimize/maximize. Make something smaller or larger. Instead of targeting the mass market with a new product, for example, maybe you can find a small niche to sell it to. Conversely, maybe a specialized tool has wider potential. Internet marketing is the ideal tool for specialized products.

Put things to a different purpose. Look for a different application. Are people in their most productive roles, or are they looking for other opportunities to shine? Encourage hidden talents to surface.

Eliminate. Look for elements you don't need. Often we include steps in a process out of habit, for example, whether they still serve the original purpose or not. Analyze as you go along to see where you could streamline or improve.

Rearrange. Put the elements in a different order or reverse them completely. It's easier to spot what's missing in a new arrangement. Take a chance on a new beginning and see if it leads to a better ending.

I tend to agree with the wisdom of Carl Ally, founder of the Ally and Gargano ad agency, who said: "The creative person wants to be a know-it-all. He wants to know about all kinds of things: ancient history, 19th-century mathematics, current manufacturing techniques, flower arranging and hog futures. Because he never knows when these ideas might come together to form a new idea. It may happen six minutes later or six months or six years down the road. But he has faith that it will happen."

Creativity goes hand in hand with being curious. It isn't necessary to become an expert on opera or baseball or auto mechanics to be successful in business, but it will expand your horizons. You just might be amazed what you find at the edge of your universe.

Mackay's Moral: Creativity is a marathon that creates value in the long run.

I recently attended a virtual panel presentation in Minneapolis about women in sports that highlighted the important benefits of participation.

One of the panelists cited a study that discovered nearly 90% of women in C-suite positions have a sports background. The moderator, Mary Jo Kane, a retired professor in the School of Kinesiology and the former director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport, both at the University of Minnesota, asked the four panelists what role sports play in developing this executive skill set.

Everyone mentioned mental toughness and resilience, which translate to all aspects of life, especially business.

Mental toughness is persevering through difficult circumstances, conditioning your mind to think confidently and being able to overcome frustration. Athletes must be in tip-top physical shape, but if they don’t prepare themselves mentally, they will never become champions.

Mental toughness needs to be exercised to grow and develop. Get out of your comfort zone by taking on new tasks, and then seek out other duties to test your determination.

As for resilience, nearly all the successful people I know have dealt with defeat, slumps, failures, change and adversities of every nature. The reason they are successful in spite of all that is they had the confidence and courage to face those setbacks and find a way to overcome them.

Remember, you can’t live life with an eraser. You can’t anticipate every possible problem, no matter how hard you try. But you can resolve to face challenges as they arise.

The panelists also discussed teamwork, goal-setting, hard work and the importance of having mentors.

“Sports teach you about wins, losses and failures,” said Pam Borton, CEO of PBP Consulting Group and former head coach of the women’s basketball teams at the University of Minnesota and the University of Vermont. “As a coach, you have to build highly skilled teams. You learn how to hire, fire and recruit. All these skills are transferrable to business. As leaders, you learn how to help people and enhance people skills.”

Laura Day, executive vice president and chief business officer of the Minnesota Twins, said she learned to “surround herself with champions -- both men and women. You also need to be comfortable with change. Sports unlock a lot of things.” She mentioned that she is curious by nature and has an insatiable desire to learn.

Day added: “Culture is important because you can thrive in an organization that shares your values. It’s tough to fit a square peg into a round hole.”

Lisa Lissimore, associate director of the Minnesota State High School League, said you learn a lot from winning and losing. Sports gave her the confidence she needed because she had a complex about being tall and skinny growing up. Sports also allowed her to work with a variety of people.

Julie Manning, executive associate director of Gopher Athletics at the University of Minnesota, said she learned grit from competing in sports. “You stay in there when you get knocked down. You have to perform under pressure with calmness. There is always a sense of urgency, but you must remain calm.

“Sports teach you to solve problems. For example, if you have a bad tee shot on the golf course, you have to think about how to get out of that situation. Sports also builds consensus. You learn to strive to get better every day,” Manning added.

So, what can parents and grandparents do to help their daughters and granddaughters be successful?

Manning talked about her older brother, who always told his daughter to dream big and then dream bigger.

Day also talked about “feeding your dreams. Tell your daughters and granddaughters to stay positive. Trust yourself. Many people are willing to help, so don’t be afraid to ask them.”

Borton also mentioned the importance of being role models for your children and to provide support and encouragement. “Everyone needs positive reinforcement,” she said.

“We need to make visions of possibilities available to young women,” Lissimore said. “You can do a lot of things if you put your mind to it.”

Truly, it’s mind over matter.

Mackay’s Moral: Training for sports is good training for business and life.