The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz , Full Audiobook

the magic of thinking big by david schwartz preface why this big book why a full-scale discussion of the magic of thinking big thousands of books will be published this year why one more permit me to give you just a little background several years ago i witnessed an exceptionally impressive sales meeting the vice president in charge of marketing for this company was tremendously excited he wanted to drive home a point he had with him on the platform the leading representative in the organization a very ordinary looking fellow who earned in the year just ended just a

little under sixty thousand dollars the earnings of other representatives averaged twelve thousand dollars the executive challenged the group here is what he said i want you to take a good look at harry look at him now what's harry got that the rest of you haven't harry earned five times the average but is harry five times smarter no not according to our personnel tests i checked they show he's about average in that department and did harry work five times harder than you fellows no not according to the reports in fact he took more time off than

most of you did harry have a better territory again i've got to say no the accounts averaged about the same did harry have more education better health again no harry is about as average as an average guy could be except for one thing the difference between harry and the rest of you said the vice president the difference is that harry thought five times bigger then the executive proceeded to show that success is determined not so much by the size of one's brain as it is by the size of one's thinking this was an intriguing thought

and it stayed with me the more i observed the more people i talked with the deeper i dug into what's really behind success the clearer was the answer case history after case history proved that the size of bank accounts the size of happiness accounts and the size of one's general satisfaction account is dependent on the size of one's thinking there is magic in thinking big if thinking big accomplishes so much why doesn't everyone think that way i've been asked that question many times here i believe is the answer all of us more than we recognize

are products of the thinking around us and much of this thinking is little not big all around you is an environment that is trying to tug you trying to pull you down second class street you are told almost daily that there are too many chiefs and not enough indians in other words that opportunities to lead no longer exist that there is a surplus of chiefs so be content to be a little guy but this too many chiefs idea simply doesn't square with the truth leading people in all occupations will tell you as they've told me

that the trouble is there are too many indians and not nearly enough chiefs this petally petty environment says other things too it tells you whatever will be will be that your destiny is outside your control that fate is in complete control so forget those dreams forget that finer home forget that special college for the children forget the better life be resigned lie down and wait to die and who hasn't heard the statement that success isn't worth the price as if you have to sell your soul your family life your conscience your set of values to

reach the top but in truth success doesn't demand a price every step forward pays a dividend this environment also tells us there's too much competition for the top spots in life but is there a personnel selection executive told me that he receives fifty to two hundred fifty times as many applicants for jobs that pay ten thousand dollars per year as for jobs that pay fifty thousand dollars a year this is to say that there is at least 50 times as much competition for jobs on second class street as for jobs on first class avenue first

class avenue usa is a short uncrowded street there are countless vacancies waiting there for people like you who dare to think big the basic principles and concepts supporting the magic of thinking big come from the highest pedigree sources the very finest and biggest thinking minds yet to live on planet earth minds like the prophet david who wrote as one thinketh in his heart so is he minds such as emerson who said great men are those who see that thoughts rule the world minds like milton who in paradise lost wrote the mind is its own place

and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven amazingly perceptive minds like shakespeare who observed there is nothing either good or bad except that thinking makes it so but where does the proof come from how do we know the master thinkers were right fair questions the proof comes from the lives of the select people around us who through winning success achievement and happiness prove that thinking big does work magic the simple steps we have set down here are not untested theories they are not one man's guesses and opinions they are

proven approaches to life's situations and they are universally applicable steps that work and work like magic that you're listening to this proves you are interested in larger success you want to fulfill your desires you want to enjoy a fine standard of living you want this life to deliver to you all the good things you deserve being interested in success is a wonderful quality you have another admirable quality the fact that you're listening to this program shows you have the intelligence to look for tools that will help take you where you want to go in building

anything automobiles bridges missiles we need tools many people in their attempt to build a successful life forget there are tools to help them you have not forgotten you have then the two basic qualities needed to realize real profit from this book a desire for greater success and the intelligence to select a tool to help you realize that desire think big and you'll live big you'll live big in happiness you'll live big in accomplishment income begin friends big respect enough for the promise start now right now to discover how to make your thinking make magic for

you start out with this thought of the great philosopher disraeli life is too short to be little what this book will do for you in every chapter of this book you will find dozens of hard-headed practical ideas techniques and principles that will enable you to harness the tremendous power of thinking big so as to gain for yourself the success happiness and satisfaction you want so much every technique is dramatically illustrated by a real life case history you discover not only what to do but what is even more important you see exactly how to apply each

principle to actual situations and problems here then is what this book will do for you it will show you how you can launch yourself to success with the power of belief win success by believing you can succeed defeat disbelief and the negative power it creates get big results by believing big make your mind produce positive thoughts develop the power of belief plan a concrete success building program vaccinate yourself against excusitis the failure disease learn the secret that lies in your attitude toward health take four positive steps to lick health excusitis discover why your thinking power

is more important than mere intelligence use your mind for thinking not simply as a warehouse for facts master three easy ways to cure intelligence excusitis overcome the problem of age being too young or too old conquer luck excusitis and attract good luck to you use the action technique to cure fear and build confidence manage your memory so as to increase your store of confidence overcome your fear of other people increase self-confidence by satisfying your own conscience think confidently by acting confidently learn the five positive steps to build confidence and destroy fear discover that success is

measured by the size of your thinking measure your true size and find out what assets you have think as big as you really are develop the big thinkers vocabulary with these four specific steps think big by visualizing what can be done in the future add value to things to people and to yourself get the thinking big view of your job think about trivialities and concentrate on what's important test yourself find out how big your thinking really is use creative thinking to find new and better ways to get things done develop creative power by believing it

can be done fight mind freezing traditional thinking do more and do it better by turning on your creative power use the three keys to strengthening creativity by opening your ears and your mind stretch your thinking and stimulate your mind harness and develop your ideas the fruit of your thinking look important because it helps you think important become important by thinking your work is important build your own sell yourself to yourself commercial upgrade your thinking think like important people think make your environment work for you prevent small people from holding you back manage your work environment

get plenty of psychological sunshine during leisure hours throw thought poison out of your environment go first class in everything you do grow the attitudes that will help you win what you want get activated get enthusiastic develop the power of real enthusiasm grow the you are important attitude make more money by getting the put service first attitude win the support of other people by thinking right toward them become more likable by making yourself lighter to lift take the initiative in building friendships master the technique of thinking only good thoughts about people win friends by practicing conversation

generosity think big even when you lose or receive a setback get the action habit you don't need to wait until conditions are perfect make up your mind to do something about your ideas use action to cure fear and gain confidence discover the secret of mind action capitalize on the magic of now strengthen yourself by getting the speak up habit develop initiative a special kind of action discover that defeat is nothing more than a state of mind salvage something from every setback use the force of constructive self-criticism achieve positive results through persistence and experimentation whip discouragement

by finding the good side to every situation multiply your energy by setting definite goals set goals that will help you get things done and live longer accomplish your goals with this 30-day improvement guide invest in yourself for future profit learn the four rules of leadership develop your power to trade minds with the people you want to influence put the be human approach to work for you think progress believe in progress push for progress test yourself to learn whether you are a progressive thinker tap your supreme thinking power use the magic of thinking big in life's

most crucial situations chapter one believe you can succeed and you will success means many wonderful positive things success means personal prosperity a fine home vacations travel new things financial security giving your children maximum advantages success means winning admiration leadership being looked up to by people in your business and social life success means freedom freedom from worries fears frustrations and failure success means self-respect continually finding more real happiness and satisfaction from life being able to do more for those who depend on you success means winning success achievement is the goal of life every human being wants

success everybody wants the best this life can deliver nobody enjoys crawling living in mediocrity no one likes feeling second class and feeling forced to go that way some of the most practical success building wisdom is found in that biblical quotation stating that faith can move mountains believe really believe you can move a mountain and you can not many people believe that they can move mountains so as a result not many people do on some occasion you've probably heard someone say something like it's nonsense to think you can make a mountain move away just by saying

mountain move away it's simply impossible people who think this way have belief confused with wishful thinking and true enough you can't wish away a mountain you can't wish yourself into an executive suite nor can you wish yourself into a five-bedroom three-bath house or the high-income brackets you can't wish yourself into a position of leadership but you can move a mountain with belief you can win success by believing you can succeed there is nothing magical or mystical about the power of belief belief works this way belief the i'm positive i can attitude generates the power skill

and energy needed to do when you believe i can do it the how to do it develops every day all over the nation young people start working in new jobs each of them wishes that someday he could enjoy the success that goes with reaching the top but the majority of these young people simply don't have the belief that it takes to reach the top rungs and they don't reach the top believing it's impossible to climb high they do not discover the steps that lead to great heights their behavior remains that of the average person but

a small number of these young people really believe they will succeed they approach their work with the i'm going to the top attitude and with substantial belief they reach the top believing they will succeed and that it's not impossible these folks study and observe the behavior of senior executives they learn how successful people approach problems and make decisions they observe the attitudes of successful people the how to do it always comes to the person who believes he can do it a young woman i'm acquainted with decided two years ago that she was going to establish

a sales agency to sell mobile homes she was advised by many that she shouldn't and couldn't do it she had less than three thousand dollars in savings and was advised that the minimum capital investment required was many times that look how competitive it is she was advised and besides what practical experience have you had in selling mobile homes let alone managing a business her advisors asked but this young lady had belief in herself and her ability to succeed she quickly admitted that she lacked capital that the business was very competitive and that she lacked experience

but she said all the evidence i can gather shows that the mobile home industry is going to expand on top of that i've studied my competition i know i can do a better job of merchandising trailers than anybody else in this town i expect to make some mistakes but i'm going to be on top in a hurry and she was she had little trouble getting capital her absolutely unquestioned belief that she could succeed with this business won her the confidence of two investors and armed with complete belief she did the impossible she got a trailer

manufacturer to advance her a limited inventory with no money down last year she sold over one million dollars worth of trailers next year she says i expect to gross over two million dollars belief strong belief triggers the mind to figure ways and means and how to and believing you can succeed makes others place confidence in you most people do not put much stock in belief but some the residents of successfulville usa do just a few weeks ago a friend who is an official with a state highway department in a midwestern state related a mountain moving

experience to me last month my friend began our department sent notices to a number of engineering companies that we were authorized to retain some firm to design eight bridges as part of our highway building program the bridges were to be built at a cost of five million dollars the engineering firm selected would get a four percent commission or two hundred thousand dollars for its design work i talked with 21 engineering firms about this the four largest decided right away to submit proposals the other 17 companies were small having only three to seven engineers each the

size of the project scared off sixteen of these seventeen they went over the project shook their heads and said in effect it's too big for us i wish i thought we could handle it but it's no use even trying but one of these small firms a company with only three engineers studied the plans and said we can do it we'll submit a proposal they did and they got the job those who believe they can move mountains do those who believe they can't cannot belief triggers the power to do actually in these modern times belief is

doing much bigger things than moving mountains the most essential element in fact the essential element in our space explorations today is belief that space can be mastered without firm unwavering belief that man can travel in space our scientists would not have the courage interest and enthusiasm to proceed belief that cancer can be cured will ultimately produce cures for cancer currently there is some talk of building a tunnel under the english channel to connect england with the continent whether this tunnel is ever built depends on whether responsible people believe it can be built belief in great

results is the driving force the power behind all great books plays scientific discoveries belief in success is behind every successful business church and political organization belief and success is the one basic absolutely essential ingredient of successful people believe really believe you can succeed and you will over the years i've talked with many people who have failed in business ventures and in various careers i've heard a lot of reasons and excuses for failure something especially significant unfolds as conversations with failures develop in a casual sort of way the failure drops a remark like to tell the

truth i didn't think it would work or i had my misgivings before i even started out or actually i wasn't too surprised that it didn't work out the okay i'll give it a try but i don't think it will work attitude produces failures disbelief is negative power when the mind disbelieves or doubts the mind attracts reasons to support the disbelief doubt disbelief the subconscious will to fail the not really wanting to succeed is responsible for most failures think doubt and fail think victory and succeed a young fiction writer talked with me recently about her writing

ambitions the name of one of the top writers in her field came up oh she said mr x is a wonderful writer but of course i can't be nearly as successful as he is her attitude disappointed me very much because i know the writer mentioned he is not super intelligent nor super perceptive nor super anything else except super confident he believes he is among the best and so he acts and performs the best it is well to respect the leader learn from him observe him study him but don't worship him believe you can surpass believe

you can go beyond those who harbor the second best attitude are invariably second best doers look at it this way belief is the thermostat that regulates what we accomplish in life study the fellow who is shuffling down there in mediocrity he believes he is worth little so he receives little he believes he can't do big things and he doesn't he believes he is unimportant so everything he does has an unimportant mark as time goes by lack of belief in himself shows through in the way the fellow talks walks acts unless he readjusts his thermostat forward

he shrinks grows smaller and smaller in his own estimation and since others see in us what we see in ourselves he grows smaller in the estimation of the people around him now look across the way at the person who is advancing forward he believes he is worth much and he receives much he believes he can handle big difficult assignments and he does everything he does the way he handles himself with people his character his thoughts his viewpoints all say here is a professional he is an important person a person is a product of his own

thoughts believe big adjust your thermostat forward launch your success offensive with honest sincere belief that you can succeed believe big and grow big several years ago after addressing a group of businessmen in detroit i talked with one of the gentlemen who approached me introduced himself and said i really enjoyed your talk can you spare a few minutes i'd like very much to discuss a personal experience with you in a few minutes we were comfortably seated in a coffee shop waiting for some refreshments i have a personal experience he began that ties in perfectly with what

you said this evening about making your mind work for you instead of letting it work against you i've never explained to anyone how i lifted myself out of the world of mediocrity but i'd like to tell you about it and i'd like to hear it i said well just five years ago i was plotting along just another guy working in the tool and die trade i made a decent living by average standards but it was far from ideal our home was much too small and there was no money for those many things we wanted my

wife bless her didn't complain much but it was written all over her that she was more resigned to her fate than she was happy inside i grew more and more dissatisfied when i let myself see how i was failing my good wife and two children i really hurt inside but today things are really different my friend continued today we have a beautiful new home on a two-acre lot and a year-round cabin a couple hundred miles north of here there's no more worry about whether we can send the kids to a good college and my wife

no longer has to feel guilty every time she spends money for some new clothes next summer the whole family is flying to europe to spend a month's holiday we're really living how did all this happen i asked it all happened he continued when to use the phrase you used tonight i harnessed the power of belief five years ago i learned about a job with a tool and die company here in detroit we were living in cleveland at the time i decided to look into it hoping i could make a little more money i got here

early on sunday evening but the interview was not until monday after dinner i sat down in my hotel room and for some reason i got really disgusted with myself why i asked myself am i just a middle class failure why am i trying to get a job that represents such a small step forward i don't know to this day what prompted me to do it but i took a sheet of hotel stationery and wrote down the names of five people i've known well for several years who had far surpassed me in earning power and job

responsibility two were former neighbors who had moved away to find subdivisions two others were fellows i had worked for and the third was a brother-in-law next again i don't know what made me do this i asked myself what do my five friends have that i don't have besides better jobs i compared myself with them on intelligence but i honestly couldn't see that they excelled in the brains department nor could i truthfully say they had me beat on education integrity or personal habits finally i got down to another success quality one hears a lot about initiative

here i hated to admit it but i had to on this point my record showed i was far below that of my successful friends it was now about three am but my mind was astonishingly clear i was seeing my weak point for the first time i discovered that i had held back i had always carried a little stick i dug into myself deeper and deeper and found the reason i lacked initiative was because i didn't believe inside that i was worth very much i sat there the rest of the night just reviewing how lack of

faith in myself had dominated me ever since i could remember how i had used my mind to work against myself i found i had been preaching to myself why i couldn't get ahead instead of why i could i had been selling myself short i found this streak of self-depreciation showed through in everything i did then it dawned on me that no one else was going to believe in me until i believed in myself right then i decided i'm through feeling second class from here on in i'm not going to sell myself short next morning i

still had that confidence during the job interview i gave my newfound confidence its first test before coming for the interview i'd hoped i would have the courage to ask for seven hundred fifty dollars or maybe even one thousand dollars more than my present job was paying but now after realizing i was a valuable man i upped it to three thousand five hundred dollars and i got it i sold myself because after that one long night of self analysis i found things in myself that made me a lot more saleable within two years after i took

that job i had established a reputation as the fellow who can get business then we went into a recession this made me still more valuable because i was one of the best business getters in the industry the company was reorganized and i was given a substantial amount of stock plus a lot more pay believe in yourself and good things do start happening your mind is a thought factory it's a busy factory producing countless thoughts in one day production in your thought factory is under the charge of two foremen one of whom we will call mr

triumph and the other mr defeat mr triumph is in charge of manufacturing positive thoughts he specializes in producing reasons why you can why you're qualified why you will the other foreman mr defeat produces negative deprecating thoughts he is your expert in developing reasons why you can't why you're weak why you're inadequate his specialty is the why you will fail chain of thoughts both mr triumph and mr defeat are intensely obedient they snap to attention immediately all you need do to signal either foreman is to give the slightest mental beckon call if the signal is positive

mr triumph will step forward and go to work likewise a negative signal brings mr defeat forward to see how these two foremen work for you try this example tell yourself today is a lousy day this signals mr defeat into action and he manufactures some facts to prove you are right he suggests to you that it's too hot or it's too cold business will be bad today sales will drop other people will be on edge you may get sick your wife will be in a fussy mood mr defeat is tremendously efficient in just a few moments

he's got you sold it is a bad day before you know it it is a heck of a bad day but tell yourself today is a fine day and mr triumph is signaled forward to act he tells you this is a wonderful day the weather is refreshing it's good to be alive today you can catch up on some of your work and then it is a good day in like fashion mr defeat can show you why you can't sell mr smith mr triumph will show you that you can mr defeat will convince you that you

will fail while mr triumph will demonstrate why you will succeed mr defeat will prepare a brilliant case against tom while mr triumph will show you more reasons why you like tom now the more work you give either of these two foremen the stronger he becomes if mr defeat is given more work to do he adds personnel and takes up more space in your mind eventually he will take over the entire thought manufacturing division and virtually all thought will be of a negative nature the only wise thing to do is fire mr defeat you don't need

him you don't want him around telling you that you can't you're not up to it you'll fail and so on mr defeat won't help you get where you want to go so boot him out use mr triumph 100 of the time when any thought enters your mind ask mr triumph to go to work for you he'll show you how you can succeed between now and tomorrow at this time another eleven thousand five hundred new consumers will have made their grand entry into the usa population is growing at a record rate in the next 10 years

the increase is conservatively estimated at 35 million that's equal to the present combined metropolitan population of our five biggest cities new york chicago los angeles detroit and philadelphia imagine new industries new scientific breakthroughs expanding markets all spell opportunity this is good news this is a most wonderful time to be alive all signs point to a record demand for top-level people in every field people who have superior ability to influence others to direct their work to serve them in a leadership capacity and the people who will fill these leadership positions are all adults or near adults

right now one of them is you the guarantee of a boom is not of course a guarantee of personal success over the long pull the united states has always been booming but just a fast glance shows that millions and millions of people in fact a majority of them struggle but don't really succeed the majority of folks still plug along in mediocrity despite the record opportunity of the last two decades and in the boom period ahead most people will continue to worry to be afraid to crawl through life feeling unimportant unappreciated not able to do what

they want to do as a result their performance will earn them petty rewards petty happiness those who convert opportunity into reward and let me say i sincerely believe you are one of those else you'd rely on luck and not bother with this book will be those wise people who learn how to think themselves to success walk in the door to success is open wider than ever before put yourself on record now that you are going to join that select group that is getting what it wants from life here is the first step toward success it's

a basic step it can't be avoided step one believe in yourself believe you can succeed how to develop the power of belief here are the three guides to acquiring and strengthening the power of belief one think success don't think failure at work in your home substitute success thinking for failure thinking when you face a difficult situation think i'll win not i'll probably lose when you compete with someone else think i'm equal to the best not i'm outclassed when opportunity appears think i can do it never i can't let the master thought i will succeed dominate

your thinking process thinking success conditions your mind to create plans that produce success thinking failure does the exact opposite failure thinking conditions the mind to think other thoughts that produce failure to remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are successful people are not supermen success does not require a super intellect nor is there anything mystical about success and success isn't based on luck successful people are just ordinary folks who have developed belief in themselves and what they do never yes never sell yourself short three believe big the size of your success

is determined by the size of your belief think little goals and expect little achievements think big goals and win big success remember this too big ideas and big plans are often easier certainly no more difficult than small ideas and small plans mr ralph j cordener chairman of the board of the general electric company said this to a leadership conference we need from every man who aspires to leadership for himself and his company a determination to undertake a personal program of self-development nobody is going to order a man to develop whether a man lags behind or

moves ahead in his specialty is a matter of his own personal application this is something which takes time work and sacrifice nobody can do it for you mr cordoner's advice is sound and practical live it persons who reach the top rungs in business management selling engineering religious work writing acting and in every other pursuit get there by following conscientiously and continuously a plan for self-development and growth any training program and that's exactly what this book is must do three things it must provide content the what to do second it must supply a method the how

to do it and third it must meet the acid test that is get results the what of your personal training program for success is built on the attitudes and techniques of successful people how do they manage themselves how do they overcome obstacles how do they earn the respect of others what sets them apart from the ordinary how do they think the how of your plan for development and growth is a series of concrete guides for action these are found in each chapter these guides work apply them and see for yourself what about the most important

part of training results wrapped up briefly conscientious application of the program presented here will bring you success and on a scale that may now look impossible broken down into its components your personal training program for success will bring you a series of rewards the reward of deeper respect from your family the reward of admiration from your friends and associates the reward of feeling useful of being someone of having status the reward of increased income and a higher standard of living your training is self-administered there will be no one standing over your shoulder telling you what

to do and how to do it this book will be your guide but only you can understand yourself only you can command yourself to apply this training only you can evaluate your progress only you can bring about corrective action should you slip a little in short you are going to train yourself to achieve bigger and bigger success you already have a fully equipped laboratory in which you can work and study your laboratory is all around you your laboratory consists of human beings this laboratory supplies you with every possible example of human action and there is

no limit to what you can learn once you see yourself as a scientist in your own lab what's more there is nothing to buy there is no rent to pay there are no fees of any kind you can use this laboratory as much as you like for free as director of your own laboratory you will want to do what every scientist does observe and experiment isn't it surprising to you that most people understand so little about why people act as they do even though they are surrounded by people all their lives most people are not

trained observers one important purpose of this book is to help you train yourself to observe to develop deep insight into human action you'll want to ask yourself questions like why is john so successful and tom just getting by why do some people have many friends and other people have only few friends why will people gladly accept what one person tells them but ignore another person who tells them the same thing once trained you will learn valuable lessons just through the very simple process of observing here are two special suggestions to help you make yourself a

trained observer select for special study the most successful and the most unsuccessful person you know then as the book unfolds observe how closely your successful friend adheres to the success principles notice also how studying the two extremes will help you see the unmistakable wisdom of following the truths outlined in this book each contact you make with another person gives you a chance to see success development principles at work your objective is to make successful action habitual the more we practice the sooner it becomes second nature to act in the desired way most of us have

friends who grow things for a hobby and we've all heard them say something like it's exciting to watch those plants grow just look how they respond to plant food and water see how much bigger they are today than they were last week to be sure it is thrilling to watch what can happen when men cooperate carefully with nature but it is not one-tenth as fascinating as watching yourself respond to your own carefully administered thought management program it's fun to feel yourself growing more confident more effective more successful day by day month by month nothing absolutely

nothing in this life gives you more satisfaction than knowing you're on the road to success and achievement and nothing stands as a bigger challenge than making the most of yourself chapter 2 cure yourself of excusitis the failure disease people as you think yourself to success that's what you will study people you will study people very carefully to discover then apply success rewarding principles to your life and you want to begin right away go deep into your study of people and you'll discover unsuccessful people suffer a mind deadening thought disease we call this disease excusitis every

failure has this disease in its advanced form and most average persons have at least a mild case of it you will discover that excusitis explains the difference between the person who is going places and the fellow who is barely holding his own you will find that the more successful the individual the less inclined he is to make excuses but the fellow who has gone nowhere and has no plans for getting anywhere always has a book full of reasons to explain why persons with mediocre accomplishments are quick to explain why they haven't why they don't why

they can't and why they aren't study the lives of successful people and you'll discover this all the excuses made by the mediocre fellow could be but aren't made by the successful person i have never met nor heard of a highly successful business executive military officer salesman professional person or leader in any field who could not have found one or more major excuses to hide behind roosevelt could have hidden behind his lifeless legs truman could have used no college education kennedy could have said i'm too young to be president johnson and eisenhower could have ducked behind

heart attacks like any disease excusitis gets worse if it isn't treated properly a victim of this thought disease goes through this mental process i'm not doing as well as i should what can i use as an alibi that will help me save face let's see poor health lack of education too old too young bad luck personal misfortune wife the way my family brought me up once the victim of this failure disease has selected a good excuse he sticks with it then he relies on the excuse to explain to himself and others why he is not

going forward and each time the victim makes the excuse the excuse becomes embedded deeper within his subconsciousness thoughts positive or negative grow stronger when fertilized with constant repetition at first the victim of excusitis knows his alibi is more or less a lie but the more frequently he repeats it the more convinced he becomes that it is completely true that the alibi is the real reason for his not being the success he should be procedure one then in your individual program of thinking yourself to success must be to vaccinate yourself against excusitis the disease of the

failures the four most common forms of excusitis excusitis appears in a wide variety of forms but the worst types of this disease are health excusitis intelligence excusitis age excusitis and luck excusitis now let's see just how we can protect ourselves from these four common ailments one but my health isn't good health excusitis ranges all the way from the chronic i don't feel good to the more specific i've got such and such wrong with me bad health in a thousand different forms is used as an excuse for failing to do what a person wants to do

failing to accept greater responsibilities failing to make more money failing to achieve success millions and millions of people suffer from health excusitis but is it in most cases a legitimate excuse think for a moment of all the highly successful people you know who could but who don't use health as an excuse my physician and surgeon friends tell me the perfect specimen of adult life is non-existent there is something physically wrong with everybody many surrender in whole or in part to health excusitis but success thinking people do not two experiences happen to me in one afternoon

that illustrate the correct and incorrect attitudes toward health i had just finished a talk in cleveland afterward one fellow about 30 asked to speak to me privately for a few minutes he complimented me on the meeting but then said i'm afraid your ideas can't do me much good you see he continued i've got a bad heart and i've got to hold myself in check he went on to explain that he'd seen four doctors but they couldn't find his trouble he asked me what i would suggest he do well i said i know nothing about the

heart but as one layman to another here are three things i'd do first i'd visit the finest heart specialist i could find and accept his diagnosis as final you've already checked with four doctors and none of them has found anything peculiar with your heart let the fifth doctor be your final check it may very well be you've got a perfectly sound heart but if you keep on worrying about it eventually you may have a very serious heart ailment looking and looking and looking for an illness often actually produces illness the second thing i'd recommend is

that you read dr schindler's great book how to live 365 days a year dr schindler shows in this book that three out of every four hospital beds are occupied by people who have eii emotionally induced illness imagine three out of four people who are sick right now would be well if they learned how to handle their emotions read dr schindler's book and develop your program for emotions management third i'd resolve to live until i die i went on to explain to this troubled fellow some sound advice i received many years ago from a lawyer friend

who had an arrested case of tuberculosis this friend knew he would have to live a regulated life but this hasn't stopped him from practicing law rearing a fine family and really enjoying life my friend who now is 78 years old expresses his philosophy in these words i'm going to live until i die and i'm not going to get life and death confused while i'm on this earth i'm going to live why be only half alive every minute a person spends worrying about dying is just one minute that fellow might as well have been dead i

had to leave at that point because i had to be on a certain plane for detroit on the plane the second but much more pleasant experience occurred after the noise of the takeoff i heard a ticking sound rather startled i glanced at the fellow sitting beside me for the sound seemed to be coming from him he smiled a big smile and said oh it's not a bomb it's just my heart i was obviously surprised so he proceeded to tell me what had happened just 21 days before he had undergone an operation that involved putting a

plastic valve into his heart the ticking sound he explained would continue for several months until new tissue had grown over the artificial valve i asked him what he was going to do oh he said i've got big plans i'm going to study law when i get back to minnesota someday i hope to be in government work the doctors tell me i must take it easy for a few months but after that i'll be like new there you have two ways of meeting health problems the first fellow not even sure he had anything organically wrong with

him was worried depressed on the road to defeat wanting somebody to second his motion that he couldn't go forward the second individual after undergoing one of the most difficult of operations was optimistic eager to do something the difference lay in how they thought toward health i've had some very direct experience with health excusitis i'm a diabetic right after i discovered i had this ailment about five thousand hypodermics ago i was warned diabetes is a physical condition but the biggest damage results from having a negative attitude about it worry about it and you may have real

trouble naturally since the discovery of my own diabetes i've gotten to know a great many other diabetics let me tell you about two extremes one fellow who has a very mild case belongs to that fraternity of the living dead obsessed with the fear of the weather he is usually ridiculously bundled up he's afraid of infection so he shuns anybody who has the slightest sniffle he's afraid of over exertion so he does almost nothing he spends most of his mental energy worrying about what might happen he bores other people telling them how awful his problem really

is his real ailment is not diabetes rather he's a victim of health excusitis he has pitied himself into being an invalid the other extreme is a division manager for a large publishing company he has a severe case he takes about 30 times as much insulin as the fellow just mentioned but he is not living to be sick he is living to enjoy his work and have fun one day he said to me sure it is an inconvenience but so is shaving but i'm not going to think myself to bed when i take those shots i

just praise the guys who discovered insulin a good friend of mine a widely known college educator came home from europe in 1945 minus one arm despite his handicap john is always smiling always helping others he's about as optimistic as anyone i know one day he and i had a long talk about his handicap it's just an arm he said sure two are better than one but they just cut off my arm my spirit is one hundred percent intact i'm really grateful for that another amputee friend is an excellent golfer one day i asked him how

he had been able to develop such a near perfect style with just one arm i mentioned that most golfers with two arms can't do nearly as well his reply says a lot well it's my experience he said that the right attitude and one arm will beat the wrong attitude and two arms every time the right attitude and one arm will beat the wrong attitude and two arms every time think about that for a while it holds true not only on the golf course but in every facet of life four things you can do to lick

health excusitis the best vaccine against health excusitis consists of these four doses one refuse to talk about your health the more you talk about an ailment even the common cold the worse it seems to get talking about bad health is like putting fertilizer on weeds besides talking about your health is a bad habit it bores people it makes one appear self-centered and old maidish success success-minded people defeat the natural tendency to talk about their bad health one may and let me emphasize the word may get a little sympathy but one doesn't get respect and loyalty

by being a chronic complainer two refuse to worry about your health dr walter alvarez emeritus consultant to the world famous mayo clinic wrote recently i always beg worriers to exercise some self-control for instance when i saw this man a fellow who was convinced he had a diseased gallbladder although eight separate x-ray examinations showed that the organ was perfectly normal i begged him to quit getting his gallbladder x-rayed i have begged hundreds of heart conscious men to quit getting electrocardiograms made three be genuinely grateful that your health is as good as it is there's an old

saying worth repeating often i felt sorry for myself because i had ragged shoes until i met a man who had no feet instead of complaining about not feeling good it's far better to be glad you are as healthy as you are just being grateful for the health you have is powerful vaccination against developing new aches and pains and real illness four remind yourself often it's better to wear out than rust out life is yours to enjoy don't waste it don't pass up living by thinking yourself into a hospital bed two but you've got to have

brains to succeed intelligence excusitis or i lack brains is common in fact it's so common that perhaps as many as 95 percent of the people around us have it in varying degrees unlike most other types of excusitis people suffering from this particular type of the malady suffer in silence not many people will admit openly that they think they lack adequate intelligence rather they feel it deep down inside most of us make two basic errors with respect to intelligence one we underestimate our own brainpower two we overestimate the other fellow's brainpower because of these errors many

people sell themselves short they fail to tackle challenging situations because it takes a brain but along comes the fellow who isn't concerned about intelligence and he gets the job what really matters is not how much intelligence you have but how you use what you do have the thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than the quantity of your brainpower let me repeat for this is vitally important the thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than how much intelligence you may have in answering the question should your child be a scientist dr

edward teller one of the nation's foremost physicists said a child does not need a lightning fast mind to be a scientist nor does he need a miraculous memory nor is it necessary that he get very high grades in school the only point that counts is that the child have a high degree of interest in science interest enthusiasm is the critical factor even in science with a positive optimistic and cooperative attitude a person with an iq of 100 will earn more money win more respect and achieve more success than a negative pessimistic uncooperative individual with an

iq of 120 just enough sense to stick with something a chore task project until it's completed pays off much better than idle intelligence even if idle intelligence be of genius caliber for stickability is 95 percent of ability at a homecoming celebration last year i met a college friend whom i had not seen for 10 years chuck was a very bright student and was graduated with honors his goal when i last saw him was to own his own business in western nebraska i asked chuck what kind of business he finally established well he confessed i didn't

go into business for myself i wouldn't have said this to anyone five years ago or even one year ago but now i'm ready to talk about it as i look back at my college education now i see that i became an expert in why a business idea won't work out i learned every conceivable pitfall every reason why a small business will fail you've got to have ample capital be sure the business cycle is right is there a big demand for what you will offer is local industry stabilized a thousand and one things to check out

the thing that hurts most is that several of my old high school friends who never seem to have much on the ball and didn't even go to college now are very well established in their own businesses but me i'm just plotting along auditing freight shipments had i been drilled a little more in why a small business can succeed i'd be better off in every way today the thinking that guided chuck's intelligence was a lot more important than the amount of chuck's intelligence why some brilliant people are failures i've been close for many years to a

person who qualifies as a genius has high abstract intelligence and is phi beta kappa despite this very high native intelligence he is one of the most unsuccessful people i know he has a very mediocre job he's afraid of responsibility he is never married lots of marriages end in divorce he has few friends people bore him he's never invested in property of any kind he might lose his money this man uses his great brain power to prove why things won't work rather than directing his mental power to searching for ways to succeed because of the negative

thinking that guides his great reservoir of brains this fellow contributes little and creates nothing with a changed attitude he could do great things indeed he has the brains to be a tremendous success but not the thought power another person i know well was inducted into the army shortly after earning a phd degree from a leading new york university how did he spend his three years in the army not as an officer not as a staff specialist instead for three years he drove a truck why because he was filled with negative attitudes toward fellow soldiers i'm

superior to them toward army methods and procedures they are stupid toward discipline it's for others not me toward everything including himself i'm a fool for not figuring out a way to escape this rap this fellow earned no respect from anyone all his vast store of knowledge lay buried his negative attitudes turned him into a flunky remember the thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than how much intelligence you have not even a phd degree can override this basic success principle several years ago i became a close friend of phil f one of the

senior officers of a major advertising agency phil was director of marketing research for the agency and he was doing a bang-up job was phil a brain far from it phil knew next to nothing about research technique he knew next to nothing about statistics he was not a college graduate though all the people working for him were and phil did not pretend to know the technical side of research what then enabled phil to command thirty thousand dollars a year while not one of his subordinates earned ten thousand dollars this phil was a human engineer phil was

100 positive phil could inspire others when they felt low phil was enthusiastic he generated enthusiasm phil understood people and because he could really see what made them tick he liked them not phil's brains but how he managed those brains made him three times more valuable to his company than men who rated higher on the iq scale out of every 100 persons who enroll in college fewer than 50 will graduate i was curious about this so i asked a director of admissions at a large university for his explanation it's not insufficient intelligence he said we don't

admit them if they don't have sufficient ability and it's not money anyone who wants to support himself in college today can do so the real reason is attitudes you would be surprised he said how many young people leave because they don't like their professors the subjects they must take and their fellow students the same reason negative thinking explains why the door to top flight executive positions is closed to many young junior executives sour negative pessimistic depreciating attitudes rather than insufficient intelligence hold back thousands of young executives as one executive told me it's a rare case

when we pass up a young fellow because he lacks brains nearly always its attitude once i was retained by an insurance company to learn why the top 25 of the agents were selling over 75 of the insurance while the bottom 25 of the agents sold only five percent of total volume thousands of personnel files were carefully checked the search proved beyond any question that no significant difference existed in native intelligence what's more differences in education did not explain the difference in selling success the difference in the very successful and the very unsuccessful finally reduced to

differences in attitudes or difference in thought management the top group worried less was more enthusiastic had a sincere liking for people we can't do much to change the amount of native ability but we can certainly change the way we use what we have knowledge is power when you use it constructively closely allied to intelligence excusitis is some incorrect thinking about knowledge we often hear that knowledge is power but this statement is only a half truth knowledge is only potential power knowledge is power only when put to use and then only when the use made of

it is constructive the story is told that the great scientist einstein was once asked how many feet are in a mile einstein's reply was i don't know why should i fill my brain with facts i can find in two minutes in any standard reference book einstein taught us a big lesson he felt it was more important to use your mind to think than to use it as a warehouse for facts one time henry ford was involved in a libel suit with the chicago tribune the tribune had called ford an ignoramus and ford said in effect

prove it the tribune asked him scores of simple questions such as who was benedict arnold when was the revolutionary war fought and others most of which ford who had little formal education could not answer finally he became quite exasperated and said i don't know the answers to those questions but i could find a man in five minutes who does henry ford was never interested in miscellaneous information he knew what every major executive knows that the ability to know how to get information is more important than using the mind as a garage for facts how much

is a fact man worth i spent a very interesting evening recently with a friend who is the president of a young but rapidly growing manufacturing concern the tv set happened to be turned to one of the most popular quiz programs the fellow being quizzed had been on the show for several weeks he could answer questions on all sorts of subjects many of which seemed nonsensical after the fellow answered a particularly odd question something about a mountain in argentina my host looked at me and said how much do you think i'd pay that guy to work

for me how much i asked not a cent over three hundred dollars not per week not per month but for life i've sized him up that expert can't think he can only memorize he's just a human encyclopedia and i figure for three hundred dollars i can buy a pretty good set of encyclopedias in fact maybe that's too much ninety percent of what that guy knows i can find in a two dollar almanac what i want around me he continued are people who can solve problems who can think up ideas people who can dream and then

develop the dream into a practical application an idea man can make money with me a fact man can't three easy ways to cure intelligence excusitis are number one never underestimate your own intelligence and never overestimate the intelligence of others don't sell yourself short concentrate on your assets discover your superior talents remember it's not how many brains you've got that matters rather it's how you use your brains that counts manage your brains instead of worrying about how much iq you've got number two remind yourself several times daily my attitudes are more important than my intelligence at

work and at home practice positive attitudes see the reasons why you can do it not the reasons why you can't develop an i'm winning attitude put your intelligence to creative positive use use it to find ways to win not to prove you will lose number three remember that the ability to think is of much greater value than the ability to memorize facts use your mind to create and develop ideas to find new and better ways to do things ask yourself am i using my mental ability to make history or am i using it merely to

record history made by others three it's no use i'm too old or too young age excusitis the failure disease of never being the right age comes in two easily identifiable forms the i'm too old variety and the i'm too young brand you've heard hundreds of people of all ages explain their mediocre performance in life something like this i'm too old or too young to break in now i can't do what i want to do or am capable of doing because of my age handicap really it's surprising how few people feel they are just right age-wise

and it's unfortunate this excuse has closed the door of real opportunity to thousands of individuals they think their age is wrong so they don't even bother to try the i'm too old variety is the most common form of age excusitis this disease is spread in subtle ways tv fiction is produced about the big executive who lost his job because of a merger and can't find another because he's too old mr executive looks for months to find another job but he can't and in the end after contemplating suicide for a while he decides to rationalize that

it's nice to be on the shelf plays and magazine articles on the topic why you are washed up at 40 are popular not because they represent true facts but because they appeal to many worried minds looking for an excuse how to handle age excusitis age excusitis can be cured a few years ago while i was conducting a sales training program i discovered a good serum that both cures this disease and vaccinates you so you won't get it in the first place in that training program there was a trainee named cecil cecil who was 40 wanted

to shift over to set himself up as a manufacturer's representative but he thought he was too old after all he explained i'd have to start from scratch and i'm too old for that now i'm 40. i talked with cecil several times about his old age problem i used the old medicine you're only as old as you feel but i found i was getting nowhere too often people retort with but i do feel old finally i discovered a method that worked one day after a training session i tried it on cecil i said cecil when does

a man's productive life begin he thought a couple of seconds and answered oh when he's about 20 i guess okay i said now when does a man's productive life end cecil answered well if he stays in good shape and likes his work i guess a man is still pretty useful when he's 70 or so alright i said a lot of folks are highly productive after they reach 70 but let's agree with what you've just said a man's productive years stretch from 20 to 70. that's 50 years in between or half a century cecil i said

you're 40 how many years of productive life have you spent 20 he answered and how many have you left 30 he replied in other words cecil you haven't even reached the halfway point you've used up only 40 of your productive years i looked at cecil and realized he'd gotten the point he was cured of age excusitis cecil saw he still had many opportunity-filled years left he switched from thinking i'm already old to i'm still young cecil now realized that how old we are is not important it's one's attitude toward age that makes it a blessing

or a barricade curing yourself of age excusitis often opens doors to opportunities that you thought were locked tight a relative of mine spent years doing many different things selling operating his own business working in a bank but he never quite found what he really wanted to do most finally he concluded that the one thing he wanted more than anything else was to be a minister but when he thought about it he found he was too old after all he was 45 had three young children and little money but fortunately he mustered all of his strength

and told himself 45 or not i'm going to be a minister with tons of faith but little else he enrolled in a five-year ministerial training program in wisconsin five years later he was ordained as a minister and settled down with a fine congregation in illinois old of course not he still has 20 years of productive life ahead of him i talked with this man not long ago and he said to me you know if i had not made that great decision when i was 45 i would have spent the rest of my life growing old

and bitter now i feel every bit as young as i did 25 years ago and he almost looked it too when you lick age excusitis the natural result is to gain the optimism of youth and feel of youth when you beat down your fears of age limitations you add years to your life as well as success a former university colleague of mine provides an interesting angle on how age excuse was defeated bill was graduated from harvard in the nineteen twenties after twenty four years in the stock brokerage business during which time he made a modest

fortune bill decided he wanted to become a college professor bill's friends warned him that he would overtax himself in the rugged learning program ahead but bill was determined to reach his goal and enrolled in the university of illinois at the age of 51. at 55 he had earned his degree today bill is chairman of the department of economics at a fine liberal arts college he's happy too he smiles when he says i've got almost a third of my good years left old age is a failure disease defeat it by refusing to let it hold you

back when is a person too young the i'm too young variety of age excusitis does much damage too about a year ago a 23 year old fellow named jerry came to me with a problem jerry was a fine young man he had been a paratrooper in the service and then had gone to college while going to college jerry supported his wife and son by selling for a large transfer and storage company he had done a terrific job both in college and for his company but today jerry was worried dr schwartz he said i've got a

problem my company has offered me the job of sales manager this would make me supervisor over eight salesmen congratulations that's wonderful news i said but you seem worried well he continued all eight men i'm to supervise are from seven to 21 years older than i what do you think i should do can i handle it jerry i said the general manager of your company obviously thinks you're old enough or he wouldn't have offered you this job just remember these three points and everything will work out just fine first don't be age conscious back on the

farm a boy became a man when he proved he could do the work of a man his number of birthdays had nothing to do with it and this applies to you when you prove you are able to handle the job of sales manager you're automatically old enough second don't take advantage of your new gold bars show respect for the salesman ask them for their suggestions make them feel they are working for a team captain not a dictator do this and the men will work with you not against you third get used to having older persons

working for you leaders in all fields soon find they are younger than many of the people they supervise so get used to having older men work for you it will help you a lot in the coming years when even bigger opportunities develop and remember jerry your age won't be a handicap unless you make it one today jerry's doing fine he loves the transportation business and now he's planning to organize his own company in a few years youth is a liability only when the youth thinks it is you often hear that certain jobs require considerable physical

maturity jobs like selling securities and insurance that you've got to have either gray hair or no hair at all in order to gain an investor's confidence is plain nonsense what really matters is how well you know your job if you know your job and understand people you're sufficiently mature to handle it age has no real relation to ability unless you convince yourself that years alone will give you the stuff you need to make your mark many young people feel that they are being held back because of their youth now it is true that another person

in an organization who is insecure and job scared may try to block your way forward using age or some other reason but the people who really count in the company will not they will give you as much responsibility as they feel you can handle well demonstrate that you have ability and positive attitudes and your youthfulness will be considered an advantage in quick recap the cure for age excusitis is number one look at your present age positively think i'm still young not i'm already old practice looking forward to new horizons and gain the enthusiasm and the

feel of youth number two compute how much productive time you have left remember a person age 30 still has 80 percent of his productive life ahead of him and the 50 year old still has a big 40 percent the best forty percent of his opportunity years left life is actually longer than most people think three invest future time in doing what you really want to do it's too late only when you let your mind go negative and think it's too late stop thinking i should have started years ago that's failure thinking instead think i'm going

to start now my best years are ahead of me that's the way successful people think four but my case is different i attract bad luck recently i heard a traffic engineer discuss highway safety he pointed out that upward of 40 000 persons are killed each year in so-called traffic accidents the main point of his talk was that there is no such thing as a true accident what we call an accident is the result of human or mechanical failure or a combination of both what this traffic expert was saying substantiates what wise men throughout the ages

have said there is a cause for everything nothing happens without a cause there is nothing accidental about the weather outside today it is the result of specific causes and there is no reason to believe that human affairs are an exception yet hardly a day passes that you do not hear someone blame his problems on bad luck and it's a rare day that you do not hear someone attribute another person's success to good luck let me illustrate how people succumb to luck excuses i launched recently with three young junior executives the topic of conversation that day

was george c who just yesterday had been picked from among their group for a major promotion why did george get the position these three fellows dug up all sorts of reasons luck pull boot licking george's wife and how she flattered the boss everything but the truth the facts were that george was simply better qualified he had been doing a better job he was working harder he had a more effective personality i also knew that the senior officers in the company had spent much time considering which one of the four would be promoted my three disillusioned

friends should have realized that top executives don't select major executives by drawing names from a hat i was talking about the seriousness of luck excuse not long ago with a sales executive of a machine tool manufacturing company he became excited about the problem and began to talk about his own experience with it i've never heard it called that before he said but it is one of the most difficult problems every sales executive has to wrestle with just yesterday a perfect example of what you're talking about happened in my company one of the salesmen walked in

about four o'clock with a one hundred twelve thousand dollar order for machine tools another salesman whose volume is so low he's a problem was in the office at the time hearing john tell the good news he rather enviously congratulated him and then said well john you're lucky again now what the weak salesman won't accept is that luck had nothing to do with john's big order john had been working on that customer for months he had talked repeatedly to a half dozen people out there john had stayed up nights figuring out exactly what was best for

them then he got our engineers to make preliminary designs of the equipment john wasn't lucky unless you can call carefully planned work and patiently executed plans luck supposed luck were used to reorganize general motors if luck determined who does what and who goes where every business in the nation would fall apart assume for a moment that general motors were to be completely reorganized on the basis of luck to carry out the reorganization the names of all employees would be placed in a barrel the first name drawn would be the president the second name the executive

vice president and so on down the line sounds stupid doesn't it well that's how luck would work people who rise to the top in any occupation business management selling law engineering acting or what have you get there because they have superior attitudes and use their good sense in applied hard work conquer luck excusitis in two ways number one accept the law of cause and effect take a second look at what appears to be someone's good luck you'll find that not luck but preparation planning and success producing thinking preceded his good fortune take a second look

at what appears to be someone's bad luck look and you'll discover certain specific reasons mr success receives a setback he learns and profits but when mr mediocre loses he fails to learn number two don't be a wishful thinker don't waste your mental muscles dreaming of an effortless way to win success we don't become successful simply through luck success comes from doing those things and mastering those principles that produce success don't count on luck for promotions victories the good things in life luck simply isn't designed to deliver these good things instead just concentrate on developing those

qualities in yourself that will make you a winner chapter 3 build confidence and destroy fear friends mean well when they say it's only your imagination don't worry there's nothing to be afraid of but you and i know this kind of fear medicine never really works such soothing remarks may give us fear relief for a few minutes or maybe even a few hours but the it's only in your imagination treatment doesn't really build confidence and cure fear yes fear is real and we must recognize it exists before we can conquer it most fear today is psychological

worry tension embarrassment panic all stem from mismanaged negative imagination but simply knowing the breeding ground of fear doesn't cure fear if a physician discovers you have an infection in some part of your body he doesn't stop there he proceeds with treatment to cure the infection the old it's only in your mind treatment presumes fear doesn't really exist but it does fear is real fear is success enemy number one fear stops people from capitalizing on opportunity fear wears down physical vitality fear actually makes people sick causes organic difficulties shortens life fear closes your mouth when you

want to speak fear uncertainty lack of confidence explains why we still have economic recessions fear explains why millions of people accomplish little and enjoy little truly fear is a powerful force in one way or another fear prevents people from getting what they want from life fear of all kinds and sizes is a form of psychological infection we can cure a mental infection the same way we cure a body infection with specific proved treatments first though as part of your pre-treatment preparation condition yourself with this fact all confidence is acquired developed no one is born with

confidence those people you know who radiate confidence who have conquered worry who are at ease everywhere and all the time acquired their confidence every bit of it you can too this chapter shows how during world war ii the navy made sure that all of its new recruits either knew how to swim or learned how the idea being of course that the ability to swim might someday save the sailor's life at sea non-swimming recruits were put into swimming classes i watched a number of these training experiences in a superficial sort of way it was amusing to

see young healthy men terrified by a few feet of water one of the exercises i recall required the new sailor to jump not dive from aboard six feet in the air into eight or more feet of water while a half dozen expert swimmers stood by in a deeper sense it was a sad sight the fear those young men displayed was real yet all that stood between them and the defeat of that fear was one drop into the water below on more than one occasion i saw young men accidentally pushed off the board the result fear

defeated this incident familiar to thousands of former navy men illustrates just one point action cures fear indecision postponement on the other hand fertilize fear jot that down in your success rule book right now action cures fear action does cure fear several months ago a very troubled executive in his early forties came to see me he had a responsible job as a buyer for a large retailing organization worriedly he explained i'm afraid of losing my job i've got that feeling that my days are numbered why i asked well the pattern is against me sales figures in

my department are off seven percent from a year ago this is pretty bad especially since the store's total sales are up six percent i've made a couple of unwise decisions recently and i've been singled out several times by the merchandise manager for not keeping pace with the company's progress i've never felt quite like this before he continued i've lost my grip and it shows my assistant buyer senses it the sales people see it too other executives of course are aware that i'm slipping one buyer even suggested at a meeting of all head buyers the other

day that part of my line should be put in his department where he said it could make money for the store it's like drowning and having a crowd of spectators just standing there waiting for me to sink away the executive talked on elaborating further on his predicament finally i cut in and asked what are you doing about it what are you trying to do to correct the situation well he answered there isn't much i can do i guess but hope for the best to this comment i asked honestly now is hope enough pausing but not

giving him a chance to answer i put another question to him why not take action to support your hope go on he said well there are two kinds of action that seem to fit your case first start this afternoon to move those sales figures upward we've got to face it there's a reason your sales are slipping find it maybe you need a special sale to clear out your slow moving merchandise so you'll be in a position to buy some fresh stock perhaps you can rearrange your display counters maybe your sales people need more enthusiasm i

can't pinpoint what will turn your sales volume upward but something will and it would probably be wise to talk privately with your merchandise manager he may be on the verge of putting you out but when you talk it over with him and ask his advice he'll certainly give you more time to work things out it's too expensive for the store to replace you as long as top management feels there's a chance you'll find a solution i went on then get your assistant buyers on the ball quit acting like a drowning man let people around you

know that you're still alive courage was again in his eyes then he asked you said there are two kinds of action i should take what's the second the second type of action which you might say is an insurance policy is to let two or three of your closest business friends in the trade know you might consider an offer from another store assuming of course it is substantially better than your present job i don't believe your job will be insecure after you take some affirmative action to get those sales figures on the rise but just in

case it's good to have an offer or two remember it's ten times easier for a man with a job to get another job than it is for someone unemployed to connect two days ago this once troubled executive called me after our talk i buckled down i made a number of changes but the most basic one was with my sales people i used to hold sales meetings once a week but now i'm holding one every morning i've got those people really enthusiastic i guess once they saw some life in me they were ready to push harder

too they were just waiting for me to start things moving again things sure are working out okay last week my sales were well ahead of a year ago and much better than the store's average oh by the way he continued i want to tell you some other good news i got two job offers since we talked naturally i'm glad but i've turned them both down since everything is looking good here again when we face tough problems we stay mired in the mud until we take action hope is a start but hope needs action to win

victories put the action principle to work next time you experience big fear or little fear steady yourself then search for an answer to this question what kind of action can i take to conquer my fear isolate your fear then take appropriate action here are some examples of fear and some possible action cures type of fear one embarrassment because of personal appearance action improve it go to a barber shop or beauty salon shine your shoes get your clothes cleaned and pressed in general practice better grooming it doesn't always take new clothes two fear of losing an

important customer work doubly hard to give better service correct anything that may have caused customers to lose confidence in you three fear of failing an examination convert worry time into study time four fear of things totally beyond your control turn your attention to helping to relieve the fear of others pray five fear of being physically hurt by something you can't control such as a tornado or an airplane out of control switch your attention to something totally different go out into your yard and pull up weeds play with your children go to a movie six fear

of what other people may think and say make sure that what you plan to do is right then do it no one ever does anything worthwhile for which he is not criticized seven fear of making an investment or purchasing a home analyze all factors then be decisive make a decision and stick with it trust your own judgment eight fear of people put them in proper perspective remember the other person is just another human being pretty much like yourself use this two-step procedure to cure fear and win confidence one isolate your fear pin it down determine

exactly what you are afraid of two then take action there is some kind of action for any kind of fear and remember hesitation only enlarges magnifies the fear take action promptly be decisive much lack of self-confidence can be traced directly to a mismanaged memory your brain is very much like a bank every day you make thought deposits in your mind bank these thought deposits grow and become your memory when you settle down to think or when you face a problem in effect you say to your memory bank what do i already know about this your

memory bank automatically answers and supplies you with bits of information relating to this situation that you deposited on previous occasions your memory then is the basic supplier of raw material for your new thought the teller in your memory bank is tremendously reliable he never crosses you up if you approach him and say mr teller let me withdraw some thoughts i deposited in the past proving i'm inferior to just about everybody else he'll say certainly sir recall how you failed two times previously when you tried this recall what your sixth grade teacher told you about your

inability to accomplish things recall what you overheard some fellow workers saying about you recall and on and on mr teller goes digging out of your brain thought after thought that proves you are inadequate but suppose you visit your memory teller with this request mr teller i face a difficult decision can you supply me with any thoughts which will give me reassurance and again mr teller says certainly sir but this time he delivers thoughts you deposited earlier that say you can succeed recall the excellent job you did in a similar situation before recall how much confidence

mr smith placed in you recall what your good friend said about you recall mr teller perfectly responsive lets you withdraw the thought deposits you want to withdraw after all it is your bank here are two specific things to do to build confidence through efficient management of your memory bank one deposit only positive thoughts in your memory bank let's face it squarely everyone encounters plenty of unpleasant embarrassing and discouraging situations but unsuccessful and successful people deal with these situations in directly opposite ways unsuccessful people take them to heart so to speak they dwell on the unpleasant

situations thereby giving them a good start in their memory they don't take their minds away from them at night the unpleasant situation is the last thing they think about confident successful people on the other hand don't give it another thought successful people specialize in putting positive thoughts into their memory bank what kind of performance would your car deliver if every morning before you left for work you scooped up a double handful of dirt and put it into your crank case that fine engine would soon be a mess unable to do what you wanted to do

negative unpleasant thoughts deposited in your mind affect your mind the same way negative thoughts produce needless wear and tear on your mental motor they create worry frustration and feelings of inferiority they put you beside the road while others drive ahead do this in these moments when you're alone with your thoughts when you're driving your car or eating alone recall pleasant positive experiences put good thoughts in your memory bank this boosts confidence it gives you that i sure feel good feeling it helps keep your body functioning right too here is an excellent plan just before you

go to sleep deposit good thoughts in your memory bank count your blessings recall the many good things you have to be thankful for your wife her husband your children your friends your health recall the good things you saw people do today recall your little victories and accomplishments go over the reasons why you are glad to be alive 2. withdraw only positive thoughts from your memory bank i was closely associated several years ago in chicago with a firm of psychological consultants they handled many types of cases but mostly marriage problems and psychological adjustment situations all dealing

with mind matters one afternoon as i was talking with the head of the firm about his profession and his techniques for helping the seriously maladjusted person he made this remark you know there would be no need for my services if people would do just one thing what's that i asked eagerly simply this destroy their negative thoughts before those thoughts become mental monsters most individuals i try to help he continued are operating their own private museum of mental horror many marriage difficulties for example involved the honeymoon monster the honeymoon wasn't as satisfactory as one or both

of the marriage partners had hoped but instead of burying the memory they reflected on it hundreds of times until it was a giant obstacle to successful marital relationships they come to me as much as five or ten years later usually of course my clients don't see where their trouble lies it's my job to uncover and explain the source of their difficulty to them and help them to see what a triviality it really is a person can make a mental monster out of almost any unpleasant happening my psychologist friend went on a job failure a jilted

romance a bad investment disappointment in the behavior of a teenage child these are common monsters i have to help troubled people destroy it is clear that any negative thought if fertilized with repeated recall can develop into a real mind monster breaking down confidence and paving the way to serious psychological difficulties in an article in cosmopolitan magazine the drive towards self-destruction alice mulcahy pointed out that upward of 30 000 americans commit suicide each year and another one hundred thousand attempt to take their own lives she went on to say there is shocking evidence that millions of

other people are killing themselves by slower less obvious methods still others are committing spiritual rather than physical suicide constantly seeking out ways to humiliate punish and generally diminish themselves the psychologist friend mentioned before told me how he helped one of his patients to stop committing mental and spiritual suicide this patient he explained was in her late thirties and had two children in lay terminology she suffered from severe depression she looked back on every incident of her life as being an unhappy experience her school days her marriage the bearing of her children the places she had

lived all were thought of negatively she volunteered that she couldn't remember ever having been truly happy and since what one remembers from the past colors what one sees in the present she saw nothing but pessimism and darkness when i asked her what she saw in a picture which i showed her she said it looks like there will be a terrible thunderstorm tonight that was the gloomiest interpretation of the picture i've yet heard the picture was a large oil painting of the sun low in the sky and a jagged rocky coastline the painting was very cleverly

done and could be construed to be either a sunrise or a sunset the psychologist commented to me that what a person sees in the picture is a clue to his personality most people say it is a sunrise but the depressed mentally disturbed person nearly always says it's a sunset as a psychologist i can't change what already is in a person's memory but i can with the patient's cooperation help the individual to see his past in a different light that's the general treatment i used on this woman i worked with her to help her see joy

and pleasure in her past instead of total disappointment after six months she began to show improvement at that point i gave her a special assignment each day i asked her to think of and write down three specific reasons she has to be happy then at her next appointment with me on thursdays i'd go over her list with her i continued this sort of treatment for three months her improvement was very satisfactory today that woman is very well adjusted to her situation she's positive and certainly as happy as most people when this woman quit drawing negatives

from her memory bank she was headed toward recovery whether the psychological problem is big or little the cure comes when one learns to quit drawing negatives from one's memory bank and withdraws positives instead don't build mental monsters refuse to withdraw the unpleasant thoughts from your memory bank when you remember situations of any kind concentrate on the good part of the experience forget the bad bury it if you find yourself thinking about the negative side turn your mind off completely and here is something very significant and very encouraging your mind wants you to forget the unpleasant

if you will just cooperate unpleasant memories will gradually shrivel and the teller in your memory bank will cancel them out dr melvin s hatwick noted advertising psychologist in commenting on our ability to remember says when the feeling aroused is pleasant the advertisement has a better chance to be remembered when the feeling aroused is unpleasant the reader or listener tends to forget the advertisement message the unpleasant runs counter to what we want we don't want to remember it in brief it really is easy to forget the unpleasant if we simply refuse to recall it withdraw only

positive thoughts from your memory bank let the others fade away and your confidence that feeling of being on top of the world will zoom upward you take a big step forward toward conquering fear when you refuse to remember negative self-deprecating thoughts why do people fear other people why do many folks feel self-conscious around others what's behind shyness what can we do about it fear of other people is a big fear but there is a way to conquer it you can conquer fear of people if you will learn to put them into proper perspective a business

friend who was doing exceptionally well operating his own wood novelty plant explained to me how he got the proper perspective of people his example is interesting before i went into the army in world war ii i was scared of just about everybody you just wouldn't believe how shy and timid i was i felt everyone else was a lot smarter i worried about my physical and mental inadequacies i thought i was born to fail then by some fortunate quirk of fate i lost my fear of people in the army during part of 1942 and 1943 when

the army was inducting men at a terrific clip i was stationed as a medic at one of the big induction centers day after day i assisted in examining those men the more i looked at these recruits the less afraid of people i became all those men lined up by the hundreds naked as jaybirds looked so much alike oh sure there were fat ones and skinny ones tall ones and short ones but they all were confused all were lonesome just a few days before some of these were rising young executives some were farmers some were salesmen

drifters blue collar workers a few days before they had been many things but at the induction center they were all alike i figured out something pretty basic back then i discovered people are alike in many many more ways than they are different i discovered the other fellow is pretty much like me he likes good food he misses his family and friends he wants to get ahead he has problems he likes to relax so if the other fellow is basically like me there's no point in being afraid of him now doesn't that make sense if the

other fellow is basically like me there's no reason to be afraid of him here are two ways to put people in proper perspective one get a balanced view of the other fellow keep these two points in mind when dealing with people first the other fellow is important emphatically he is important every human being is but remember this also you are important too so when you meet another person make it a policy to think we're just two important people sitting down to discuss something of mutual interest and benefit a couple of months ago a business executive

phoned to tell me he had just employed a young man whom i had recommended to him shortly before do you know what really sold me on that fellow asked my friend what i asked well it was the way he handled himself most job applicants when they walk in here are half scared they give me all the answers they think i want to hear in a way most job applicants are a little like beggars they'll accept anything and they aren't particular but gee handled himself differently he respected me but what's just as important he respects himself

what's more he asked me as many questions as i asked him he's no mouse he's a real man and he's going to do all right this mutually important attitude helps you keep the situation balanced the other fellow does not become too important relative to you in your thinking the other fellow might look frightfully big frightfully important but remember he is still a human being with essentially the same interests desires and problems as you two develop an understanding attitude people who want figuratively to bite you growl at you pick on you and otherwise chop you down

are not rare if you're not prepared for people like that they can punch big holes in your confidence and make you feel completely defeated you need a defense against the adult bully the fellow who likes to throw his meager weight around a few months ago at the reservations desk of a memphis hotel i saw an excellent demonstration of the right way to handle folks like this it was shortly after 5 pm and the hotel was busy registering new guests the fellow ahead of me gave his name to the clerk in a commanding way the clerk

said yes sir mr r we have a fine single for you single shouted the fellow i ordered a double the clerk said very politely let me check sir he pulled the guest's reservation from the file and said i'm sorry sir your telegram specified a single i'd be happy to put you in a double room sir if we had any available but we simply do not then the irate customer said i don't care what the h that piece of paper says i want a double then he started in with that do you know who i am

bit followed with i'll have you fired you'll see i'll have you fired as best he could under the verbal tornado the young clerk injected sir we're terribly sorry but we acted on your instructions finally the customer really furious now said i wouldn't stay in the best suite in this blank blank hotel now that i know how badly managed it is and stormed out i stepped up to the desk thinking the clerk who had taken one of the worst public tongue lashings i'd seen in some time would be upset instead he greeted me with one of

the finest good evening sirs i'd ever heard as he went through the routine of processing my room i said to him i certainly admire the way you handled yourself just a moment ago you have tremendous temper control well sir he said i really can't get mad at a fellow like that you see he really isn't mad at me i was just the scapegoat the poor fellow may be in bad trouble with his wife or his business may be off or maybe he feels inferior and this was his golden chance to feel like a wheel i'm

just the guy who gave him a chance to get something out of his system the clerk added underneath he's probably a very nice guy most folks are walking toward the elevators i caught myself repeating aloud underneath he's probably a very nice guy most folks are remember those two short sentences next time someone declares war on you hold your fire the way to win in situations like this is to let the other fellow blow his stack and then forget it several years ago while checking student examination papers i came across one that especially disturbed me the

student who wrote the examination had demonstrated in class discussions and previous tests that he was far better qualified than his paper indicated he was in fact the fellow who i thought would finish at the top of the class instead his paper put him at the bottom as was my custom in such cases i had my secretary call the student and ask him to come by my office on an urgent matter paul w appeared shortly he looked as though he had been through a terrible experience after he was comfortably seated i said to him what happened

paul this just isn't the quality paper i expected you to write paul struggled with himself looked in the direction of his feet and replied sir after i saw that you had spotted me cheating i just went to pieces i couldn't concentrate on anything honest this is the first time i've ever cheated at the university i desperately wanted an a so i worked up a little pony to use he was terribly upset but now that he was talking he wouldn't stop i suppose you'll have to recommend me for dismissal the university rule says any student found

cheating in any manner is subject to permanent dismissal here paul started bringing up the shame this incident would bring to his family how it would wreck his life and all sorts of repercussions finally i said hold it now slow down let me explain something i didn't see you cheat until you walked in and told me i hadn't the faintest idea that was the trouble i am sorry paul that you did then i continued paul tell me just what do you want to gain from your university experience he was a little calmer now and after a

short pause he said well doctor i think my overall aim is to learn how to live but i guess i'm failing pretty badly we learn in different ways i said i think you can learn a real success lesson from this experience when you used your pony in there your conscience bothered you terribly this gave you a guilt complex that in turn broke your confidence as you expressed it you went to pieces most of the time paul this matter of right and wrong is approached from a moral or religious standpoint now understand i'm not here to

preach to you give you a sermon about right and wrong but let's look at the practical side when you do anything that goes contrary to your conscience you feel guilty and this guilty feeling jams your thought processes you can't think straight because your mind is asking will i get caught will i get caught paul i continued you wanted an a so badly you did something you knew was wrong there are many times in life when you'll want to make an a so badly you'll be tempted to do something that is contrary to your conscience for

example someday you may want to make a sale so badly you'll think of deliberately misleading the customer to buy and you may succeed but here's what will happen your guilty feeling will grab hold of you and the next time you see your customer you'll be self-conscious ill at ease you'll be wondering has he discovered that i put something over your presentation will be ineffective because you can't concentrate chances are you'll never make the second third fourth and the many repeat sales in the long run making that sale using tactics that hurt your conscience will cost

you a lot of income i went on and pointed out to paul how an occasional business or professional man loses his grip because of an intense fear that his wife will learn about a secret love affair he is having with another woman will she find out will she find out eats away the man's confidence until he can't do a good job at work or in the home i reminded paul that many criminals are captured not because any clues point to them but because they act guilty and self-conscious their guilt feeling puts them on the suspect

list there is within each of us a desire to be right think right and act right when we go against that desire we put a cancer in our conscience this cancer grows and grows by eating away at our confidence avoid doing anything that will cause you to ask yourself will i get caught will they find out will i get away with it don't try to make an a if it means violating your confidence paul i'm pleased to say got the point he learned the practical value of doing what's right i then proposed he sit down

and retake the examination in answer to his question but what about my dismissal i said i know what the regulations say about cheating but you know if we dismissed all students who have cheated in any way half the professors would have to leave and if we dismissed all students who thought about cheating the university would have to shut down so i'm forgetting this whole incident if you'll do me a favor gladly he said i walked over to my bookshelf took down my personal copy of 50 years with the golden rule and said paul read this

book and return it see how in jcpenney's own words just doing what's right made him one of america's richest men doing what's right keeps your conscience satisfied and this builds self-confidence when we do what is known to be wrong two negative things happen first we feel guilt and this guilt eats away confidence second other people sooner or later find out and lose confidence in us do what's right and keep your confidence that's thinking yourself to success here is a psychological principle that is worth listening to repeatedly until it absolutely saturates you to think confidently act

confidently the great psychologist dr george w crane said in his famous book applied psychology remember motions are the precursors of emotions you can't control the latter directly but only through your choice of motions or actions to avoid this all too common tragedy marital difficulties and misunderstandings become aware of the true psychological facts go through the proper motions each day and you'll soon begin to feel the corresponding emotions just be sure you and your mate go through those motions of dates and kisses the phrasing of sincere daily compliments plus the many other little courtesies and you

need not worry about the emotion of love you can't act devoted for very long without feeling devoted psychologists tell us we can change our attitudes by changing our physical actions for example you actually feel more like smiling if you make yourself smile you feel more superior when you make yourself stand tall than when you slouch on the negative side frown a really bitter frown and see if you don't feel more like frowning it is easy to prove that managed motions can change emotions people who are shy in introducing themselves can replace this timidity with confidence

just by taking three simple actions simultaneously first reach for the other person's hand and clasp it warmly second look directly at the other person and third say i'm very glad to know you these three simple actions automatically and instantaneously banish shyness confident action produces confident thinking so to think confidently act confidently act the way you want to feel here are five confidence building exercises listen to these guides carefully then make a conscious effort to practice them and build your confidence one be a front seater ever notice in meetings in church classrooms and other kinds of

assemblies how the back seats fill up first most folks scramble to sit in the back rows so they won't be too conspicuous and the reason they are afraid to be conspicuous is that they lack confidence sitting up front builds confidence practice it from now on make it a rule to sit as close to the front as you can sure you may be a little more conspicuous in the front but remember there is nothing inconspicuous about success two practice making eye contact how a person uses his eyes tells us a lot about him instinctively you ask

yourself questions about the fellow who doesn't look you in the eye what's he trying to hide what's he afraid of is he trying to put something over on me is he holding something back usually failure to make eye contact says one of two things it may say i feel weak beside you i feel inferior to you i'm afraid of you or avoiding another person's eyes may say i feel guilty i've done something or i've thought something that i don't want you to know i'm afraid if i let my eyes connect with yours you'll see through

me you say nothing good about yourself when you avoid making eye contact you say i'm afraid i lack confidence conquer this fear by making yourself look the other person in the eyes looking the other person in the eye tells him i'm honest and above bored i believe in what i'm telling you i'm not afraid i'm confident make your eyes work for you aim them right at the other person's eyes it not only gives you confidence it wins you confidence too three walk 25 faster when i was a youngster just going to the county seat was

a big treat after all the errands were accomplished and we were back in the car my mother would often say davey let's just sit here a while and watch the people walk by mother was an excellent game player she'd say see that fellow what do you suppose is troubling him or what do you think that lady there is going to do or look at that person he just seems to be in a fog watching people walk and move about became real fun it was a lot cheaper than the movies which was one of the reasons

i learned later that mother developed the game and it was a lot more instructive i still am a walk watcher in corridors lobbies on sidewalks i still occasionally find myself studying human behavior simply by watching people move about psychologists link slovenly posture and sluggish walking to unpleasant attitudes toward oneself work and the people around us but psychologists also tell us you can actually change your attitudes by changing your posture and speed of movement watch and you discover that body action is the result of mind action the extremely beaten people the real down and outers just

shuffle and stumble along they have zero self-confidence average people have the average walk their pace is average they have the look of i really don't have very much pride in myself then there's a third group persons in this group show super confidence they walk faster than the average there seems to be a slight sprint in the way they walk their walk tells the world i've got some place important to go something important to do what's more i will succeed at what i will do 15 minutes from now use the walk 25 faster technique to help

build self-confidence throw your shoulders back lift up your head move ahead just a little faster and feel self-confidence grow just try and see four practice speaking up in working with many kinds of groups of all sizes i've watched many persons with keen perception and much native ability freeze and fail to participate in discussions it isn't that these folks don't want to get in and wade with the rest rather it's a simple lack of confidence the conference clam thinks to himself my opinion is probably worthless if i say something i'll probably look foolish i'll just say

nothing besides the others in the group probably know more than i i don't want the others to know how ignorant i am each time the conference clan fails to speak he feels even more inadequate more inferior often he makes a faint promise to himself that deep down he knows he won't keep to speak next time this is very important each time our clam fails to speak he takes one more dose of confidence poison he becomes less and less confident of himself but on the positive side the more you speak up the more you add to

your confidence and the easier it is to speak up the next time speak up it's a confidence building vitamin put this confidence builder to use make it a rule to speak up at every open meeting you attend speak up say something voluntarily at every business conference committee meeting community forum you attend make no exception comment make a suggestion ask a question and don't be the last to speak try to be the ice breaker the first one in with a comment and never worry about looking foolish you won't for each person who doesn't agree with you

odds are another person will quit asking yourself i wonder if i dare speak instead concentrate on getting the discussion leaders attention so you can speak for special training and experience in speaking consider joining your local toastmasters club thousands of conscientious people have developed confidence through a planned program to feel at ease talking with people and to people 5. smile big most folks have heard at one time or another that a smile will give them a real boost they've been told that a smile is excellent medicine for confidence deficiency but lots of people still don't really

believe this because they've never tried smiling when they feel fear make this little test try to feel defeated and smile big at the same time you can't a big smile gives you confidence a big smile beats fear rolls away worry defeats despondency and a real smile does more than cure just your ill feeling a real smile melts away the opposition of others and instantly too another person simply can't be angry with you if you give him a big sincere smile just the other day a little incident happened to me that illustrates this i was parked

at an intersection waiting for the light to change when bam the driver behind me had let his foot slip the brake and put my rear bumper to a test i looked back through my mirror and saw him getting out i got out too and forgetting the rule book started preparing myself for verbal combat i confess i was ready verbally to bite him to pieces but fortunately before i got the chance he walked up to me smiled and said in the most earnest voice friend i really didn't mean to do that that smile matched with his

sincere comment melted me i mumbled something about that's okay happens all the time almost in less time than it takes to wink an eye my opposition turned into friendship smile big and you feel like happy days are here again but smile big a half developed smile is not fully guaranteed smile until your teeth show that large size smile is fully guaranteed i've heard many times yes but when i fear something or when i'm angry i don't feel like smiling of course you don't no one does the trick is to tell yourself forcefully i'm going to

smile then smile harness the power of smiling put these five procedures to work for you one action cures fear isolate your fear and then take constructive action in action doing nothing about a situation strengthens fear and destroys confidence two make a supreme effort to put only positive thoughts in your memory bank don't let negative self-deprecatory thoughts grow into mental monsters simply refuse to recall unpleasant events or situations three put people in proper perspective remember people are more alike much more alike than they are different get a balanced view of the other fellow he is just

another human being and develop an understanding attitude many people will bark but it's a rare one who bites four practice doing what your conscience tells you is right this prevents a poisonous guilt complex from developing doing what's right is a very practical rule for success five make everything about you say i'm confident really confident practice these little techniques in your day-to-day activities be a front seater make eye contact walk 25 percent faster speak up smile big chapter 4 how to think big recently i chatted with a recruitment specialist for one of the nation's largest industrial

organizations four months each year she visits college campuses to recruit graduating seniors for her company's junior executive training program the tenor of her remarks indicated that she was discouraged about the attitudes of many people she talked with most days i interview between 8 and 12 college seniors all in the upper third of their class all at least mildly interested in coming with us one of the main things we want to determine in the screening interview is the individual's motivation we want to find out if he or she is the kind of person who can in

a few years direct major projects manage a branch office or plant or in some other way make a really substantial contribution to the company i must say i'm not too pleased with the personal objectives of most of those i talk with you'd be surprised she went on how many 22 year olds are more interested in our retirement plan than in anything else we have to offer a second favorite question is will i move around a lot most of them seem to define the word success as synonymous with security can we risk turning our company over

to people like that the thing i can't understand is why should young people these days be so ultra conservative so narrow in their view of the future every day there are more signs of expanding opportunity this country is making record progress in scientific and industrial development our population is gaining rapidly if there ever was a time to be bullish about america it's now the tendency for so many people to think small means there is less competition than you think for a very rewarding career where success is concerned people are not measured in inches or pounds

or college degrees or family background they are measured by the size of their thinking how big we think determines the size of our accomplishments now let's see how we can enlarge our thinking ever ask yourself what is my greatest weakness probably the greatest human weakness is self-deprecation that is selling oneself short self-deprecation shows through in countless ways john sees a job advertisement in the paper it's exactly what he would like but he does nothing about it because he thinks i'm not good enough for that job so why bother or jim wants a date with joan

but he doesn't call her because he thinks he wouldn't rate with her tom feels mr richards would be a very good prospect for his product but tom doesn't call he feels mr richards is too big to see him pete is filling out a job application form one question asks what beginning salary do you expect pete puts down a modest figure because he feels he really isn't worth the bigger sum he would like to earn philosophers for thousands of years have issued good advice know thyself but most people it seems interpret this suggestion to mean know

only thy negative self most self evaluation consists of making long mental lists of one's faults shortcomings inadequacies it's well to know our inabilities for this shows us areas in which we can improve but if we know only our negative characteristics we're in a mess our value is small here is an exercise to help you measure your true size i've used it in training programs for executives and sales personnel it works one determine your five chief assets invite some objective friend to help possibly your wife your superior a professor some intelligent person who will give you

an honest opinion examples of assets frequently listed are education experience technical skills appearance well-adjusted home life attitudes personality initiative 2. next under each asset write the names of three persons you know who have achieved large success but who do not have this asset to as great a degree as you when you've completed this exercise you will find you outrank many successful people on at least one asset there is only one conclusion you can honestly reach you're bigger than you think so fit your thinking to your true size think as big as you really are never

never never sell yourself short the person who says adamantine when in plain talk he means immovable or says coquette when we would understand him better if he said flirt may have a big vocabulary but does he have a big thinker's vocabulary probably not people who use difficult high-sounding words and phrases that most folks have to strain themselves to understand are inclined to be overbearing and stuffed shirts and stuffed shirts are usually small thinkers the important measure of a person's vocabulary is not the size or the number of words he uses rather the thing that counts

the only thing that counts about one's vocabulary is the effect his words and phrases have on his own and others thinking here is something very basic we do not think in words and phrases we think only in pictures and or images words are the raw materials of thought when spoken or read that amazing instrument the mind automatically converts words and phrases into mind pictures each word each phrase creates a slightly different mind picture if someone tells you jim bought a new split level you see one picture but if you're told jim bought a new ranch

house you see another picture the mind pictures we see are modified by the kinds of words we use to name things and describe things look at it this way when you speak or write you are in a sense a projector showing movies in the minds of others and the pictures you create determine how you and others react suppose you tell a group of people i'm sorry to report we've failed what do these people see they see defeat and all the disappointment and grief the word failed conveys now suppose you said instead here's a new approach

that i think will work they would feel encouraged ready to try again suppose you say we face a problem you have created a picture in the minds of others of something difficult unpleasant to solve instead say we face a challenge and you create a mind picture of fun sport something pleasant to do or tell a group we incurred a big expense and people see money spent that will never return indeed this is unpleasant instead say we made a big investment and people see a picture of something that will return profits later on a very pleasant

site the point is this big thinkers are specialists in creating positive forward-looking optimistic pictures in their own minds and in the minds of others to think big we must use words and phrases that produce big positive mental images here are examples of phrases that create small negative depressing thoughts and then the same situation is discussed but in a big positive way as you listen to these ask yourself what mind pictures do i see phrases that create small negative mind images one it's no use we're whipped or phrases that create big positive mind images we're not

whipped yet let's keep trying here's a new angle two i was in that business once and failed never again or i went broke but it was my own fault i'm going to try again three i've tried but the product won't sell people don't want it or so far i've not been able to sell this product but i know it is good and i'm going to find the formula that will put it over 4. the market is saturated imagine 75 percent of the potential has already been sold better get out or imagine 25 percent of the

market is still not sold count me in this looks big five their orders have been small cut them off or their orders have been small let's map out a plan for selling them more of their needs six five years is too long a time to spend before i'll get into the top ranks in your company count me out or five years is not really a long time just think that leaves me 30 years to serve at a high level 7. the competition has all the advantage how do you expect me to sell against them or

competition is strong there's no denying that but no one ever has all the advantages let's put our heads together and figure out a way to beat them at their own game eight nobody will ever want that product or in its present form it may not be saleable but let's consider some modifications nine let's wait until a recession comes along then buy stocks or let's invest now bet on prosperity not depression 10. i'm too young old for the job or being young old is a distinct advantage 11. it won't work let me prove it the image

dark gloom disappointment grief failure or it will work let me prove it the image right hope success fun victory four ways to develop the big thinkers vocabulary here are four ways to help you develop a big thinkers vocabulary one use big positive cheerful words and phrases to describe how you feel when someone asks how do you feel today and you respond with an i'm tired i have a headache i wish it were saturday i don't feel so good you actually make yourself feel worse practice this it's a very simple point but it has tremendous power

every time someone asks you how are you or how are you feeling today respond with a just wonderful thanks in you or say great or fine say you feel wonderful at every possible opportunity and you will begin to feel wonderful and bigger too become known as a person who always feels great it wins friends two use bright cheerful favorable words and phrases to describe other people make it a rule to have a big positive word for all your friends and associates when you and someone else are discussing an absent third party be sure you compliment

him with big words and phrases like he's really a fine fellow they tell me he's working out wonderfully well be extremely careful to avoid the petty cut him down language sooner or later third parties hear what's been said and then such talk only cuts you down three use positive language to encourage others compliment people personally at every opportunity everyone you know craves praise have a special good word for your wife or husband every day notice and compliment the people who work with you praise sincerely administered is a success tool use it use it again and

again and again compliment people on their appearance their work their achievements their families four use positive words to outline plants to others when people hear something like this here is some good news we face a genuine opportunity their minds start to sparkle but when they hear something like whether we like it or not we've got a job to do the mind movie is dull and boring and they react accordingly promise victory and watch eyes light up promise victory and win support build castles don't dig graves see what can be not just what is big thinkers

train themselves to see not just what is but what can be here are four examples to illustrate this point one what gives real estate value a highly successful realtor who specializes in rural property shows what can be done if we train ourselves to see something where little or nothing presently exists most of the rural property around here my friend began is run down and not very attractive i'm successful because i don't try to sell my prospects a farm as it is i develop my entire sales plan around what the farm can be simply telling the

prospect the farm has xx acres of bottomland and xx acres of woods and is xx miles from town doesn't stir him up and make him want to buy it but when you show him a concrete plan for doing something with the farm he's just about sold here let me show you what i mean he opened his briefcase and pulled out a file this farm he said is a new listing with us it's like a lot of them it's 43 miles from the center of the metropolitan area the house is run down and the place hasn't

been farmed in five years now here's what i've done i spent two full days on the place last week just studying it i walked over the place several times i looked at neighboring farms i studied the location of the farm with respect to existing and planned highways i asked myself what's this farm good for i came up with three possibilities here they are he showed them to me each plan was neatly typed and looked quite comprehensive one plan suggested converting the farm into a riding stable the plan showed why the idea was sound a growing

city more love for the outdoors more money for recreation good roads the plan also showed how the farm could support a sizable number of horses so that the revenue from the rides would be largely clear the whole riding stable idea was very thorough very convincing the plan was so clear and convincing i could see a dozen couples riding horseback through the trees in similar fashion this enterprising salesman developed a second thorough plan for a tree farm and a third plan for a combination tree and poultry farm now when i talk with my prospects i won't

have to convince them that the farm is a good buy as it is i help them to see a picture of the farm changed into a money-making proposition besides selling more farms and selling them faster my method of selling the property for what it can be pays off in another way i can sell a farm at a higher price than my competitors people naturally pay more for acreage and an idea than they do for just acreage because of this more people want to list their farms with me and my commission on each sale is larger

the moral is this look at things not as they are but as they can be visualization adds value to everything a big thinker always visualizes what can be done in the future he isn't stuck with the present two how much is a customer worth a department store executive was addressing a conference of merchandise managers she was saying i may be a little old-fashioned but i belong to the school that believes the best way to get customers to come back is to give them friendly courteous service one day i was walking through our store when i

overheard a salesperson arguing with a customer the customer left in quite a huff afterward the salesperson said to another i'm not going to let a dollar 98 customer take up all my time and make me take the store apart trying to find him what he wants he's simply not worth it i walked away the executive continued but i couldn't get that remark out of my mind it is pretty serious i thought when our sales people think of customers as being in the dollar ninety eight category i decided right then that this concept must be changed

when i got back to my office i called our research director and asked him to find out how much the average customer spent in our store last year the figure he came up with surprised even me according to our research director's careful calculation the typical customer spent 362 dollars in our establishment the next thing i did was call a meeting of all supervisory personnel and explain the incident to them then i showed them what a customer is really worth once i got these people to see that a customer is not to be valued on a

single sale but rather on an annual basis customer service definitely improved the point made by the retailing executive applies to any kind of business it's repeat business that makes the profit often there's no profit at all on the first several sales look at the potential expenditures of the customers not just what they buy today putting a big value on customers is what converts them into big regular patrons attaching little value to customers sends them elsewhere a student related this pertinent incident to me explaining while he'll never again eat in a certain cafeteria for lunch one

day the student began i decided to try a new cafeteria that had just opened a couple of weeks before nickels and dimes are pretty important to me right now so i watch what i buy pretty closely walking past the meat section i saw some turkey and dressing that looked pretty good and it was plainly marked 39 cents when i got to the cash register the checker looked at my tray and said a dollar nine i politely asked her to check it again because my tally was 99 cents after giving me a mean glare she recounted

the difference turned out to be the turkey she had charged me 49 cents instead of 39 cents then i called her attention to the sign which read 39 cents this really set her off i don't care what that sign says it's supposed to be 49 cents see here's my price list for today somebody back there made a mistake you'll have to pay the 49 cents then i tried to explain to her the only reason i selected the turkey was because it was 39 cents if it had been marked 49 cents i'd have taken something else

to this her answer was you'll just have to pay the 49 cents i did because i didn't want to stand there and create a scene but i decided on the spot that i'd never eat there again i spend about two hundred fifty dollars a year for lunches and you can be sure they'll not get one penny of it there's an example of the little view the checker saw one thin dime not the potential two hundred fifty dollars three the case of the blind milkman it's surprising how people sometimes are blind to potential a few years

ago a young milkman came to our door to solicit our dairy business i explained to him that we already had milk delivery service and we were quite satisfied then i suggested that he stop next door and talk to the lady there to this he replied i've already talked to the lady next door but they use only one quart of milk every two days and that's not enough to make it worthwhile for me to stop that may be i said but when you talked to our neighbor did you not observe that the demand for milk in

that household will increase considerably in a month or so there will be a new addition over there that will consume lots of milk the young man looked for a moment like he had been struck and then he said how blind can a guy be today that same one chord every two days family buys seven courts every two days from a milkman who had some foresight that first youngster a boy now has two brothers and one sister and i'm told there will be another young one soon how blind can we be see what can be not

just what is the school teacher who thinks of jimmy only as he is an ill-mannered backward uncouth brat certainly will not aid jimmy's development but the teacher who sees jimmy not as he is now but as he can be she'll get results most folks driving through skid row see only broken down stumble bombs hopelessly lost to the bottle a few devoted people see something else in the skid row light they see a reconstructed citizen and because they see this they succeed in many cases in doing an excellent rehabilitation job four what determines how much you're

worth after a training session a few weeks ago a young man came to see me and asked if he could talk with me for a few minutes i knew that this young fellow now about 26 had been a very underprivileged child on top of this he had experienced a mountain of misfortune in his early adult years i also knew that he was making a real effort to prepare himself for a solid future over coffee we quickly worked out his technical problem and our discussion turned to how people who have few physical possessions should look toward

the future his comments provide a straightforward sound answer i've got less than two hundred dollars in the bank my job as a rate clerk doesn't pay much and it doesn't carry much responsibility my car is four years old and my wife and i live in a cramped second floor apartment but professor he continued i'm determined not to let what i haven't got stop me that was an intriguing statement so i urged him to explain it's this way he went on i've been analyzing people a lot lately and i've noticed this people who don't have much

look at themselves as they are now that's all they see they don't see a future they just see a miserable present my neighbor is a good example he's continually complaining about having a low paid job the plumbing that's always getting fouled up the lucky breaks somebody else just got the doctor bills that are piling up he reminds himself so often that he's poor that now he just assumes that he's always going to be poor he acts as if he were sentenced to living in that broken down apartment all the rest of his life my friend

was really speaking from the heart and after a moment's pause he added if i looked at myself strictly as i am old car low income cheap apartment and hamburger diet i couldn't help but be discouraged i'd see a nobody and i'd be a nobody for the rest of my life i've made up my mind to look at myself as the person i'm going to be in a few short years i see myself not as a rate clerk but as an executive i don't see a crummy apartment i see a fine new suburban home and when

i look at myself that way i feel bigger and think bigger and i've got plenty of personal experiences to prove it's paying off isn't that a splendid plan for adding value to oneself this young fellow is on the expressway to really fine living he's mastered this basic success principle it isn't what one has that's important rather it's how much one is planning to get that counts the price tag the world puts on us is just about identical to the one we put on ourselves here is how you can develop your power to see what can

be not just what is i call these the practice adding value exercises one practice adding value to things remember the real estate example ask yourself what can i do to add value to this room or this house or this business look for ideas to make things worth more a thing whether it be a vacant lot a house or a business has value in proportion to the ideas for using it two practice adding value to people as you move higher and higher in the world of success more and more of your job becomes people development ask

what can i do to add value to my subordinates what can i do to help them to become more effective remember to bring out the best in a person you must first visualize his best three practice adding value to yourself conduct a daily interview with yourself ask what can i do to make myself more valuable today visualize yourself not as you are but as you can be then specific ways for attaining your potential value will suggest themselves just try and see a retired owner manager of a medium-sized printing company 60 employees explained to me how

his successor was picked five years ago my friend began i needed an accountant to head up our accounting and office routine the fellow i hired was named harry and was only 26. he knew nothing about the printing business but his record showed he was a good accountant yet a year and a half ago when i retired we made him president and general manager of the company looking back on it harry had one trait that put him out in front of everyone else harry was sincerely and actively interested in the whole company not just writing checks

and keeping records whenever he saw how he could help other employees he jumped right in the first year harry was with me we lost a few men harry came to me with a fringe benefit program which he promised would cut down turnover at low cost and it worked harry did many other things too which helped the whole company not just this department he made a detailed cost study of our production department and showed me how a thirty thousand dollar investment in new machinery would pay off once we experienced a pretty bad sales slump harry went

to our sales manager and said in effect i don't know much about the sales end of the business but let me try to help and he did harry came up with several good ideas which helped us sell more jobs when a new employee joined us harry was right there to help the fellow get comfortable harry took a real interest in the entire operation when i retired harry was the only logical person to take over but don't misunderstand my friend continued harry didn't try to put himself over on me he wasn't a mere meddler he wasn't

aggressive in a negative way he didn't stab people in the back and he didn't go around giving orders he just went around helping harry simply acted as if everything in the company affected him he made company business his business we can all learn a lesson from harry the i'm doing my job and that's enough attitude is small negative thinking big thinkers see themselves as members of a team effort as winning or losing with the team not by themselves they help in every way they can even when there is no direct and immediate compensation or other

reward the fellow who shrugs off a problem outside his own department with the comment well that's no concern of mine let them worry about it hasn't got the attitude it takes for top leadership practice this practice being a big thinker see the company's interest as identical with your own probably only a very few persons working in large companies have a sincere unselfish interest in their company but after all only a relatively few persons qualify as big thinkers and these few are the ones eventually rewarded with the most responsible best paying jobs many many potentially powerful

people let petty small insignificant things block their way to achievement let's look at four examples one what does it take to make a good speech just about everyone wishes he had the ability to do a first-class job of speaking in public but most people don't get their wish most folks are lousy public speakers why the reason is simple most people concentrate on the small trivial things of speaking at the expense of the big important things in preparing to give a talk most people give themselves a host of mental instructions like i've got to remember to

stand straight don't move around and don't use your hands don't let the audience see you use your notes remember don't make mistakes in grammar especially don't say for he and i say for him and me be sure your tie is straight speak loud but not too loud and so on and so on now what happens when the speaker gets up to speak he's scared because he's given himself a terrific list of things not to do he gets confused in his talk and finds himself silently asking have i made a mistake he is in brief a

flop he's a flop because he concentrated on the petty trivial relatively unimportant qualities of a good speaker and failed to concentrate on the big things that make a good speaker knowledge of what he's going to talk about and an intense desire to tell it to other people the real test of a speaker is not did he stand straight or did he make any mistakes in grammar but rather did the audience get the points he wanted to put across most of our top speakers have petty defects some of them even have unpleasant voices some of the

most sought after speakers in america would flunk a speech course taught by the old negative don't do this and don't do that method yet all these successful public speakers have one thing in common they have something to say and they feel a burning desire for other people to hear it don't let concern with trivia keep you from speaking successfully in public to what causes quarrels ever stop to ask yourself just what causes quarrels at least 99 percent of the time quarrels start over petty unimportant matters like this john comes home a little tired a little

on edge dinner doesn't exactly please him so he turns up his nose and complains jones day wasn't perfect either so she rallies to her own defense with well what do you expect on my food budget or maybe i could cook better if i had a new stove like everybody else this insults john's pride so he attacks with now joan it's not lack of money it's simply that you don't know how to manage and away they go before a truce is finally declared all sorts of accusations are made by each party in-laws sex money pre-marital and

post-marital promises and other issues will be introduced both parties leave the battle nervous tense nothing has been settled and both parties have new ammunition to make the next quarrel more vicious little things petty thinking causes arguments so to eliminate quarrels eliminate petty thinking here's a technique that works before complaining or accusing or reprimanding someone or launching a counter-attack in self-defense ask yourself is it really important in most cases it isn't and you avoid conflict ask yourself is it really important if he or she is messy with cigarettes or forgets to put the cap on the

toothpaste or is late coming home is it really important if he or she squandered a little money or invited some people in i don't like when you feel like taking negative action ask yourself is it really important that question works magic in building a finer home situation it works at the office too it works in homegoing traffic when another driver cuts in ahead of you it works in any situation in life that is apt to produce quarrels three john got the smallest office and fizzled out several years ago i observed small thinking about an office

assignment destroy a young fellow's chances for a profitable career in advertising four young executives all on the same status level were moved into new offices three of the offices were identical in size and decoration the fourth was smaller and less elaborate jm was assigned to the fourth office this turned out to be a real blow to his pride immediately he felt discriminated against negative thinking resentment bitterness jealousy built up jm began to feel inadequate the result was that jm grew hostile toward his fellow executives rather than cooperate he did his best to undermine their efforts

things got worse three months later jm slipped so badly that management had no choice but to issue him a pink slip small thinking over a very small matter stopped jm in his haste to feel he was discriminated against jm failed to observe that the company was expanding rapidly and office space was at a premium he didn't stop to consider the possibility that the executive who made the office assignments didn't even know which one was the smallest no one in the organization except jm regarded his office as an index of his value small thinking about unimportant

things like seeing your name last on the department route sheet or getting the fourth carbon of an office memo can hurt you think big and none of these little things can hold you back four even stuttering is a detail a sales executive told me how even stuttering is a mere detail in salesmanship if the fellow has the really important qualities i have a friend also a sales executive who loves to play practical jokes though sometimes these jokes aren't jokes at all a few months ago a young fellow called on my practical joking friend and asked

for a sales job the fellow had a terrible stutter though and my friend decided right here was a chance to play a joke on me so the friend told the stammering applicant that he wasn't in the market for a salesman right now but one of his friends me had a spot to fill then he phoned me and boy did he give this fellow a build up not suspecting anything i said send him right over thirty minutes later in he walked the young fellow hadn't said three words before i knew why my friend was so eager

to send him over i i'm jack r he said mr x sent me over to to talk to you about a digit job almost every word was a struggle i thought to myself this guy couldn't sell a dollar bill for 90 cents on wall street i was sorry my friend but i really felt sorry for this fellow so i thought the least i could do was to ask him some polite questions while i thought up a good excuse as to why i couldn't use him as we talked on however i discovered this fellow was no

stoop he was intelligent he handled himself very nicely but i just couldn't overlook the fact that he stuttered finally i decided i'd wind up the interview by asking one last question what makes you think you can sell well he said i learned fast i i like people i i think you've got a good company and i i want to to make money now i i do have a speech in im impairment but but that doesn't bother me so why should it bother anybody else his answer showed me he had all the really important qualifications for

a salesman i decided right then to give him a chance and you know he's working out very well even a speech impairment in a talker's profession is a triviality if the person has the big qualities practice these three procedures to help yourself think about trivialities one keep your eyes focused on the big objective many times we're like the salesman who failing to make the sale reports to his manager yes but i sure convinced the customer he was wrong in selling the big objective is winning sales not arguments in marriage the big objective is peace happiness

tranquility not winning quarrels or saying i could have told you so in working with employees the big objective is developing their full potential not making issues out of their minor errors in living with neighbors the big objective is mutual respect and friendship not seeing if you can have their dog impounded because once in a while it barks at night paraphrasing some military lingo it is much better to lose a battle and win the war than to win a battle and lose the war resolve to keep your eyes on the big ball to ask is it

really important before becoming negatively excited just ask yourself is it important enough for me to get all worked up about there is no better way to avoid frustration over petty matters than to use this medicine at least 90 percent of quarrels and feuds would never take place if we just faced troublesome situations with is this really important three don't fall into the triviality trap in making speeches solving problems counseling employees think of those things that really matter things that make the difference don't become submerged under surface issues concentrate on important things take this test to

measure the size of your thinking here listed are several common situations of how petty thinkers and big thinkers see the same situation check yourself then decide which will get me where i want to go petty thinking or big thinking the same situation handled in two entirely different ways the choice is yours situation expense accounts the petty thinkers approach figures out ways to increase income through chiseling on expense accounts the big thinkers approach figures out ways to increase income by selling more merchandise situation conversation the petty thinkers approach talks about the negative qualities of his friends

the economy his company the competition the big thinkers approach talks about the positive qualities of his friends his company the competition progress believes in retrenchment or at best the status quo or believes in expansion future views the future as limited or sees the future as very promising work looks for ways to avoid work or looks for more ways and things to do especially helping others competition competes with the average or competes with the best budget problems figures out ways to save money by cutting down on necessary items or figures out ways to increase income and

buy more of the necessary items goals sets goals low or sets goals high goals vision sees only the short run or is preoccupied with the long run security is preoccupied with security problems or regards security as a natural companion of success companionship surrounds himself with petty thinkers or surrounds himself with persons with large progressive ideas mistakes magnifies minor errors turns them into big issues or ignores errors of little consequence remember it pays in every way to think big one don't sell yourself short conquer the crime of self-deprecation concentrate on your assets you're better than you

think you are 2. use the big thinkers vocabulary use big bright cheerful words use words that promise victory hope happiness pleasure avoid words that create unpleasant images of failure defeat grief three stretch your vision see what can be not just what is practice adding value to things to people and to yourself four get the big view of your job think really think your present job is important that next promotion depends mostly on how you think toward your present job five think above trivial things focus your attention on big objectives before getting involved in a petty

matter ask yourself is it really important grow big by thinking big chapter five how to think and dream creatively first let's clear up a common fallacy about the meaning of creative thinking for some illogical reason science engineering art and writing got tabbed as about the only truly creative pursuits most people associate creative thinking with things like the discovery of electricity or polio vaccine or the writing of a novel or the development of color television certainly accomplishments like these are evidence of creative thinking each forward step made in the conquest of space is the result of

creative thinking lots of it but creative thinking is not reserved for certain occupations nor is it restricted to super-intelligent people well then what is creative thinking a low-income family devises a plan to send their son to a leading university that's creative thinking a family turns the street's most undesirable lot into the neighborhood beauty spot that's creative thinking a minister develops a plan that doubles his sunday evening attendance that's creative thinking figuring out ways to simplify record keeping selling the impossible customer keeping the children occupied constructively making employees really like their work or preventing a certain

quarrel all of these are examples of practical everyday creative thinking creative thinking is simply finding new improved ways to do anything the rewards of all types of success success in the home at work in the community hinge on finding ways to do things better now let's see what we can do to develop and strengthen our creative thinking ability step one believe it can be done here is a basic truth to do anything we must first believe it can be done believing something can be done sets the mind in motion to find a way to do

it to illustrate this point of creative thinking in training sessions i often use this example i ask the group how many of you feel it is possible to eliminate jails within the next thirty years invariably the group looks bewildered not quite sure they heard right and thinking they are listening to a real fuzz brain so after a pause i repeat how many of you feel it is possible to eliminate jails within the next 30 years once they're sure i'm not joking someone always blasts me with something like you mean to say you want to turn

all those murderers thieves and rapists loose don't you realize what this would mean why none of us would be safe we have to have jails then the others cut loose all order would break down if we didn't have jails some people are born criminals if anything we need more jails did you read in this morning's paper about that murder and the group goes on telling me all sorts of good reasons why we must have jails one fellow even suggested we've got to have jails so the police and prison guards can have jobs after about 10

minutes of letting the group prove why we can't eliminate the need for jails i say to them now let me mention here that this question of eliminating jails is used to make a point each of you has come up with reasons why we can't eliminate the need for jails will you do me a favor will you try extra hard for a few minutes to believe we can eliminate jails joining in the spirit of the experiment the group says in effect all well but just for kicks then i ask now assuming we can eliminate jails how

could we begin suggestions come slowly at first someone hesitantly says something like well you might cut down crime if you established more youth centers before long the group which 10 minutes ago was solidly against the idea now begins to work up real enthusiasm work to eliminate poverty most crime stems from the low income levels conduct research to spot potential criminals before they commit a crime develop surgical procedures to cure some kinds of criminals educate law enforcement personnel in positive methods of reform these are just samples of the 78 specific ideas i've tabulated that could help

accomplish the goal of eliminating jails when you believe your mind finds ways to do this experiment has just one point when you believe something is impossible your mind goes to work for you to prove why but when you believe really believe something can be done your mind goes to work for you and helps you find the ways to do it believing something can be done paves the way for creative solutions believing something can't be done is destructive thinking this point applies to all situations little and big the political leaders who do not genuinely believe permanent

world peace can be established will fail because their minds are closed to creative ways to bring about peace the economists who believe business depressions are inevitable will not develop creative ways to beat the business cycle in a similar fashion you can find ways to like a person if you believe you can you can discover solutions to personal problems if you believe you can you can find a way to purchase that new larger home if you believe you can belief releases creative powers disbelief puts the brakes on believe and you'll start thinking constructively your mind will

create a way if you let it a little over two years ago a young man asked me to help him find a job with more future he was employed as a clerk in the credit department of a mail order company and felt that he was getting nowhere we talked about his past record and what he wanted to do after knowing something about him i said i admire you very much for wanting to move up the ladder to a better job and more responsibility but getting a start in the kind of job you want requires a

college degree these days i notice you've finished three semesters may i suggest you finish college going summers you can do it in two years then i'm sure you can land the job you want with the company you want to work for i realize he answered that a college education would help but it's impossible for me to go back to school impossible why i asked well for one thing he began i'm 24. on top of that my wife and i are expecting our second child in a couple of months we barely get by now on what

i make i wouldn't have time to study since i'd have to keep my job it's just impossible that's all this young man really had himself convinced that finishing college was impossible then i said to him if you believe it is impossible to finish school then it is but by the same token if you'll just believe it is possible to return to the university a solution will come now here's what i would like you to do make up your mind you are going to go back to school let that one thought dominate your thinking then think

really think about how you can do it and still support your family come back in a couple of weeks and let me know what ideas you've come up with my young friend returned two weeks later i thought a lot about what you said he began i've decided i must go back to school i haven't figured out all the angles yet but i'll find a solution and he did he managed to get a scholarship provided by a trade association which paid his tuition books and incidentals he rearranged his work schedule so he could attend classes his

enthusiasm and the promise of a better life won him his wife's full support together they creatively found ways to budget money and time more effectively last month he received his degree one day and went to work the next as a management trainee for a large corporation where there's a will there is a way believe it can be done that's basic to creative thinking here are suggestions to help you develop creative power through belief one eliminate the word impossible from your thinking and speaking vocabularies impossible is a failure word the thought it's impossible sets off a

chain reaction of other thoughts to prove you're right 2. think of something you've been wanting to do but felt you couldn't now make a list of reasons why you can do it many of us whip and defeat our desires simply because we concentrate on why we can't when the only thing worthy of our mental concentration is why we can recently i read a newspaper item that said there are too many counties in most states the article pointed out that most county boundaries were established decades before the first automobile was built and while the horse and

buggy was the chief mode of travel but today with fast automobiles and good roads there is no reason why three or four counties could not be combined this would cut down greatly on duplicated services so that taxpayers would actually get better service for less money the writer of this article said he thought he had stumbled across a really live idea so he interviewed thirty people at random to get their reactions the result not one person thought the idea had merit even though it would provide them with better local government at less cost that's an example

of traditional thinking the traditional thinker's mind is paralyzed he reasons it's been this way for a hundred years therefore it must be good and must stay this way why risk a change average people have always resented progress many voiced a protest toward the automobile on the grounds that nature meant for us to walk or use horses the airplane seemed drastic to many man had no right to enter the province reserved for birds a lot of status quowers still insist that man has no business in space one top missile expert recently gave an answer to this

kind of thinking man belongs says dr von braun where man wants to go around 1900 a sales executive discovered a scientific principle of sales management it received a lot of publicity and even found its way into textbooks the principle was this there is one best way to sell a product find the best way then never deviate from it fortunately for this man's company new leadership came in in time to save the organization from financial ruin contrast that experience with the philosophy of crawford h greenwalt president of one of the nation's largest business organizations e.i dupont

de nimour in a talk at columbia university mr greenwald said there are many ways in which a good job can be done as many ways in fact as there are men to whom the task is given in truth there is no one best way to do anything there is no one best way to decorate an apartment landscape a lawn make a sale rear a child or cook a steak there are as many best ways as there are creative minds nothing grows in ice if we let tradition freeze our minds new ideas can't sprout make this

test sometime soon propose one of these ideas to someone and then watch his behavior one the postal system long a government monopoly should be turned over to private enterprise two presidential elections should be held every two or six years instead of four three regular hours for retail stores should be 1 p.m to 8 p.m instead of 9 a.m to 5 30 p.m 4. the retirement age should be raised to 70. whether these ideas are sound or practical is not the point what is significant is how a person handles propositions like these if he laughs at

the idea and doesn't give it a second thought and probably 95 percent will laugh at it chances are he suffers from tradition paralysis but the one in 20 who says that's an interesting idea tell me more about it has a mind that's turned to creativity traditional thinking is personal enemy number one for the person who is interested in a creative personal success program traditional thinking freezes your mind blocks your progress and prevents you from developing creative power here are three ways to fight it one become receptive to ideas welcome new ideas destroy these thought repellents

won't work can't be done it's useless and it's stupid a very successful friend of mine who holds a major position with an insurance company said to me i don't pretend to be the smartest guy in the business but i think i am the best sponge in the insurance industry i make it a point to soak up all the good ideas i can 2. be an experimental person break up fixed routines expose yourself to new restaurants new books new theaters new friends take a different route to work someday take a different vacation this year do something

new and different this weekend if your work is in distribution develop an interest in production accounting finance and the other elements of business this gives you breadth and prepares you for larger responsibilities three be progressive not regressive not that's the way we did it where i used to work so we ought to do it that way here but how can we do it better than we did it where i used to work not backward regressive thinking but forward progressive thinking because you got up at 5 30 am to deliver papers or milk the cows when

you were a youngster doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea for you to require your children to do the same imagine what would happen to the ford motor company if its management allowed itself to think this year we've built the ultimate in automobiles further improvement is impossible therefore all experimental engineering and designing activities are hereby permanently terminated even the mammoth ford motor company would shrivel fast with this attitude successful people like successful businesses live with these questions how can i improve the quality of my performance how can i do better absolute perfection in all human

undertakings from building missiles to rearing children is unattainable this means there is endless room for improvement successful people know this and they are always searching for a better way note the successful person doesn't ask can i do it better he knows he can so he phrases the question how can i do it better a few months ago a former student of mine in business for just four years opened her fourth hardware store this was quite a feat considering the young lady's small initial capital investment of only three thousand five hundred dollars strong competition from other

stores and the relatively short time she had been in business i visited her new store shortly after it opened to congratulate her on the fine progress she had made in an indirect way i asked her how she was able to make a success of three stores and open a fourth one when most merchants had to struggle to make a success of just one store naturally she answered i worked hard but just getting up early and working late isn't responsible for the four stores most people in my business work hard the main thing i attribute my

success to is my self-styled weekly improvement program a weekly improvement program sounds impressive how does it work i asked well it really isn't anything elaborate she continued it's just a plan to help me do a better job as each week rolls around to keep my forward thinking on the track i've divided my job into four elements customers employees merchandise and promotion all during the week i make notes and jot down ideas as to how i can improve my business then every monday evening i set aside four hours to review the ideas i've jotted down and

figure out how to put the solid ones to use in the business in this four hour period i force myself to take a hard look at my operation i don't simply wish more customers would shop in my store instead i ask myself what can i do to attract more customers how can i develop regular loyal customers she went on describing numerous little innovations that made her first three stores so successful things like the way she arranged the merchandise within her stores her suggestion selling technique that sold two out of three customers merchandise they had not

planned to buy when they entered her stores the credit plan she devised when many of her customers were out of work because of a strike the contest she developed that boosted sales during a slack season i ask myself what can i do to improve my merchandise offerings and i get ideas let me cite just one case four weeks ago it occurred to me that i should do something to get more youngsters into the store i reasoned if i had something here to draw the kids to the store i'd also draw more of the parents i

kept thinking about it and then this idea came put in a line of small carded toys for children in the four to eight age bracket it's working the toys take little space and i make a nice profit on them but most important the toys have increased store traffic believe me she went on my weekly improvement plan works just by conscientiously asking myself how can i do a better job i find the answers it's a rare monday night that i don't come up with some plan or technique that makes that profit and loss statement look better

and i've learned something else too about successful merchandising something that i think every person going into business for himself should know what's that i asked just this it isn't so much what you know when you start that matters it's what you learn and put to use after you open your doors that counts most big success calls for persons who continually set higher standards for themselves and others persons who are searching for ways to increase efficiency to get more output at lower cost do more with less effort top success is reserved for the i can do

it better kind of person general electric uses the slogan progress is our most important product why not make progress your most important product the i can do better philosophy works magic when you ask yourself how can i do better your creative power is switched on and ways for doing things better suggest themselves here is a daily exercise that will help you discover and develop the power of the i can do better attitude each day before you begin work devote 10 minutes to thinking how can i do a better job today ask what can i do

today to encourage my employees what special favor can i do for my customers how can i increase my personal efficiency this exercise is simple but it works try it and you'll find unlimited creative ways to win greater success just about every time my wife and i would get together with a certain couple the conversation would turn to working wives mrs s had worked several years before her marriage and she had genuinely liked it but now she'd say i've got two youngsters in school a home to manage and meals to prepare i simply haven't got time

then one sunday evening mr and mrs s and their children were in an automobile accident mrs s and the youngsters escaped serious injury but mr s received a back injury that left him permanently disabled now mrs s had no choice but to go to work when we saw her several months after the accident we were amazed to find how well she had adjusted to her new responsibilities you know she said six months ago i never dreamed i could possibly manage the house and work full-time but after the accident i just made up my mind that

i had to find the time believe me my efficiency has gone up one hundred percent i discovered a lot of things i was doing didn't need to be done at all then i discovered that the children could and wanted to help i found dozens of ways to conserve time fewer trips to the store less tv less telephoning less of those time killers this experience teaches us a lesson capacity is a state of mind how much we can do depends on how much we think we can do when you really believe you can do more your

mind thinks creatively and shows you the way a young bank executive related this personal experience about work capacity one of the other executives in our bank left us with very short notice this put our department on the spot the fellow leaving had filled an important job and his work couldn't be postponed or left undone the day after he left the vice president in charge of my department called me in he explained to me that he had already talked individually to the two others in my group asking them if they could divide the work of the

man who had just left until a replacement could be found neither of them flatly refused said the vice president but each stated that he is up to his neck now with his own pressing work i'm wondering if you could handle some of the overload temporarily throughout my working career i've learned that it never pays to turn down what looks like an opportunity so i agreed and promised to do my very best to handle all the vacated job as well as keep up with my own work the vice president was pleased at this i walked out

of his office knowing i had taken on a big job i was just as busy as the two others in my department who had wiggled out of this extra duty but i was determined to find a way to handle both jobs i finished up my work that afternoon and when the offices were closed i sat down to figure out how i could increase my personal efficiency i got a pencil and started writing down every idea i could think of and you know i came up with some good ones like working out an arrangement with my

secretary to channel all routine telephone calls to me during a certain hour each day placing all outgoing calls during a certain hour cutting my usual conference periods from 15 minutes to 10 giving all my dictation at one time each day i also discovered my secretary could and was eager to take over a number of little time-consuming details for me i had been handling my present job for over two years and frankly i was amazed to discover how much inefficiency i had let creep in within a week's time i was dictating twice as many letters handling

fifty percent more phone calls attending half again as many meetings all with no strain a couple more weeks passed the vice president called me in he complimented me on doing a fine job he went on to say that he had looked over a number of people from both inside and outside the bank but he had not yet found the right man then he confessed that he had already cleared with the bank's executive committee and they had authorized him to combine the two jobs put them both in my charge and give me a substantial increase in

salary i prove to myself that how much i can do depends on how much i think i can do capacity is indeed a state of mind every day it seems this takes place in the fast-moving world of business the boss calls in an employee and explains that a special task must be accomplished then he says i know you've got a lot of work to do but can you handle this too often the employee replies i'm awfully sorry but i'm all loaded down now i wish i could take it on but i'm just too busy under

the circumstances the boss doesn't hold it against the employee because it is extra duty so to speak but the boss realizes the task must be done and he'll keep on looking until he finds an employee who is just as busy as the rest but who feels he can take on more and this employee is the fellow who will forge ahead in business in the home in the community the success combination is do what you do better improve the quality of your output and do more of what you do increase the quantity of your output convinced

it pays to do more and better then try this two-step procedure one eagerly accept the opportunity to do more it's a compliment to be asked to take on a new responsibility accepting greater responsibility on the job makes you stand out and shows that you're more valuable when your neighbors ask you to represent them on a civic matter except it helps you to become a community leader two next concentrate on how can i do more creative answers will come some of these answers may be better planning and organization of your present work or taking intelligent shortcuts

in your routine activities or possibly dropping non-essential activities altogether but let me repeat the solution for doing more will appear as a personal policy i've accepted fully the concept if you want it done give it to a busy man i refuse to work on important projects with persons who have lots of free time i have learned from painful expensive experience that the fellow who has plenty of time makes an ineffective work partner all the successful competent people i know are busy when i start something some project with them i know it will be satisfactorily completed

i have learned in dozens of instances that i can count on a busy man to deliver but i have often been disappointed in working with people who have all the time in the world progressive business management constantly asks what can we do to expand output why not ask yourself what can i do to expand my output your mind will creatively show you how in hundreds of interviews with people at all levels i've made this discovery the bigger the person the more apt he is to encourage you to talk the smaller the person the more apt

he is to preach to you big people monopolize the listening small people monopolize the talking note this also top level leaders in all walks of life spend much more time requesting advice than they do in giving it before a top man makes a decision he asks how do you feel about it what do you recommend what would you do under these circumstances how does this sound to you look at it this way a leader is a decision-making human machine now to manufacture anything you've got to have raw material in reaching creative decisions the raw materials

are the ideas and suggestions of others don't of course expect other people to give you ready-made solutions that's not the primary reason for asking and listening ideas of others help to spark your own ideas so your mind is more creative recently i participated as a staff instructor in an executive management seminar the seminar consisted of twelve sessions one of the highlights of each meeting was a fifteen minute discussion by one of the executives on the topic how i solved my most pressing management problem at the ninth session the executive whose turn it was a vice

president of a large milk processing company did something different instead of telling how he had solved his problem he announced his topic as needed help on solving my most pressing management problem he quickly outlined his problem and then asked the group for ideas on solving it to be sure he got a record of each idea suggested he had a stenographer in the room taking down everything that was said later i talked with this man and complimented him on his unique approach his comment was there are some very sharp men in this group i just figured

i'd harvest some ideas there's a good possibility something someone said during that session may give me the clue i need to solve the problem note this executive presented his problem then listened in so doing he got some decision-making raw material and as a side benefit the other executives in the audience enjoyed the discussion because it gave them the opportunity to take part successful businesses invest large sums in consumer research they ask people about the taste quality size and appearance of a product listening to people provides definite ideas for making the product more saleable it also

suggests to the manufacturer what he should tell consumers about the product in his advertising the procedure for developing successful products is to get as much opinion as you can listen to the people who will buy the product and then design the product and its promotion to please these people in an office recently i noticed a sign that said to sell john brown what john brown buys you've got to see things through john brown's eyes and the way to get john brown's vision is to listen to what john brown has to say your ears are your

intake valves they feed your mind raw materials that can be converted into creative power we learn nothing from telling but there is no limit to what we can learn by asking and listening try this three-stage program to strengthen your creativity through asking and listening one encourage others to talk in personal conversation or in group meetings draw out people with little urges such as tell me about your experience or what do you think should be done about or what do you think is the key point encourage others to talk and you win a double-barreled victory your

mind soaks up raw material that you can use to produce creative thought and you win friends there is no surer way to get people to like you than to encourage them to talk to you two test your own views in the form of questions let other people help you smooth and polish your ideas use the what do you think of this suggestion approach don't be dogmatic don't announce a fresh idea as if it were handed down on a gold tablet do a little informal research first see how your associates react to it if you do

chances are you'll end up with a better idea three concentrate on what the other person says listening is more than just keeping your own mouth shut listening means letting what's said penetrate your mind so often people pretend to listen when they aren't listening at all they're just waiting for the other person to pause so they can take over with the talking concentrate on what the other person says evaluate it that's how you collect mind food more and more leading universities are offering advanced management training programs for senior business executives according to the sponsors the big

benefit of these programs is not that the executives get ready-made formulae that they can use to operate their business more efficiently rather they benefit most from the opportunity to exchange and discuss new ideas many of these programs require the executives to live together in college dormitories thus encouraging bull sessions boiled down to one word the executives benefit most from the stimulation received a year ago i directed two sessions in a one-week sales management school in atlanta sponsored by the national sales executives incorporated a few weeks later i met a salesman friend who worked for one

of the sales executives who'd attended the school you people at the school sure gave my sales manager a lot of things to do to run our company better my young friend said curious i asked him specifically what changes he'd noticed he reeled off a number of things a revision in the compensation plan sales meetings twice a month instead of once a month new business cards and stationery a revision in sales territories not one of which was specifically recommended in the training program the sales manager didn't get a bunch of canned techniques instead he got something

much more valuable the stimulation to think of ideas directly beneficial to his own particular organization a young accountant for a paint manufacturer told me about a very successful venture of his that was sparked by the ideas of others i never had had more than a casual interest in real estate he told me i've been a professional accountant for several years now and i've stuck pretty close to my profession one day a realtor friend invited me to be his guest at a luncheon of one of the city's real estate groups the speaker that day was an

older man who had seen the city grow his talk was about the next 20 years he predicted that the metropolitan area would continue to grow far out into the surrounding farmland he also predicted that there would be a record demand for what he called gentleman size farms two to five acres big enough so the businessman or professional person could have a pool horses a garden and other hobbies that require space this man's talk really stimulated me what he described was exactly what i wanted the next few days i asked several friends what they thought about

the idea of someday owning a five-acre estate everyone i talked to said in effect i'd love that i continued to think about it and to figure how i could turn the idea into profit then one day as i was driving to work the answer came out of nowhere why not buy a farm and divide it into estates i figured the land might be worth more in relatively small pieces than in one big piece 22 miles from the center of the city i found a worn out acre farm priced at eight thousand five hundred dollars i

bought it paying only one third down and working out a mortgage with the owner for the balance next i planted pine seedlings where there were no trees i did this because a real estate man whom i feel knows his business told me people want trees these days lots of trees i wanted my prospective buyers to see that in a few years their estate would be covered with beautiful pine trees then i got a surveyor to divide the 50 acres into 10 five acre plots now i was ready to start selling i got several mailing lists

of young executives in the city and put on a small scale direct mail campaign i pointed out how for only three thousand dollars the price of a small city lot they could buy an estate i also described the potentials for recreation and wholesome living in six weeks time working only evenings and on weekends i sold all ten plots total income thirty thousand dollars total costs including the land advertising surveying and legal expenses ten thousand four hundred dollars profit nineteen thousand six hundred dollars i made a nice profit because i let myself be exposed to ideas

of other intelligent people had i not accepted that invitation to attend a luncheon with a group completely foreign to my occupational interests my brain would have never worked out this successful plan for making a profit there are many ways to get mental stimulation but here are two that you can incorporate into your pattern of life first join and meet regularly with at least one professional group that provides stimulation in your own occupational area rub shoulders and minds with other success oriented people so often i hear someone say i picked up a great idea this noon

at the blank meeting or during the meeting yesterday i got to thinking remember a mind that feeds only on itself soon is undernourished becoming weak and incapable of creative progressive thought stimulation from others is excellent mind food second join and participate in at least one group outside your occupational interests association with people who have different job interests broadens your thinking and helps you to see the big picture you'll be surprised how mixing regularly with people outside your occupational area will stimulate your on the job thinking ideas are fruits of your thinking but they've got to

be harnessed and put to work to have value each year an oak tree produces enough acorns to populate a good-sized forest yet from these bushels of seeds perhaps only one or two acorns will become a tree the squirrels destroy most of them and the hard ground beneath the tree doesn't give the few remaining seeds much chance for a start so it is with ideas very few bear fruit ideas are highly perishable if we're not on guard the squirrels negative thinking people will destroy most of them ideas require special handling from the time they are born

until they're transformed into practical ways for doing things better use these three ways to harness and develop your ideas one don't let ideas escape write them down every day lots of good ideas are born only to die quickly because they aren't nailed to paper memory is a weak slave when it comes to preserving and nurturing brand new ideas carry a notebook or some small cards with you when you get an idea write it down a friend who travels a lot keeps a clipboard beside him so that he can write down an idea the instant it

occurs to him people with fertile creative minds know a good idea may sprout anytime any place don't let ideas escape else you destroy the fruits of your thinking fence them in 2. next review your ideas file these ideas in an active file the file can be an elaborate cabinet or it can be a desk drawer a shoe box will do but build a file and then examine your storehouse of ideas regularly as you go over your ideas some may for very good reasons have no value at all get rid of them but so long as

the idea has any promise keep it three cultivate and fertilize your idea now make your idea grow think about it tie the idea to related ideas read anything you can find that is in any way akin to your idea investigate all angles then when the time is right put it to work for yourself your job your future when an architect gets an idea for a new building he makes a preliminary drawing when a creative advertising person gets an idea for a new tv commercial he puts it into storyboard form a series of drawings that suggests

what the idea will look like in finished form writers with idea prepare a first draft note shape up the idea on paper there are two excellent reasons for this when the idea takes tangible form you can literally look at it see the loopholes see what it needs in the way of polish then two ideas have to be sold to someone customers employees the boss friends fellow club members investors somebody must buy the idea else it has no value one summer i was contacted by two life insurance salesman both wanted to work on my insurance program

both promised to return with a plan for making the needed changes the first salesman gave me strictly an oral presentation he told me in words what i needed but i soon was confused he brought in taxes options social security all the technical details of insurance programming frankly he lost me and i had to say no the second salesman used a different approach he had charted his recommendations all the details were shown in diagram form i could grasp his proposal easily and quickly because i could literally see it he sold me resolve to put your ideas

in saleable form an idea written or in some sort of picture or diagram form has many times more selling power than the idea presented only in oral form use these tools and think creatively one believe it can be done when you believe something can be done your mind will find the ways to do it believing a solution paves the way to solution eliminate impossible won't work can't do no use trying from your thinking and speaking vocabularies to don't let tradition paralyze your mind be receptive to new ideas be experimental try new approaches be progressive in

everything you do three ask yourself daily how can i do better there is no limit to self-improvement when you ask yourself how can i do better sound answers will appear try it and see four ask yourself how can i do more capacity is a state of mind asking yourself this question puts your mind to work to find intelligent shortcuts the success combination in business is do what you do better improve the quality of your output and do more of what you do increase the quantity of your output five practice asking and listening ask and listen

and you'll obtain raw material for reaching sound decisions remember big people monopolize the listening small people monopolize the talking six stretch your mind get stimulated associate with people who can help you think of new ideas new ways of doing things mix with people of different occupational and social interests chapter six you are what you think you are it's obvious much human behavior is puzzling have you ever wondered why a salesperson will greet one customer with an alert yes sir may i serve you but virtually ignore another or why a man will open a door for

one woman but not for another or why an employee will consistently carry out the instructions of one superior but only grudgingly do what another superior requests or why we will pay close attention to what one person says but not to another look around you you'll observe some people receiving the hey mac or hey buddy treatment while others receive the sincere and important yes sir treatment watch you'll observe that some people command confidence loyalty and admiration while others do not look closer still and you'll also observe that those persons who command the most respect are also

the most successful what is the explanation it can be distilled into one word thinking thinking does make it so others see in us what we see in ourselves we receive the kind of treatment we think we deserve thinking does make it so the fellow who thinks he is inferior regardless of what his real qualifications may be is inferior for thinking regulates actions if a man feels inferior he acts that way and no veneer of cover-up or bluff will hide this basic feeling for long the person who feels he isn't important isn't on the other side

a fellow who really thinks he is equal to the task is to be important we must think we are important really think so then others will think so too here again is the logic how you think determines how you act how you act in turn determines how others react to you like other phases of your personal program for success winning respect is fundamentally simple to gain the respect of others you must first think you deserve respect and the more respect you have for yourself the more respect others will have for you test this principle do

you have much respect for the fellow on skid row of course not why because the poor fellow doesn't respect himself he's letting himself rot away from lack of self-respect self-respect shows through in everything we do let's focus our attention now on some of the specific ways we can increase self-respect and thereby earn more respect from others look important it helps you think important rule remember your appearance talks be sure it says positive things about you never leave home without feeling certain you look like the kind of person you want to be the most honest advertisement

ever appearing in print is the dress right you can't afford not to slogan sponsored by the american institute of men's and boys wear this slogan deserves to be framed in every office restroom bedroom and school room in america in one ad a policeman speaks he says you can usually spot a wrong kid just by the way he looks sure it's unfair but it's a fact people today judge a youngster by appearance and once they've tabbed a boy it's tough to change their minds about him their attitude toward him look at your boy look at him

through his teacher's eyes your neighbor's eyes could the way he looks the clothes he wears give them the wrong impression are you making sure he looks right dresses right everywhere he goes this advertisement of course refers primarily to children but it can be applied to adults as well in the sentence beginning with look substitute the word yourself for him your for his superiors for teachers and associates for neighbors and repeat the sentence look at yourself through your superiors eyes your associates eyes it costs so little to be neat take the slogan literally interpret it to

say dress right it always pays remember look important because it helps you to think important use clothing as a tool to lift your spirits build confidence an old psychology professor of mine used to give this advice to students on last minute preparations for final examinations dress up for this important exam get a new tie have your suit pressed shine your shoes look sharp because it will help you think sharp the professor knew his psychology make no mistake about it your physical exterior affects your mental interior how you look on the outside affects how you think

and feel on the inside all boys i'm told go through the hat stage that is they use hats to identify themselves with the person or character they want to be i will always remember a hat incident with my own son davey one day he was dead set on being the lone ranger but he had no lone ranger hat i tried to persuade him to substitute another his protest was but dad i can't think like the lone ranger without a lone ranger hat i gave in finally and bought him the hat he needed sure enough donning

the hat he was the lone ranger i often recall that incident because it says so much about the effect of appearance on thinking anyone who has ever served in the army knows a soldier feels and thinks like a soldier when he is in uniform a woman feels more like going to a party when she is dressed for a party by the same token an executive feels more like an executive when he is dressed like one a salesman expressed it to me this way i can't feel prosperous and i have to if i'm going to make

big sales unless i know i look that way your appearance talks to you but it also talks to others it helps determine what others think of you in theory it's pleasant to hear that people should look at a man's intellect not his clothes but don't be misled people do evaluate you on the basis of your appearance your appearance is the first basis for evaluation other people have and first impressions last out of all proportion to the time it takes to form them in a supermarket one day i noticed one table of seedless grapes marked 15

cents a pound on another table were what appeared to be identical grapes this time packaged in polyethylene bags and marked two pounds for 35 cents i asked the young fellow at the weighing station what's the difference between the grapes priced at 15 cents a pound and those priced at two pounds for 35 cents the difference he answered is polyethylene we sell about twice as many of the grapes in the polyethylene bags they look better that way think about the grape example the next time you're selling yourself properly packaged you have a better chance to make

the sale and at a higher price the point is the better you are packaged the more public acceptance you will receive tomorrow watch who is shown the most respect and courtesy in restaurants on buses in crowded lobbies in stores and at work people look at another person make a quick and often subconscious appraisal and then treat them accordingly we look at some people and respond with the hey mac attitude we look at others and respond with the yes sir feeling yes a person's appearance definitely talks the well-dressed person's appearance says positive things it tells people

here is an important person intelligent prosperous and dependable this man can be looked up to admired trusted he respects himself and i respect him the shabby looking fellow's appearance says negative things it says here is a person who isn't doing well he's careless inefficient unimportant he's just an average person he deserves no special consideration he's used to being pushed around when i stress respect your appearance in training programs almost always i am asked the question i'm sold appearance is important but how do you expect me to afford the kind of clothing that really makes me

feel right and that causes others to look up to me that question puzzles many people it plagued me for a long time but the answer is really a simple one pay twice as much and by half as many commit this answer to memory then practice it apply it to hats suits shoes socks coats everything you wear insofar as appearance is concerned quality is far more important than quantity when you practice this principle you'll find that both your respect for yourself and the respect of others for you will zoom upward and you'll find you're actually ahead

money wise when you pay twice as much and buy half as many because one your garments will last more than twice as long because they are more than twice as good and as a rule they will show quality as long as they last two what you buy will stay in style longer better clothing always does three you'll get better advice merchants selling two hundred dollar suits are usually much more interested in helping you find the garment that is just right for you than our merchants selling one hundred dollar suits remember your appearance talks to you

and it talks to others make certain it says here is a person who has self-respect he's important treat him that way you owe it to others but more important you owe it to yourself to look your best you are what you think you are if your appearance makes you think you're inferior you are inferior if it makes you think small you are small look your best and you will think and act your best think your work is important there's a story often told about the job attitudes of three bricklayers it's a classic so let's go

over it again when asked what are you doing the first bricklayer replied laying brick the second answered making nine dollars and thirty cents an hour and the third said me why i'm building the world's greatest cathedral now the story doesn't tell us what happened to these bricklayers in later years but what do you think happened chances are that the first two bricklayers remained just that bricklayers they lacked vision they lacked job respect there was nothing behind them to propel them forward to greater success but you can wager every cent you have the bricklayer who visualized

himself as building a great cathedral did not remain a bricklayer perhaps he became a foreman or perhaps a contractor or possibly an architect he moved forward and upward why because thinking does make it so bricklayer number three was tuned to thought channels that pointed the way to self-development in his work job thinking tells a lot about a person and his potential for larger responsibility a friend who operates a personnel selection firm said this to me recently one thing we always look for in appraising a job applicant for a client is how the applicant thinks about

his present job we are always favorably impressed when we find that an applicant thinks his present job is important even though there may be something about it he doesn't like why simply this if the applicant feels his present job is important odds are that he will take pride in his next job too we've found an amazingly close correlation between a person's job respect and his job performance like your appearance the way you think toward your work says things about you to your superiors associates and subordinates in fact to everyone with whom you come in contact

a few months ago i spent several hours with a friend who is personnel director for an appliance manufacturer we talked about building men he explained his personnel audit system and what he had learned from it we have about 800 non-production people he began under our personnel audit system an assistant and i interview each employee every six months our purpose is simple we want to learn how we can help him in his job we think this is a good practice because each person working with us is important else he wouldn't be on the payroll we are

careful not to ask the employees any point-blank questions instead we encourage him to talk about whatever he wants to we aim to get his honest impressions after each interview we fill out a rating form on the employee's attitudes towards specific aspects of his job now here's something i've learned he went on our employees fit into one of two categories group a and group b on the basis of how they think toward their jobs the persons in group b talk mainly about security company retirement plans sick leave policy extra time off what we're doing to improve

the insurance program and if they will be asked to work overtime next march as they were last march they also talk a lot about disagreeable features of their job things they don't like in fellow workers and so on people in group b and they include close to 80 percent of all non-production personnel view their jobs as a sort of necessary evil the group a fellow sees his job through different glasses he is concerned about his future and wants concrete suggestions on what he can do to make faster progress he doesn't expect us to give him

anything except a chance the group a people think on a broader scale they make suggestions for improving the business they regard these interviews in my office as constructive but the group b people often feel our personnel audit system is just a brainwashing affair and they're glad to get it over with now there's a way i check attitudes and what they mean to job success all recommendations for promotions pay increases and special privileges are channeled to me by the employee's immediate supervisor almost invariably it's a group a person who was recommended and again almost without exception

problems come from the group b category the biggest challenge in my job he said is to try and help people move from group b to group a it's not easy though because until a person thinks his job is important and thinks positively about it he can't be helped this is concrete evidence that you are what you think you are what your thought power directs you to become think you're weak think you lack what it takes think you will lose think you are second class think this way and you are doomed to mediocrity but think instead

i am important i do have what it takes i am a first class performer my work is important think this way and you're headed straight to success the key to winning what you want lies in thinking positively toward yourself the only real basis other people have for judging your abilities is your actions and your actions are controlled by your thoughts you are what you think you are wear the shoes of a supervisor for a few moments and ask yourself which person you would recommend for a raise or a promotion one the secretary who when the

executive is out of the office spends her time reading magazines or the secretary who uses such time to do the many little things that help the executive to accomplish more when he returns two the employee who says oh well i can always get another job if they don't like the way i do my work i'll just quit or the employee who views criticism constructively and sincerely tries to do higher quality work three the salesman who tells a customer oh i just do what they tell me to do they said come out and see if you

need anything or the salesman who says mr brown i'm here to help you 4. the foreman who says to an employee to tell you the truth i don't like my job much those guys up top give me a pain in the neck i don't know what they're talking about half the time or the supervisor who says you've got to expect some unpleasantness on any job but let me assure you the men in the front office are on the ball they'll do right by us isn't it obvious why many people stay at one level all their

lives their thinking alone keeps them there an advertising executive once told me about his agency's informal training to break in new inexperienced men as company policy he said we feel the best initial training is to start the young fellow who incidentally is usually a college graduate as a male boy we don't do this of course because we feel a fellow needs four years of college to take mail from one office to another our purpose is to give the new fellow maximum exposure to the many varied things which must be done in agency work after he

knows his way around we give him an assignment now occasionally even after we've carefully explained why we're starting him out in the mail room a young fellow feels that carrying the mail is belittling and unimportant when this is the case we know we've picked the wrong man if he doesn't have the vision to see that being a male boy is a necessary practical step to important assignments then he has no future in the agency business remember executives answered the question what would he do on that specific level by first answering the question what kind of

job is he doing where he is now here is some logic sound straight and easy listen to it a few times before you continue a person who thinks his job is important receives mental signals on how to do his job better and a better job means more promotions more money more prestige more happiness we've all noticed how children quickly pick up the attitudes habits fears and preferences of their parents whether it be food preferences mannerisms religious and political views or any other type of behavior the child is a living reflection of how his parents or

guardians think for he learns through imitation and so do adults people continue to imitate others throughout life and they imitate their leaders and supervisors their thoughts and actions are influenced by these people you can check this easily study one of your friends and the person he works for and note the similarities in thinking and action here are some of the ways your friend may imitate his boss or other associate slang and word choice the way he smokes cigarettes some facial expressions and mannerisms choice of clothing and automobile preferences there are many many more of course

another way to note the power of imitation is to observe the attitudes of employees and compare them with those of the chief when the chief is nervous tense worried his close associates reflect similar attitudes but when mr chief is on top feeling good so are his employees the point is this the way we think toward our jobs determines how our subordinates think toward their jobs the job attitudes of our subordinates are direct reflections of our own job attitudes it's well to remember that our points of superiority and weakness show up in the behavior of those

who report to us just as a child reflects the attitudes of his parents consider just one characteristic of successful people enthusiasm ever notice how an enthusiastic salesperson in a department store gets you the customer more excited about the merchandise or have you observed how an enthusiastic minister or other speaker has a wide awake alert enthusiastic audience if you have enthusiasm those around you will have it too but how does one develop enthusiasm the basic step is simple think enthusiastically building yourself an optimistic progressive glow a feeling that this is great and i'm 100 for it

you are what you think think enthusiasm and you'll be enthusiastic to get high quality work be enthusiastic about the job you want done others will catch the enthusiasm you generate and you'll get first class performance but if in negative fashion you cheat that company on expense money supplies and time and in other little ways then what can you expect your subordinates to do habitually arrive late and leave early and what do you think the troops will do and there is a major incentive for us to think right about our jobs so that our subordinates will

think right about their jobs our superiors evaluate us by measuring the quality and quantity of output we get from those reporting to us look at it this way whom would you elevate to division sales manager the branch sales manager whose salesmen are doing superior work or the branch sales manager whose salesmen deliver only average performance or whom would you recommend for promotion to production manager the supervisor whose department meets its quota or the supervisor whose department lags behind here are two suggestions for getting others to do more for you one always show positive attitudes toward

your job so that your subordinates will pick up right thinking two as you approach your job each day ask yourself am i worthy in every respect of being imitated are all my habits such that i would be glad to see them in my subordinates give yourself a pep talk several times daily several months ago an automobile salesman told me about the success producing technique he's developed it makes sense listen to it a big part of my job for two hours a day the salesman explained is telephoning prospects to arrange demonstration appointments when i first started

selling cars three years ago this was my big problem i was shy and afraid and i know my voice sounded that way on the phone it was easy for people i called to say i'm not interested and hang up every monday morning back then our sales manager held a sales meeting it was a pretty inspirational affair and it made me feel good and what's more i always seem to arrange more demonstrations on monday than on any other day but the trouble was that little of monday's inspiration carried over to tuesday and the rest of the

week then i got an idea if the sales manager can pep me up why can't i pet myself up why not give myself a pep talk just before i start making those phone calls that day i decided to try it without telling anyone i walked out on the lot and found a vacant car then for several minutes i talked to myself i told myself i'm a good car salesman and i'm going to be the best i sell good cars and i give good deals the people i'm phoning need those cars and i'm going to sell

them well from the very beginning this self super charging paid off i felt so good i didn't dread making those calls i wanted to make them i no longer go out on the lot and sit in a car to give myself a pep talk but i still use the technique before i dial a number i silently remind myself that i'm a top-notch salesman and i'm going to get results and i do that's a pretty good idea isn't it to be on top you've got to feel like you're on top give yourself a pep talk and

discover how much bigger and stronger you feel recently in a training program i conducted each person was asked to give a 10-minute talk on being a leader one of the trainees gave a miserable presentation his knees literally shook and his hands trembled he forgot what he was going to say after fumbling for five or six minutes he sat down thoroughly defeated after the session i spoke to him just long enough to ask him to be there 15 minutes early at the next session as promised he was there fifteen minutes ahead of time for the next

session the two of us sat down to discuss his talk of the night before i asked him to remember as clearly as he could exactly what he had thought about the five minutes just before he gave his talk well i guess all i thought about was how scared i was i knew i was going to make a fool of myself i knew i was going to be a flop i kept thinking who am i to be talking about being a leader i tried to remember what i was going to say but all i could think

about was failing right there i injected is the answer to your problem before you got up to talk you gave yourself a terrible mental beating you convinced yourself that you would fail is it any wonder your talk didn't come off well instead of developing courage you developed fear now this evening session i continued starts in just four minutes here's what i'd like you to do give yourself a pep talk for the next few minutes go in that vacant room across the hall and tell yourself i'm going to give a great talk i've got something those

people need to hear and i want to say keep repeating those sentences forcefully with complete conviction then come into the conference room and give your talk again i wish you could have been there to hear the difference that brief self-administered hard-hitting pep talk helped him to make a splendid speech the moral practice uplifting self-praise don't practice belittling self-punishment you are what you think you are think more of yourself and there is more of you build your own sell yourself to yourself commercial think for a moment about one of america's most popular products coca-cola every day

your eyes or ears come in contact many times with the good news about coke the people who make coca-cola are continually reselling you on coke and for a good reason if they stopped reselling you chances are you'd grow lukewarm and eventually cold to coke then sales would drop but the coca-cola company isn't going to let this happen they resell you and resell you and resell you on coke every day you and i see half a live people who are no longer sold on themselves they lack self-respect for their most important product themselves these folks are

indifferent they feel small they feel like nobody's and because they feel that way that's what they are the half alive person needs to be resold on himself he needs to realize that he's a first class person he needs honest sincere belief in himself tom staley is a young fellow who is going places and fast tom regularly resells himself on himself three times every day with what he calls tom staley's 60-second commercial he carries his personalized commercial in his billfold at all times here is exactly what it says tom staley meet tom staley an important a

really important person tom you're a big thinker so think big think big about everything you've got plenty of ability to do a first-class job so do a first-class job tom you believe in happiness progress and prosperity so talk only happiness talk only progress talk only prosperity you have lots of drive tom lots of drive so put that drive to work nothing can stop you tom nothing tom you're enthusiastic let your enthusiasm show through you look good tom and you feel good stay that way tom staley you were a great fellow yesterday and you're going to

be an even greater fellow today now go to it tom go forward tom credits his commercial with helping him become a more successful dynamic person before i started selling myself to myself says tom i thought i was inferior to just about anybody and everybody now i realize that i've got what it takes to win and i'm winning and i'm always going to win here's how to build your sell yourself to yourself commercial first select your assets your points of superiority ask yourself what are my best qualities don't be shy in describing yourself next put these

points down on paper in your own words write your commercial to you re-read tom staley's commercial notice how he talks to tom talk to yourself be very direct don't think of anyone but you as you say your commercial third practice your commercial out loud in private at least once a day it helps a lot to do this before a mirror put your body into it repeat your commercial forcefully with determination make your blood travel faster through your body get yourself warmed up fourth read your commercial silently several times every day read it before you tackle

anything that demands courage read it every time you feel let down keep your commercial handy at all times then use it just one thing more a lot of people maybe even a majority may laugh at this success rewarding technique that's because they refuse to believe that success comes from managed thinking but please don't accept the judgment of average people you are not average if you have any doubts as to the basic soundness of the sell yourself to yourself principle ask the most successful person you know what he thinks about it ask him and then start

selling yourself to yourself upgrade your thinking think like important people think upgrading your thinking upgrades your actions and this produces success here is an easy way to help you make more of yourself by thinking like important people think use the following form as a guide how am i thinking checklist situation when i worry ask yourself would an important person worry about this would the most successful person i know be disturbed about this situation an idea ask yourself what would an important person do if he had this idea situation my appearance ask yourself do i look

like someone who has maximum self-respect situation my language ask yourself am i using the language of successful people situation what i read ask yourself would an important person read this situation conversation ask yourself is this something successful people would discuss situation when i lose my temper ask yourself would an important person get mad at what i'm mad at situation my jokes ask yourself is this the kind of joke an important person would tell situation my job ask yourself how does an important person describe his job to others cement in your mind the question is this

the way an important person does it use this question to make you a bigger more successful person in a nutshell remember one look important it helps you think important your appearance talks to you be sure it lifts your spirits and builds your confidence your appearance talks to others make certain it says here is an important person intelligent prosperous and dependable to think your work is important think this way and you will receive mental signals on how to do your job better think your work is important and your subordinates will think their work is important too

three give yourself a pep talk several times daily build a sell yourself to yourself commercial remind yourself at every opportunity that you're a first class person in all of life situations ask yourself is this the way an important person thinks then obey the answer chapter seven manage your environment go first class your mind is an amazing mechanism when your mind works one way it can carry you forward to outstanding success but the same mind operating in a different manner can produce a total failure the mind is the most delicate most sensitive instrument in all creation

let's look now and see what makes the mind think the way it does millions of people are diet conscious we're a calorie counting nation we spend millions of dollars on vitamins minerals and other dietary supplements and we all know why through nutritional research we've learned that the body reflects the diet fed the body physical stamina resistance to disease body size even how long we live are all closely related to what we eat the body is what the body is fed by the same token the mind is what the mind is fed mind food of course

doesn't come in packages and you can't buy it at the store mind food is your environment all the countless things that influence your conscious and subconscious thought the kind of mind food we consume determines our habits attitudes personality each of us inherited a certain capacity to develop but how much of that capacity we have developed and the way we have developed that capacity depends on the kind of mind food we feed it the mind reflects what its environment feeds it just as surely as the body reflects the food you feed it have you ever thought

what kind of person you would be had you been reared in some foreign country instead of the united states what kinds of foods would you prefer would your preferences for clothing be the same what sort of entertainment would you like the most what kind of work would you be doing what would your religion be you can't of course be sure of the answers to these questions but chances are you would be a materially different person had you grown up in a different country why because you would have been influenced by a different environment as the

saying goes you are a product of your environment market well environment shapes us makes us think the way we do try to name just one habit or one mannerism you have that you did not pick up from other people relatively minor things like the way we walk cough hold a cup our preferences for music literature entertainment clothing all stem in very large part from environment more important the size of your thinking your goals your attitudes your very personality is formed by your environment prolonged association with negative people makes us think negatively close contact with petty

individuals develops petty habits in us on the bright side companionship with people with big ideas raises the level of our thinking close contact with ambitious people gives us ambition experts agree that the person you are today your personality ambitions present status in life are largely the result of your psychological environment and experts agree also that the person you will be one five ten twenty years from now depends almost entirely on your future environment you will change over the months and years this we know but how you will change depends on your future environment the mind

food you feed yourself let's look now at what we can do to make our future environment pay off in satisfaction and prosperity recondition yourself for success the number one obstacle on the road to high level success is the feeling that major accomplishment is beyond reach this attitude stems from many many suppressive forces that direct our thinking toward mediocre levels to understand these suppressive forces let's go back to the time we were children as children all of us set high goals at a surprisingly young age we made plans to conquer the unknown to be leaders to

attain positions of high importance to do exciting and stimulating things to become wealthy and famous in short to be first biggest and best and in our blessed ignorance we saw our way clear to accomplish these goals but what happened long before we reached the age when we could begin to work toward our great objectives a multitude of suppressive influences went to work from all sides we heard it's foolish to be a dreamer and that our ideas were impractical stupid naive or foolish that you have got to have money to go places that luck determines who

gets ahead or you've got to have important friends or you're too old or too young as a result of being bombarded with the you can't get ahead so don't bother to try propaganda most people you know can be classified into three groups first group those who surrendered completely the majority of people are convinced deep down inside that they haven't got what it takes that real success real accomplishment is for others who are lucky or fortunate in some special respect you can easily spot these people because they go to great lengths to rationalize their status and

explain how happy they really are a very intelligent man age 32 who has dead ended himself in a safe but mediocre position recently spent hours telling me why he was so satisfied with his job he did a good job of rationalizing but he was only kidding himself and he knew it what he really wanted was to work in a challenging situation where he could grow and develop but that multitude of suppressive influences had convinced him that he was inadequate for big things this group is in reality just the other extreme of the discontented job switcher

searching for opportunity rationalizing yourself into a rut which incidentally has been described as a grave with both ends open can be as bad as wandering aimlessly hoping opportunity will somehow someday hit you in the face second group those who surrendered partially a second but much smaller group enters adult life with considerable hope for success these people prepare themselves they work they plan but after a decade or so resistance begins to build up competition for top level jobs looks rugged this group then decides that greater success is not worth the effort they rationalize we're earning more

than the average and we live better than the average why should we knock ourselves out actually this group has developed a set of fears fear of failure fear of social disapproval fear of insecurity fear of losing what they already have these people aren't satisfied because deep down they know they have surrendered this group includes many talented intelligent people who elect to crawl through life because they are afraid to stand up and run third group those who never surrender this group may be two or three percent of the total doesn't let pessimism dictate doesn't believe in

surrendering to suppressive forces doesn't believe in crawling instead these people live and breathe success this group is the happiest because it accomplishes the most these people become top salesmen top executives top leaders in their respective fields these people find life stimulating rewarding worthwhile these people look forward to each new day each new encounter with other people as adventures to be lived fully let's be honest all of us would like to be in the third group the one that finds greater success each year the one that does things and gets results to get and stay in

this group however we must fight off the suppressive influences of our environment to understand how persons in the first and second groups will unwittingly try to hold you back study this example suppose you tell several of your average friends with the greatest sincerity someday i'm going to be vice president of this company what will happen your friends will probably think you're joking and if they should believe you mean it chances are they will say you poor guy you sure have a lot to learn behind your back they may even question whether you have all your

marbles now assume you repeat the same statement with equal sincerity to the president of your company how will he react one thing is certain he will not laugh he will look at you intently and ask himself does this fellow really mean this but he will not we repeat laugh because big men do not laugh at big ideas or suppose you tell some average people you plan to own an expensive home and they may laugh at you because they think it's impossible but tell your plan to a person already living in an expensive home and he

won't be surprised he knows it isn't impossible because he's already done it remember people who tell you it cannot be done almost always are unsuccessful people are strictly average or mediocre at best in terms of accomplishment the opinions of these people can be poison develop a defense against people who want to convince you that you can't do it accept negative advice only as a challenge to prove that you can do it be extra extra cautious about this don't let negative thinking people negators destroy your plan to think yourself to success negators are everywhere and they

seem to delight in sabotaging the positive progress of others during college i buddied for a couple of semesters with w w he was a fine friend the kind of fellow who would loan you a little money when you were short or help you in many little ways despite this fine loyalty w w was just about one hundred percent sour and bitter toward life the future opportunity he was a real negator during that period i was an enthusiastic reader of a certain newspaper columnist who stressed hope the positive approach opportunity when wwe would find me reading

this columnist or when her column was mentioned he'd swing verbally and say oh for pete's sake dave read the front page that's where you learn about life you ought to know that columnist is just making a quick buck dishing out sweet sauce for the week when our discussions turned to getting ahead in life wwe was right there with his money-making formula in his own words it went like this dave there are just three ways to make money these days one marry a rich woman two steal in a nice clean legal way or three get to

know the right people somebody with plenty of pull w w was always prepared to defend his formula with examples sticking to the front page he was quick to cite that one labor leader in a thousand who had siphoned off a pile of money from the union till and got away with it he kept his eyes open for that rare rare marriage of the fruit picker to miss millionaire and he knew a fellow who knew a fellow who knew a big man and got cut in on a big deal that made him rich ww was several

years older than i and he made excellent grades in his engineering classes i looked up to him in a younger brother sort of way i came dangerously close to ditching my basic convictions about what it takes to be a success and accepting the negator's philosophy fortunately one evening after a long discussion with w w i grabbed hold of myself it dawned on me that i was listening to the voice of failure it seemed to me w w was talking more to convince himself than he was to convert me to his way of thinking from then

on i regarded ww as an object lesson a sort of experimental guinea pig rather than by what he said i studied him trying to figure out why he thought the way he did and where such thinking would take him i turned my negative friend into a personal experiment i haven't seen w w in 11 years but a mutual friend saw him just a few months ago ww is working as a low-paid draftsman in washington i asked my friend whether ww has changed no except if anything he's more negative than when we knew him he's having

a tough go of it he has four children and on his income it's rough old w w has the brains to be making five times what he is if he just knew how to use those brains negators are everywhere some negators like the one who almost tripped me are well-meaning folks but others are jealous people who not moving ahead themselves want you to stumble too they feel inadequate themselves so they want to make a mediocre person out of you be extra careful study negators don't let them destroy your plans for success a young office worker

recently explained to me why he had changed carpools one fellow he said talked about nothing trip in and trip out except what an awful company we worked for regardless of what management did he found fault he was negative about everyone from his supervisor on up the products we sold were no good every policy had something wrong with it as he saw it absolutely everything had something wrong with it each morning i arrived at work tense and wound up tight and each night after hearing him preach and rant for 45 minutes about all the things that

went wrong that day i got home discouraged and depressed finally i got sense enough to get in another carpool it's made a world of difference for now i'm with a group of fellows who can see two sides to a question that young fellow changed his environment smart wasn't he make no mistake about it you are judged by the company you keep birds of a feather do flock together fellow workers are not all alike some are negative others positive some work because they have to others are ambitious and work for advancement some associates belittle everything the

boss says or does others are much more objective and realize they must be good followers before they can be good leaders how we think is directly affected by the group we're in be sure you're in the flock that thinks right there are pitfalls to watch in your work environment in every group there are persons who secretly aware of their own inadequacies want to stand in your way and prevent you from making progress many ambitious fellows have been laughed at even threatened because they tried to be more efficient and produce more let's face it some folks

being jealous want to make you feel embarrassed because you want to move upward this often happens in factories where fellow workers sometimes resent the fellow who wants to speed up production it happens in the military service when a click of negative minded individuals poke fun at and try to humiliate the young soldier who wants to go to officer school it happens in business too when a few individuals not qualified to advance try to block the way for someone else you've seen it happen time and again in high schools when a group of lunkheads deride a

classmate who has the good sense to make the most of his educational opportunities and come out with high grades sometimes and all too sadly often the bright student is jeered at until he reaches the conclusion that it isn't smart to be intelligent ignore such negative thinkers in your midst for often the remarks made in your direction aren't so personal as you might at first think they are merely a projection of the speaker's own feeling of failure and discouragement don't let negative thinkers pull you down to their level let them slide by like the water from

the proverbial ducks back cling to people who think progressively move upward with them you can do it simply by thinking right a special word of caution be careful about your source of advice in most organizations you will encounter freelance advisors who know the ropes and are tremendously eager to clue you in one time i overheard a freelance advisor explaining the facts of office life to a bright young man just starting in said the advisor the best way to get along here is just stay out of everybody's way if they ever get to know you all

they'll do is pile more work on you be especially careful to stay away from mr z the department manager if he thinks you haven't got enough to do he'll really load you down this freelance advisor had been with the company for almost 30 years and was still bottom man on the totem pole what a consultant for a young man who wants to move upward in the business make it a rule to seek advice from people who know there's a lot of incorrect thinking that successful people are inaccessible the plain truth is that they are not

as a rule it's the more successful people who are the most humble and ready to help since they are sincerely interested in their work and success they are eager to see that the work lives on and that somebody capable succeeds them when they retire it's the would-be big people who are most often the most abrupt and hard to get to know an executive made this clear i'm a busy woman but there's no do not disturb sign on my office door counseling people is one of my key functions we give standardized training of one kind or

another to everybody in the company but personal counseling or tutoring as i like to call it is available for the asking i stand ready to help the fellow who comes in here with either a company or a personal problem the fellow who displays curiosity and exhibits a real desire to know more about his job and how it relates to other jobs is the individual i like most to help but she said for obvious reasons i can't spend time offering advice to anybody who isn't sincere in seeking it go first class when you have questions seeking

advice from a failure is like consulting a quack on how to cure cancer many executives today never employ persons for key jobs without first interviewing the fellow's wife one sales executive explained to me i want to be sure the prospective salesman has his family behind him a cooperative family that won't object to travel irregular hours and other inconveniences which are part of selling a family that will help the salesman over those inevitable rough spots executives today realize that what happens on weekends and between 6 pm and 9 00 am directly affects a person's performance from

9 a.m to 6 p.m the person with a constructive off the job life nearly always is more successful than the person who lives in a dull dreary home situation let's look in on the traditional way two co-workers john and milton spend their weekends let's look too at the ultimate results john's psychological diet on weekends is something like this usually one evening is spent with some carefully selected interesting friends another evening is generally spent out perhaps at a movie a civic or community project or some friend's house john devotes saturday morning to boy scout work saturday

afternoon he does errands and chores around the house often he works on some special project currently it's building a patio in the backyard on sundays john and his family do something special one sunday recently they climbed a mountain another sunday they visited a museum occasionally they drive into the nearby countryside for john wants to buy some country property in the not too distant future sunday evening is spent quietly john usually reads a book and catches up on the news wrapped up john's weekends are planned his many refreshing activities keep boredom locked out john gets plenty

of psychological sunshine milton's psychological diet is much less well balanced than john's his weekends are unplanned milton is usually pretty tired on friday night but he goes through the motions of asking his wife want to do anything tonight but the plan dies there rarely do milton and his wife entertain and rarely are they invited out milton sleeps late on saturday morning and the rest of the day is taken up with chores of one kind or another saturday night milton and his family usually go to a movie or watch tv what else is there to do

milton spends most of sunday morning in bed sunday afternoon they drive over to bill and mary's or bill and mary drive over to see them bill and mary are the only couple milton and his wife visit regularly milton's entire weekend is marked by boredom by the time sunday evening rolls around the whole family is on each other's nerves as a result of cabin fever there are no knock down drag out fights but there are hours of psychological warfare milton's weekend is dull dreary boring milton gets no psychological sunshine now what's the effect of these two

home environments on john and milton over a period of a week or two there probably is no perceptible effect but over a period of months and years the effect is tremendous john's environmental pattern leaves him refreshed gives him ideas tunes up his thinking he's like an athlete being fed steak milton's environmental pattern leaves him psychologically starved his thinking mechanism is impaired he's like an athlete being fed candy and beer john and milton may be on the same level today but there will gradually be a wide gap between them in the months ahead with john in

the lead position casual observers will say well i guess john has more on the ball than milton but those of us who know will explain that much of the difference in job performance is the result of the difference in the mind food consumed by the two fellows every farmer in the corn belt knows that if he puts plenty of fertilizer with his corn he's going to get a bigger yield thinking too must be given additional nourishment if we want to get better results my wife and i along with five other couples spent a wonderful evening

last month as guests of a department store executive and his wife my wife and i lingered just a little longer than the others so i had a chance to ask our host whom i know well a question that had been in my mind all evening this was really a wonderful evening i said but i'm puzzled about one thing i'd expected to meet mainly other retailing executives here tonight but your guests all represented different fields there was a writer a doctor an engineer an accountant and a teacher he smiled and said well we often do entertain

retailing people but helen and i find it's very refreshing to mix with people who do something else for a living i'm afraid if we can find our entertaining to people who have only interests similar to our own we'd find ourselves in the old well-known rut besides he went on people are my business every day thousands of people of every occupational group imaginable visit our store the more i can learn about other people their ideas interests viewpoints the better job i can do in giving them the merchandise and service they want and will buy here are

a few simple do's to help make your social environment first class one do circulate in new groups restricting your social environment to the same small group produces boredom dullness dissatisfaction equally important remember that your success building program requires that you become an expert in understanding people trying to learn all there is to know about people by studying one small group is like trying to master mathematics by reading one short book make new friends join new organizations enlarge your social orbit then two variety in people like variety and anything else add spice to life and gives

it a broader dimension it's good mind food 2. do select friends who have views different from your own in this modern age the narrow individual hasn't much future responsibility and positions of importance gravitate to the person who is able to see both sides if you're a republican make sure you have some friends who are democrats and vice versa get to know people of different religious faiths associate with opposites but just be sure they are persons with real potential three do select friends who stand above petty unimportant things folks who are more concerned with the square

footage of your home or the appliances you have or don't have then with your ideas and your conversation are inclined to be petty guard your psychological environment select friends who are interested in positive things friends who really do want to see you succeed find friends who breathe encouragement into your plans and ideals if you don't if you select petty thinkers as your close friends you'll gradually develop into a petty thinker yourself we're a poison conscious nation body poison that is every restaurateur is on guard against food poisoning just a couple of cases of it and

his patrons won't come near his place we've got tons of laws to protect the public against hundreds of body poisons we put or should put poisons on the top shelves so the kids can't reach them we go to any extreme to avoid body poison and it's good that we do but there's another type of poison perhaps a little more insidious thought poison commonly called gossip thought poison differs from body poison in two ways it affects the mind not the body and is more subtle the person being poisoned usually doesn't know it thought poison is subtle

but it accomplishes big things it reduces the size of our thinking by forcing us to concentrate on petty unimportant things it warps and twists our thinking about people because it is based on a distortion of facts and it creates a guilt feeling in us that shows through when we meet the person we've gossiped about thought poison is zero percent right thinking it is one hundred percent wrong thinking and contrary to lots of opinion women have no exclusive franchise on gossip every day many men too live in a partially poisoned environment every day thousands of gossip

fests staged by men take place on such topics as the boss's marital or financial problems bill's politicking to get ahead in business the probability of john being transferred the reasons for special favors being awarded tom and why they brought in that new man gossiping goes something like this say i just heard no why well it doesn't surprise me he had it coming to him of course this is confidential conversation is a big part of our psychological environment some conversation is healthy it encourages you it makes you feel like you're taking a walk in the warm

sunshine of a spring day some conversation makes you feel like a winner but other conversation is more like walking through a poisonous radioactive cloud it chokes you it makes you feel ill it turns you into a loser gossip is just negative conversation about people and the victim of thought poison begins to think he enjoys it he seems to get a form of poisoned joy from talking negatively about others not knowing that to successful people he is becoming increasingly unlikable and unreliable one of these thought poison addicts walked into a conversation some friends and i were

having about benjamin franklin as soon as mr killjoy learned the topic of our chat he came through with choice bits about franklin's personal life in a negative way perhaps it's true that franklin was a character in some ways and he might have made the scandal magazines had they been around in the 18th century but the point is benjamin franklin's personal life had no bearing on the discussion at hand and i couldn't help being glad that we weren't discussing somebody whom we knew intimately talk about people yes but stay on the positive side let's make one

point clear not all conversation is gossip bull sessions shop talk and just batting the breeze are necessary at times they serve a good purpose when they are constructive you can test your proneness to be a gossiper by taking this test one do i spread rumors about other people two do i always have good things to say about others three do i like to hear reports of a scandal four do i judge others only on the basis of facts five do i encourage others to bring their rumors to me six do i precede my conversations with

don't tell anybody seven do i keep confidential information confidential eight do i feel guilty about what i say concerning other people the right answers are obvious meditate on this thought for just a moment taking an axe and chopping your neighbor's furniture to pieces won't make your furniture look one bit better and using verbal axes and grenades on another person doesn't do one thing to make you a better you or me a better me go first class that is an excellent rule to follow in everything you do including the goods and services you buy once to

prove the unconditional truth of the go first class thinking i asked a group of trainees to give one example of how they had been pennywise and pound foolish here are some sample replies i bought a low priced suit from an offbeat retailer thought i got a bargain but the suit was simply no good my car needed a new automatic transmission took it to an alley garage that agreed to do the job for twenty five dollars less than an authorized dealer the new transmission lasted eighteen hundred miles and the garage wouldn't make it right for months

i ate at a real greasy spoon trying to save money the place wasn't clean the food wasn't good the service well you couldn't call it that and the clientele was a bunch of down at healers one day a friend persuaded me to join him for lunch at one of the best restaurants in town he ordered the businessman's lunch so i did too i was amazed at what i got good food good service good atmosphere and for just a little more than i had been paying at the greasy spoon i learned a big lesson there were

many other replies one fellow reported that he got in trouble with the bureau of internal revenue because he used a bargain accountant another went to a cut rate doctor and later learned he had received a completely wrong diagnosis others related the costs of going second class in home repairs hotels and other goods and services of course i've heard the argument many times but i can't afford to go first class the simplest answer is you cannot afford to go any other way certainly in the long run going first class actually costs you less than going second

class then two it's better to have fewer things and have quality than to have many things and have junk it's better for example to have one really good pair of shoes than to have three pairs of second class shoes people rate you for quality often subconsciously perhaps develop an instinct for quality it pays and it costs no more often costs less than second class make your environment make you successful one be environment conscious just as body diet makes the body mind diet makes the mind two make your environment work for you not against you don't

let suppressive forces the negative you can't do it people make you think defeat three don't let small thinking people hold you back jealous people want to see you stumble don't give them that satisfaction four get your advice from successful people your future is important never risk it with freelance advisors who are living failures five get plenty of psychological sunshine circulate in new groups discover new and stimulating things to do six throw thought poison out of your environment avoid gossip talk about people but stay on the positive side seven go first class in everything you do

you can't afford to go any other way chapter 8 make your attitudes your allies can you read minds reading minds is easier than you think perhaps you've never thought of it but you read the minds of other people and they read your mind every day how do we do it we do it automatically through attitude appraisals remember the song you don't need to know the language to say you're in love bing crosby made it famous some years ago there's a whole book full of applied psychology packed into those simple lyrics you don't need to know

the language to say you're in love anyone who's ever been in love knows that and you don't need to know any language to say i like you or i despise you or i think you're important or unimportant or i envy you you don't need to know words or to use words to say i like my job or i'm bored or i'm hungry people speak without a sound how we think shows through in how we act attitudes are mirrors of the mind they reflect thinking you can read the mind of the fellow sitting at a desk

you sense by observing his expressions and mannerisms how he feels toward his job you can read the minds of salesmen students husbands and wives you not only can you do the expert actors those in demand in movies and television year after year in a sense are not actors at all they don't play their roles instead they lose their own identity and actually think and feel like the character they are playing they've got to else they'd look like phonies and their ratings would plunge attitudes do more than show through they sound through too a secretary does

more than identify an office when she says good morning mr shoemaker's office in just five words one secretary says i like you i'm glad you're calling i think you are important i like my job but another secretary saying exactly the same words tells you you bothered me i wish you hadn't called i'm bored with my job and i don't like people who bother me we read attitudes through expressions and voice tones and inflections here's why in the long long history of humankind a speaking language even remotely resembling what we use today is a very recent

invention so recent you might say in terms of the great clock of time that we developed a language only this morning for millions and millions of years people got by with little more than moans and groans and grunts and growls so for millions of years people communicated with other people by body and facial expressions and sounds not words and we still communicate our attitudes our feelings toward people and things the same way aside from direct body contact body movements facial expressions and sound are the only ways we have to communicate with infants and those young

ones show an uncanny ability to spot the phony professor erwin h shell one of america's most respected authorities on leadership says obviously there is something more than facilities and competence that makes for accomplishment i have come to believe that this linkage factor this catalyst if you will can be defined in a single word attitude when our attitude is right our abilities reach a maximum of effectiveness and good results inevitably follow attitudes do make the difference salesmen with the right attitude beat their quotas students with the right attitude make a's right attitudes pave the way to

really happy married life right attitudes make you effective in dealing with people enable you to develop as a leader right attitudes win for you in every situation grow these three attitudes make them your allies in everything you do one grow the attitude of i'm activated two grow the attitude of you are important three grow the attitude of service first now let's see how years ago when i was a college sophomore i enrolled in an american history class i remember the class vividly not because i learned much about american history but because in an unusual way

i learned this basic principle of successful living to activate others you must first activate yourself the history class was very large and it was held in a fan-shaped auditorium the professor who was a middle-aged fellow and apparently well-educated was nevertheless pathetically dull rather than interpret history as an alive fascinating subject the professor merely cited one dead fact after another it was a frightful wonder how he could possibly make such an interesting subject so terribly dull but he did you can imagine the effects the professor's boredom had on the students talking and sleeping got so out

of hand that the professor had two assistants patrol the aisles to break up student conversations and wake up those who had dozed off occasionally the professor would stop and shaking his finger at the class would say i'm warning you you've got to pay attention to what i say you've got to stop this talking and that's all there is to it this of course made little impression on his students many of whom as veterans had gambled their lives only months before had made history on islands and embalmers as i sat there watching this potentially great wonderful

experience turn into a disgusting farce i found myself wrestling with the question why are the students ignoring what the professor has to say the answer came the students had no interest in what the professor was saying because the professor himself had no interest he was bored with history and it showed through to activate others to get them to be enthusiastic you must first be enthusiastic yourself over the years i've tested this principle in hundreds of different situations it always holds true a man who lacks enthusiasm never develops it in another but a person who is

enthusiastic soon has enthusiastic followers the enthusiastic salesmen need never worry about unenthusiastic buyers the enthusiastic teacher need never worry about disinterested students the activated minister need never be distressed by a sleepy congregation enthusiasm can make things one thousand one hundred percent better two years ago employees in a business i'm acquainted with donated 94.35 to the red cross this year the same employees with just about the same payroll donated almost thousand one hundred dollars an increase of one thousand one hundred percent the drive captain who collected only ninety four dollars and thirty five cents was totally

lacking in enthusiasm he made remarks like i suppose it's a worthwhile organization i've never had any direct contact with it it's a big organization and they collect a lot from the wealthy so i suppose it's not too important if you contribute if you can make a donation see me this fellow did nothing to inspire anyone to want to join the red cross and do it in a big way this year's drive captain was a different sort he had enthusiasm he gave examples of case histories that showed how the red cross pitches in when disaster strikes

he showed how the red cross depends on donations from everyone he asked the employees to be guided in giving by how much they would be willing to give their neighbor if disaster should strike him he said look what the red cross has done notice he did not beg he did not say each of you is expected to donate xx dollars all he did was to show enthusiasm about the importance of the red cross success just naturally followed think for a moment about a club or a civic organization you know that is fading away chances are

all it needs is enthusiasm to bring it back to life results come in proportion to enthusiasm applied enthusiasm is simply this is great here's why here is a three-step procedure that will help you to develop the power of enthusiasm one dig into a deeper make this little test think of two things in which you have little or no interest maybe cards certain kinds of music a sport now ask yourself how much do i really know about these things odds are one hundred to one that your answer is not much i confess that for years i

had absolutely no interest in modern art it was just so many botched up lines until i let a friend who knows and loves modern art explain it to me really now that i've dug into it i find it fascinating that exercise supplies one important key for building enthusiasm to get enthusiastic learn more about the thing you are not enthusiastic about chances are you are quite unenthusiastic about bumblebees but if you study bumblebees find out what good they do how they relate to other bees how they reproduce where they live in winter if you find out

all you can about bumblebees you will soon find yourself really interested in bumblebees to show trainees how enthusiasm can be developed through the dig into it deeper technique i sometimes use a greenhouse example in a deliberately casual way i asked the group are any of you interested in manufacturing and selling greenhouses not once have i gotten an affirmative answer then i make a few points about greenhouses i remind the group how as our standard of living rises people become more and more interested in non-necessities i suggest how much mrs america would enjoy growing her own

orchids and orange blossoms i point out that if tens of thousands of families can afford private swimming pools millions could afford greenhouses because greenhouses are relatively inexpensive i show them that if you could sell a six hundred dollar greenhouse to only one family in 50 you'd develop a 600 million dollar business in producing greenhouses and perhaps a 250 million dollar industry supplying plants and seeds the only difficulty with this exercise is that the group 10 minutes before completely cold about greenhouses now is so enthusiastic they don't want to move on to the next subject use

the dig into a deeper technique to develop enthusiasm toward other people find out all you can about another person what he does his family his background his ideas and ambitions and you'll find your interest in and enthusiasm about him mounting keep digging and you're certain to find some common interests keep digging and you'll eventually discover a fascinating person the dig into it deeper technique works also in developing enthusiasm toward new places several years ago some young friends of mine decided to move from detroit to a small town in mid florida they sold their home closed

out their business connections said goodbye to their friends and were gone six weeks later they were back in detroit the reason had nothing to do with employment rather as they put it we just couldn't stand living in a small town besides all our friends are in detroit we just had to come back in later conversations with these people i learned the real reason why they didn't like the small florida city during their short stay there they had taken only a surface view of the community its history its plans for the future its people they moved

their bodies to florida but left their minds in detroit i've talked with dozens of executives engineers and salesmen who have developed career trouble because their companies want to move them to another location but they don't want to go i just can't see moving to chicago or san francisco or atlanta or new york or miami is a remark spoken many times a day there's one way to build enthusiasm toward a new location simply resolve to dig into the new community learn all you can about it mix with the people make yourself feel and think like a

community citizen from the very first day do this and you'll be enthusiastic about your new environment today millions of americans invest in corporate securities but there are many millions more who have no interest at all in the stock market that's because they are people who have not familiarized themselves with what the securities market is how it operates the day-to-day romance of american business to get enthusiasm about anything people places things dig into it deeper dig into it deeper and you'll develop enthusiasm put this principle to work next time you must do something you don't want

to do put this principle to work next time you find yourself becoming bored just dig in deeper and you dig up interest two in everything you do life it up enthusiasm or lack of it shows through in everything you do and say life up your hand shaking when you shake hands shake make your hand clasp say i'm glad to know you i am glad to see you again a conservative mouse-like handshake is worse than no handshake at all it makes people think this guy is more dead than alive try to find a highly successful person

with a conservative handshake you'll have to look a long long time life up your smiles smile with your eyes nobody likes an artificial pasted-on rubbery smile when you smile smile show a few teeth maybe your teeth aren't attractive but that's really unimportant for when you smile people don't see your teeth they see a warm enthusiastic personality someone they like life up your thank yous a routine automatic thank you is almost like saying gleep gleep it's just an expression it says nothing it doesn't accomplish results make your thank you mean thank you very much life up

your talk dr james f bender the noted speech authority in his excellent book how to talk well says is your good morning really good are your congratulations enthusiastic does your how are you sound interested when you make a habit of coloring your words with sincere feelings you'll notice a great uptake in your ability to hold attention people go along with the fellow who believes what he says say it with life put vitality into your speaking whether you were talking to a garden club a prospect or your children put enthusiasm behind what you say a sermon

delivered enthusiastically may be remembered for months even years but a sermon delivered without enthusiasm will be mostly forgotten 167 hours before next sunday rolls around and when you put life in your talk you automatically put more life in you just try this right now say out loud with force and vigor i feel great today now don't you actually feel better than you did before you said it make yourself alive all over life it up be sure everything you do and say tells people that fellow is alive he means it he's going places three broadcast good

news you and i have been in many situations when someone burst in and said i've got good news immediately this person gets 100 attention from everyone present good news does more than get attention good news pleases people good news develops enthusiasm good news even promotes good digestion just because there are more broadcasters of bad news than there are broadcasters of good news don't be misled no one ever won a friend no one ever made money no one ever accomplished anything by broadcasting bad news transmit good news to your family tell them the good that happened

today recall the amusing pleasant things you experienced and let the unpleasant things stay buried spread good news it's pointless to pass on the bad it only makes your family worry makes them nervous bring home some sunlight every day ever notice how seldom children complain about the weather they take hot weather in stride until the negative news corps educate them to be conscious of unpleasant temperatures make it a habit always to speak favorably about the weather regardless of what the weather actually is complaining about the weather makes you more miserable and it spreads misery to others

broadcast good news about how you feel be and i feel great person just say i feel great at every possible opportunity and you will feel better by the same token tell people i feel awful just awful and you will feel worse how we feel is in large part determined by how we think we feel remember too that other people want to be around the live enthusiastic people being around complainers and half dead people is uncomfortable transmit good news to the people you work with give them encouragement compliment them at every opportunity tell them about the

positive things the company is doing listen to their problems be helpful encourage people and win their support pat them on the back for the job they're doing give them hope let them know you believe they can succeed that you have faith in them practice relieving worriers make this little test regularly to keep you on the right track whenever you leave a person ask yourself does that person honestly feel better because he has talked with me this self-training device works apply it when talking with employees associates your family customers even with casual acquaintances a salesman friend

is a real good news broadcaster he calls on his customers every month and always makes it a rule to have some good news to pass along examples i met one of your good friends last week he said to tell you hello since i was here last big things have happened over 350 000 new babies were born last month and more babies means more business for both of us usually we think of bank presidents as overly reserved unemotional people who never really warm up not so with one bank president his favorite way to answer the phone

is to say good morning it's a wonderful world may i sell you some money improper for a banker some might say so but let me point out that the banker who uses this greeting is mills lane junior president of the citizens and southern bank the largest in the entire southeast good news gets good results broadcast the president of a brush manufacturing company i visited recently had this maxim neatly framed on his desk facing the visitor's chair give me a good word or none at all i complimented him saying that i thought the maxim was a

clever way to encourage people to be optimistic he smiled and said it is an effective reminder but from where i sit this is even more important he turned the frame around so i could see it from his side of the desk it said give them a good word or none at all broadcasting good news activates you makes you feel better broadcasting good news makes other people feel better too grow the you are important attitude this is a fact of paramount significance each human being whether he lives in india or indianapolis whether he's ignorant or brilliant

civilized or uncivilized young or old has this desire he wants to feel important ponder on that everyone yes everyone your neighbor you your wife your boss has a natural desire to feel he is somebody the desire to be important is man's strongest most compelling non-biological hunger successful advertisers know that people crave prestige distinction recognition headlines that produce sales read like this for smart young homemakers persons with distinctive tastes use you want only the best be the envy of everyone for women who want to be envied by women and admired by men these headlines in effect

tell people buy this product and you put yourself in the important class satisfying the craving the hunger to be important carries you forward to success it is basic equipment in your success tool chest yet even though displaying the attitude you are important gets results and even though it costs nothing few persons use it a little fill-in is needed here to show why on the philosophical side our religions our laws our entire culture are based on the belief of the importance of the individual suppose for example you were flying your own plane and were forced down

in an isolated mountain region as soon as your accident was known a large-scale search for you would begin no one would ask is that fellow important without knowing anything about you except that you are a human being helicopters other aircraft and searching parties on foot would begin looking for you and they would keep on looking for you spending thousands of dollars in the process until they found you or until not one trace of hope remained when a little child wanders off into a woods falls into a well or gets into some other dangerous predicament no

one is concerned with whether or not the child comes from an important family every effort is made to rescue the child because every child is important it's not too wild to guess that of all living creatures probably not more than one in 10 million is a human being a person is a biological rarity he is important in god's scheme of things now let's look at the practical side when most people shift their thinking from philosophical discussions to everyday situations they tend to forget unfortunately their ivory tower concepts of the importance of individuals tomorrow take a

good look at how most people exhibit an attitude that seems to say you are a nobody you count for nothing you mean nothing absolutely nothing to me there is a reason why the you are unimportant attitude prevails most folks look at another person and think he can't do anything for me therefore he's not important but right there is where people make a basic blunder the other person regardless of his status or his income is important to you and for two giant dollars and sense reasons first people do more for you when you make them feel

important years ago in detroit i rode a certain bus to work each morning the driver was an old grump dozens maybe hundreds of times i saw this driver pull away from the curb when a wildly waving shouting and running passenger was just a second or two from the door over a period of several months i saw this driver show special courtesy to only one passenger and this passenger was shown special courtesy many times the driver would wait for this passenger and why because this passenger went out of his way to make the driver feel important

every morning he greeted the driver with a personalized sincere good morning sir sometimes this passenger would sit near the driver and make little comments like you sure have a lot of responsibility it must take nerves of steel to drive through traffic like this every day you sure keep this thing on schedule that passenger made the driver feel as important as if he were piloting a 180 passenger jet airliner and the driver in return showed special courtesy to the passenger it pays to make little people feel like big people today in thousands of offices all over

america secretaries are helping salesmen make sales or lose sales depending on how the salesman has treated them make someone feel important and he cares about you and when he cares about you he does more for you customers will buy more from you employees will work harder for you associates will go out of their way to cooperate with you your boss will do more to help you if you will only make these people feel important it pays to make big people feel even bigger the big thinker always adds value to people by visualizing them at their

best because he thinks big about people he gets their best out of them here's the second giant reason for making others feel important when you help others feel important you help yourself feel important too one of the elevator operators who carried me up and down for several months had the look of complete unimportance written all over she was fifty-ish unattractive and certainly uninspired in her work it was obvious that her longing to be important was completely unfulfilled she was one of the millions of people who live for months at a time without ever being given

a reason to believe that someone notices them or cares about them one morning shortly after i became one of her regular uppers and downers i noticed that she had had her hair redone it was nothing fancy it was obviously a homemade job but it had been cut and it did look better so i said miss s note i had learned her name i do like what you've done to your hair it really looks fine she blushed said thank you sir and nearly missed her next stop she appreciated the compliment next morning lo and behold when

i stepped into the elevator i heard good morning dr schwartz not one time before had i heard this operator address anyone by name and in the remaining months that i had an office in the building i never heard anyone called by name except me i had made the operator feel important i had sincerely complimented her and called her by name i had made her feel important now she was repaying me by making me feel important let's not kid ourselves people who do not have a deep down feeling of self-importance are slated for mediocrity again and

again this point must be driven home you must feel important to succeed helping others to feel important rewards you because it makes you feel more important try it and see here's how to do it one practice appreciation make it a rule to let others know you appreciate what they do for you never never let anyone feel he is taken for granted practice appreciation with a warm sincere smile a smile lets others know you notice them and feel kindly toward them practice appreciation by letting others know how you depend on them an earnest jim i don't

know what we do without you type of remark makes people feel necessary and when they feel necessary they do increasingly better work practice appreciation with honest personalized compliments people thrive on compliments whether 2 or 20 9 or 90 a person craves praise he wants to be assured that he's doing a good job that he is important don't feel that you should hand out praise only for big accomplishments compliment people on little things their appearance the way they do their routine work their ideas their loyal efforts praise by writing personal notes complimenting people you know on

their achievements make a special phone call or a special trip to see them don't waste time or mental energy trying to classify people as very important persons important persons or unimportant persons make no exceptions a person whether he is garbage collector or company vice president is important to you treating someone as second class never gets you first class results two practice calling people by their names every year shrewd manufacturers sell more briefcases pencils bibles and hundreds of other items just by putting the buyer's name on the product people like to be called by name it

gives everyone a boost to be addressed by name two special things you must remember pronounce the name correctly and spell it correctly if you mispronounce or misspell someone's name that person feels that you feel he is unimportant and here's one special reminder when talking with people you don't know well add the appropriate title miss mr or mrs the office boy prefers mr jones to just jones so does your junior assistant so do people at every level these little titles help tremendously to make people feel important three don't hog glory invest it instead just recently i

was a guest at an all day sales convention after dinner that evening the vice president in charge of sales for the company passed out awards to the two district managers a man and a woman whose sales organizations had attained the best records for the year just ended then the vice president asked those district managers to take 15 minutes to tell the entire group how their organizations did so exceptionally well the first district manager who i later learned had been appointed a manager only three months before and was therefore only partially responsible for his organization's record

got up and explained how he did it he conveyed the impression that his efforts and his efforts alone caused the sales increase remarks such as when i took over i did such and such things were in a mess but i cleared them up it wasn't easy but i just grabbed hold of the situation and wouldn't let go characterized his talk as he talked i could see the increasing resentment gathering in the faces of his salesmen they were being ignored for the sake of the district manager's personal glory their hard work which was responsible for the

sales increase was completely unrecognized then the second district manager got up to make her short talk but this lady used an entirely different approach first she explained that the reason for her organization success was the wholehearted effort of her sales force then she asked each one to stand and paid a sincere personal compliment to each for his or her efforts note this difference the first manager squandered the vice president's praise entirely on himself in doing so he offended his own people his sales force was demoralized the second passed the praise on to her sales force

where it could do more good this manager knew that praise like money can be invested to pay dividends she knew that passing the credit on to her salespeople would make them work even harder next year remember praise is power invest the praise you receive from your superior pass praise on down to your subordinates where it will encourage still greater performance when you share praise your subordinates know you sincerely appreciate their value here's a daily exercise that pays off surprisingly well ask yourself every day what can i do today to make my wife and family happy

this may seem almost too simple but it is amazingly effective one evening as part of a sales training program i was discussing building the home environment for selling success to illustrate a point i asked the salesman who were all married when was the last time aside from christmas your wedding anniversary or her birthday that you surprised your wife with a special gift even i was shocked at the answers of the 35 salesman only one had surprised his wife in the past month many of the group answered between three and six months and over a third

said i can't remember imagine and some men wonder why their wives no longer treat them like mr king with a crown i wanted to impress these salesmen with the power of the thoughtful gift the next evening i arranged to have a florist appear just before the close of the session i introduced him and leveled with them i want each of you to discover what a little unexpected remembrance will do to build a better home environment i've arranged with the florist for each of you to get a fine long stemmed red rose for just 50 cents

now if you don't have 50 cents or if you think your wife isn't worth that they laughed i'll buy the flower for her myself all i ask is that you take the rose to your wife and then tomorrow evening tell us what happened don't of course tell her how you came to purchase this rose for her they understood without exception every fellow testified the next evening that the mere investment of 50 cents had made his wife happy do something special for your family often it doesn't have to be something expensive it's thoughtfulness that counts anything

that shows that you put your family's interests first will do the trick get the family on your team give them planned attention in this busy age a lot of people never seem able to find time for their families but if we plan we can find it one company vice president told me of this method which he says works well for him my job carries a lot of responsibility and i have no choice but to bring quite a lot of work home every night but i will not neglect my family because it's the most important thing

in my life it's the main reason i work as hard as i do i've worked out a schedule that enables me to give attention to my family as well as to my work from 7 30 to 8 30 every evening i devote my time to my two young children i play games with them read them stories draw answer questions anything they want me to do after an hour with those kids of mine they're not only satisfied but i'm one hundred percent fresher at 8 30 they trot off to bed and i settle down to work

for two hours at 10 30 i quit working and spend the next hour with my wife we talk about the kids her various activities our plans for the future this hour undisturbed by anything is a wonderful way to cap off the day i also reserve sundays for my family the whole day is theirs i find my organized program for giving my family the attention it deserves is good not only for them but also good for me it gives me new energy to make money then get the put service first attitude it's perfectly natural in fact

it's highly desirable to want to make money and accumulate wealth money is power to give your family and yourself the standard of living they deserve money is power to help the unfortunate money is one of the means to living life fully once criticized for urging people to make money the great minister russell h conwell author of acres of diamonds said money printed your bible money builds your churches money sends your missionaries and money pays your preachers and you would not have many of them either if you did not pay them the person who says he

wants to be poor usually suffers from a guilt complex or a feeling of inadequacy he's like the youngster who feels he can't make a's in school or make the football team so he pretends he doesn't want to make a's or play football money then is a desirable objective what's puzzling about money is the backward approach so many people use in trying to make it everywhere you see people with a money first attitude yet these same people always have little money why simply this people with a money first attitude become so money conscious that they forget

money can't be harvested unless they plant the seeds that grow the money and the seed of money is service that's why put service first is an attitude that creates wealth put service first and money takes care of itself one summer evening i was traveling by car through cincinnati it was time for a gas up i stopped at an ordinary looking but surprisingly busy service station four minutes later i knew why this particular service station was so popular after filling my car with gasoline checking under the hood and cleaning the outside of my windshield the attendant

walked around to my side of the car and said pardon me sir it's been a dusty day let me clean the inside of your windshield quickly and efficiently he did a thorough job of cleaning the inside of my windshield something not one service station attendant in a hundred ever does this little special service did more than improve my night visibility and it improved a lot it made me remember this station it so happened that i made eight trips through cincinnati during the next three months each time of course i stopped at this station and each

time i got more service than i expected to get interesting too was the fact that each time i stopped once it was 4 am there were other automobiles filling up also in all i probably purchased about 100 gallons of gasoline from this station the first time i stopped the attendant could have thought to himself this guy is from out of state odds are 20 to 1 that he'll never be back why do more than give him the routine treatment he's only a one-time customer but the attendance in that station didn't think that way they put

service first and that's why they were busy pumping gasoline while other stations looked almost deserted if the gasoline was any better than a dozen other brands i didn't notice it and the price was competitive the difference was service and it was obvious that service was paying off in profits when the attendant on my first visit cleaned the inside of my windshield he planted a money seed put service first and money takes care of itself always the put service first attitude pays off in all situations in one of my first jobs i worked closely with another

young fellow whom i'll call fh fh was like many persons you know he was preoccupied with why he needed more money instead of being preoccupied with ways to make money each week fh spent hours of company time working on his personal budget problems his favorite topic of conversation was i'm the most underpaid man here let me tell you why fh had the not uncommon attitude of this is a big company it's netting millions it's paying a lot of people big salaries so it ought to pay me more too fh had been passed over several times

for pay increases finally one day he decided that it was high time he went in there and demanded more money about 30 minutes later fh was back all heated up his expression made it obvious that next month's check would look exactly like this month's check immediately fh began to let go boy am i mad what do you suppose the old man said when i told him i wanted more money he had the gall to ask me why do you believe you are justified in asking for an increase i gave him plenty of reasons fh went

on i told him i'd been passed over when others around here were getting pay raises i told him my bills are getting larger and my paycheck isn't and i told him that i do everything around here they ask me to do can you beat that i need a raise but instead of paying me more they give out raises to other guys around here who don't need it half as much as i do why the way he acted fh continued you think i was asking for charity all he would say is when your record shows that

you deserve more money you'll get more money sure i could do a better job if they paid me for it but only a fool does something he isn't paid for fh is an example of the breed that is blind to the how of making money his last remark sums up his mistake in effect fh wanted the company to pay him more and then he would produce more but this is not how the system works you don't get a raise on the promise of better performance you get a raise only by demonstrating better performance you can't

harvest money unless you plant the seeds that grow money and the seed of money is service put service first and money takes care of itself consider which producers make the money from movies the get rich quick producer proceeds to make a picture putting money ahead of entertainment service he cuts corners everywhere he buys a poorly written script and employs second-rate writers to adapt it in employing actors arranging sets even recording sound he puts money first this producer thinks the moviegoer is a sucker someone who can't tell good from bad but the get rich quick producers

seldom does get rich quick there never is a bandwagon movement to buy anything second class especially when it is given a first class price the producer who enjoys the largest profits from pictures puts entertainment ahead of money rather than chisel the moviegoer he does everything possible to give people more and better entertainment than they expect to get the result people like the movie it gets talked about it gets good reviews and it makes money again put service first and money takes care of itself the waitress who concentrates on giving the best possible service needn't worry

about tips they'll be there but her counterpart who overlooks the empty coffee cups why refill them they don't look like tippers won't find any gratuities the secretary who resolves to make those letters look better than the boss expects will do all right on future paychecks but the secretary who thinks why worry about a few smudges what do they expect for sixty five dollars a week she is stuck at sixty five dollars a week the salesman who gives full service to an account need harbor no fears he'll lose the account here is a simple but powerful

rule that will help you to develop the put service first attitude always give people more than they expect to get each little extra something you do for others is a money seed volunteering to work late and get the department out of a tight spot is a money seed giving customers extra service is a money seed because it brings customers back advancing a new idea that will increase efficiency is a money seed money seeds of course grow money plant service and harvest money spend some time each day answering this question how can i give more than

is expected of me then apply the answers put service first and money takes care of itself in quick recap grow attitudes that will carry you forward to success one grow the i'm activated attitude results come in proportion to the enthusiasm invested three things to do to activate yourself are dig into it deeper when you find yourself uninterested in something dig in and learn more about it this sets off enthusiasm life up everything about you your smile your handshake your talk even your walk act alive broadcast good news no one ever accomplished anything positive telling bad

news 2. grow the you are important attitude people do more for you when you make them feel important remember to do these things show appreciation at every opportunity make people feel important call people by name three grow the service first attitude and watch money take care of itself make it a rule in everything you do give people more than they expect to get chapter nine think right toward people here is a basic rule for winning success let's mark it in the mind and remember it the rule is success depends on the support of other people

the only hurdle between you and what you want to be is the support of others look at it this way an executive depends on people to carry out his instructions if they don't the company president will fire the executive not the employees a salesman depends on people to buy his product if they don't the salesman fails likewise a college dean depends on professors to carry forward his educational program a politician depends on voters to elect him a writer depends on people to read what he writes a chain store magnate got to be a chain store

magnate because employees accepted his leadership and consumers accepted his merchandising program there were times in history when a person could gain a position of authority through force and hold it with force and or threats of force in those days a man either cooperated with the leader or risked literally losing his head but today remember a person either supports you willingly or he doesn't support you at all now it's time to ask granted i depend on others in order to achieve the success i want but what must i do to get these people to support me

and accept my leadership the answer wrapped up in one phrase is think right toward people think right toward people and they will like and support you this chapter shows how thousands of times daily a scene like this takes place a committee or group is in session the purpose to consider names for a promotion a new job a club membership an honor someone to be the new company president the new supervisor the new sales manager a name is placed before the group the chairman asks what is your feeling about so and so comments come forth for

some names there are positive remarks such as he's a good fellow people there speak highly of him he has a good technical background too mr f oh he's a personable sort of man very human i believe he would fit in well with our group some names draw negative lukewarm statements i think we should investigate that fellow carefully he doesn't seem to get along too well with people i know he has a good academic and technical background i don't question his competence but i am concerned about the acceptance he would receive he doesn't command much respect

from people now here is an exceptionally important observation in at least nine cases out of ten the likability factor is the first thing mentioned and in an overwhelmingly large number of cases the likability factor is given far more weight than the technical factor this holds true even in selecting scholars for university professorships in my own academic experience i've sat in on a considerable number of occasions when names for new faculty personnel were under question when a name came up the group would weigh most carefully thoughts such as will he fit in will students like him

will he cooperate with others on the staff unfair unacademic no if the fellow isn't likable he can't be expected to get through to his students with maximum effectiveness mark this point well a person is not pulled up to a higher level job rather he is lifted up in this day and age nobody has time or patience to pull another up the job ladder degree by painful degree the individual is chosen whose record makes him stand higher than the rest we are lifted to higher levels by those who know us as likable personable individuals every friend

you make lifts you just one notch higher and being likable makes you lighter to lift successful people follow a plan for liking people do you people who reach the top don't discuss much their techniques for thinking right toward people but you would be surprised how many really big people have a clear definite even written plan for liking people consider the case of president lyndon johnson long before he became president johnson in the process of developing his amazing power of personal persuasion developed his own 10-point formula for success his rules which even a casual observer of

the president can see are practiced in everything he does are quoted directly one learn to remember names inefficiency at this point may indicate that your interest is not sufficiently outgoing two be a comfortable person so there is no strain in being with you be an old shoe kind of individual three acquire the quality of relaxed easy going so that things do not ruffle you four don't be egotistical guard against the impression that you know it all five cultivate the quality of being interesting so people will get something of value from their association with you six

study to get the scratchy elements out of your personality even those of which you may be unconscious seven sincerely attempt to heal on an honest basis every misunderstanding you have had or now have drain off your grievances eight practice liking people until you learn to do so genuinely nine never miss an opportunity to say a word of congratulation upon anyone's achievement or express sympathy in sorrow or disappointment 10 give spiritual strength to people and they will give genuine affection to you living these 10 simple but tremendously powerful like people rules makes president johnson easier to

vote for easier to support in congress living these 10 rules makes president johnson easier to lift listen to these rules again notice that there's no get even philosophy here there's no let the other fellow come to me to patch up differences there's no i know it all other people are stupid big people those on top in industry the arts sciences and politics are human warm they specialize in being likable but don't try to buy friendship it's not for sale giving gifts is a wonderful practice if the gift is backed up with genuine sincerity a liking

to give and liking for the person to whom it is given but without real sincerity the gift is often regarded as nothing more than a payoff or a bribe last year just a few days before christmas i was in the office of the president of a medium-sized trucking firm just as i was about to leave in marched a delivery man with a gift of liquid refreshment from a local tire recapping firm my friend was obviously provoked and with a certain amount of chill in his voice asked the delivery man to return the gift to its

sender after the delivery man left my friend hastened to explain to me don't misunderstand i like to give gifts and i like to get them then he named a number of gifts he had already received from business friends that christmas but he went on when the gift is just an attempt to get my business an obvious bribe i don't want it i quit doing business with that firm three months ago because their work isn't what it should be and i don't like the employees but their salesman keeps on calling what burns me he continued is

that last week that same blank salesman was in here and had the goal to say i sure would like to get your business back i'm going to tell santa to be real good to you this year if i hadn't sent their booze back the first thing that so and so would have said to me next time he's in is i'll bet you enjoyed our gift didn't you friendship can't be bought and when we try we lose in two ways one we waste money two we create contempt take the initiative in building friendships leaders always do

it's easy and natural for us to tell ourselves let him make the first move let them call us let her speak first it's easy too virtually to ignore other people yes it's easy and natural but it isn't right thinking toward people if you follow the rule of letting the other person build the foundation for friendship you may not have many friends actually it's a mark of real leadership to take the lead in getting to know people next time you're in a large group observe something very significant the most important person present is the one person

most active in introducing himself it's always a big person who walks up to you offers his hand and says hello i'm jack r digest this observation for a moment and you'll discover the reason the fellow is important is that he works at building friendships think right toward people as a friend of mine expresses it i may not be very important to him but he's important to me that's why i've got to get to know him have you ever noticed how people freeze while waiting for elevators unless they are with someone they know most folks never

say anything to the person standing beside them one day i resolved to do a little experimenting i resolved to say something to the stranger who was waiting as i was i kept track of his reaction 25 consecutive times and 25 times i got back a positive friendly response now talking to strangers may not be very urbane but most people like it nevertheless and here is the big payoff when you make a pleasant remark to a stranger you make him feel one degree better this makes you feel better and helps you relax every time you say

something pleasant to another person you compensate yourself it's like warming up your automobile on a cold morning here are six ways to win friends by exercising just a little initiative one introduce yourself to others at every possible opportunity at parties meetings on airplanes at work everywhere two be sure the other person gets your name straight three be sure you can pronounce the other person's name the way he pronounces it four write down the other person's name and be mighty sure you have it spelled correctly people have a fetish about the correct spelling of their own

names if possible get his address and phone number also five drop a personal note or make a phone call to the new friends you feel you want to know better this is an important point most successful people follow through on new friends with a letter or a phone call six and last but not least say pleasant things to strangers it warms you up and gets you ready for the task ahead putting these six rules to work is really thinking right about people to be sure it is not the way the average person thinks mr average

never takes the initiative in making introductions he waits for the other person to introduce himself first take the initiative be like the successful go out of your way to meet people and don't be timid don't be afraid to be unusual find out who the other person is and be sure he knows who you are recently an associate and i were retained to do a preliminary screening of an applicant for an industrial sales job we found the applicant whom we'll call ted to have some good qualifications he was exceptionally intelligent made a fine appearance and seemed

to have a lot of ambition but we found something that forced us to disqualify him at least temporarily ted's big limitation was this he expected perfection in other people ted was annoyed by many little things like mistakes in grammar people who were messy with cigarettes people who had bad taste in clothes and so on ted was surprised to learn this fact about himself but he was eager to get into higher paying work and he asked whether there was anything we could tell him to help overcome his weakness we made three suggestions one recognize the fact

that no person is perfect some people are more nearly perfect than others but no man is absolutely perfect the most human quality about human beings is that they make mistakes all kinds of them two recognize the fact that the other fellow has a right to be different never play god about anything never dislike people because their habits are different from your own or because they prefer different clothes religion parties or automobiles you don't have to approve of what another fellow does but you must not dislike him for doing it three don't be a reformer put

a little more live and let live into your philosophy most people intensely dislike being told you're wrong you have a right to your own opinion but sometimes it's better to keep it to yourself ted conscientiously applied these suggestions a few months later he had a fresh outlook he now accepts people for what they are neither one hundred percent good nor one hundred percent bad besides he says the things that used to annoy the heck out of me i now find amusing it finally dawned on me what a dull world this would be if people were

all alike and everybody was perfect note this simple but key fact no person is all good and no person is all bad the perfect person just doesn't exist now if we let our thinking go uncontrolled we can find much to dislike in almost anyone by the same token if we manage our thinking properly if we think right toward people we can find many qualities to like and admire in the same person view it this way your mind is a mental broadcasting station this broadcasting system transmits messages to you on two equally powerful channels channel p

positive and channel n negative let's see how your broadcasting system works suppose that today your business superior will call him mr jacobs called you into his office and reviewed your work with you he complimented you on your work but he also made some specific suggestions on how you can do it better tonight it's only natural for you to recall the incident and do some thinking about it if you tune in channel n the announcer will be saying something like this watch out jacobs is out to get you he's a crab you don't need any of

his advice to heck with it remember what joe told you about jacobs he was right jacobs wants to grind you down like he did joe resist him next time he calls you in fight back better still don't wait tomorrow go in and ask him just what he really meant by his criticism but tune in channel p and the announcer will say something along these lines you know mr jacobs is a pretty good fellow those suggestions he made to me seem pretty sound if i put them to use i can probably do a better job and

position myself for an increase the old boy did me a favor tomorrow i'll go in and thank him for his constructive help bill was right jacobs is a good man to work with in this specific case if you listen to channel n you're almost certain to make some bad perhaps fatal mistake in your relations with your superior but if you are tuned to channel p you are definitely certain to benefit from your superior suggestions and at the same time draw yourself closer to him he will appreciate that visit try it and see bear in mind

that the longer you stay tuned to either channel p or channel n the more interested you become and the harder it is to switch channels this is true because one thought positive or negative sets off a whole chain reaction of similar thought you may for example start off with such a simple minor negative thought as a person's accent and find yourself soon thinking negatively about such unrelated topics as his political and religious beliefs the car he drives his personal habits his relationship with his wife even the way he combs his hair and thinking this way

surely won't get you where you want to go you own it so manage your thought broadcasting station when your thoughts turn to people make channel p your listening habit if channel n cuts in say stop then switch channels to make the switch all you must do is think of one positive quality about the individual in true chain reaction style this one thought will lead to another and another and you will be glad when you are alone you and only you can decide whether you will listen to channel p or channel n but when you are

talking with someone else that person has a measure of control over how you think we must remember that most people do not understand the concepts of thinking right toward people so it's a very common experience for people to come rushing to you just aching to say something negative about a person you both know a co-worker wants to tell you about the objectionable qualities of another employee a neighbor wants to let you know the domestic problems of another neighbor or a customer wants to itemize the faults of his competitor whom you will call on next thoughts

breed like thoughts there is real danger that if you listen to negative comments about another person you too will go negative toward that person in fact if you are not on guard you may actually find yourself adding fuel to the fire with yes and that's not all did you hear type of comment these things backfire boomerang there are two ways to prevent others from switching us from channel p to channel n one way is to switch topics as quickly and quietly as possible with some remark like pardon me john but while i think of it

i've been meaning to ask you a second way is to excuse yourself with a sorry john i'm late now or i have a deadline to meet will you excuse me make a forceful promise to yourself refuse to let others prejudice your thinking stay tuned to channel p once you've mastered the technique of thinking only good thoughts about people greater success is guaranteed let me tell you what an unusually successful insurance salesman told me about how thinking good thoughts about people pays off for him when i first got in the insurance business he began the going

was tough believe me at first it seemed there were about as many competing agents as there were prospects and i soon learned what all insurance men know that nine prospects out of ten firmly believe they don't need any more insurance i'm doing well but let me tell you it's not because i know a lot about the technical side of insurance that's important don't misunderstand me but there are men trying to sell insurance who know policies and contracts better than i in fact i know one man who wrote a book about insurance but he couldn't sell

a policy to a man who knew he had only five days to live my success he continued is based on one thing i like really like the guy i'm selling let me say again i really like him some of my fellow salesmen try to pretend they like the other fellow but this won't work you can't even fool a dog your mannerisms eyes facial expressions all spell p-h-o-n-y when you pretend now when i'm gathering information about a prospect i do what every other agent does i get his age where he works how much he makes how

many kids he's got and so on but i also get something else which most salesmen never search for that is some sound reasons why i can like the prospect maybe the job he's doing will supply the reason or perhaps i can find it someplace in his past record but i find some good reasons to like him then whenever my attention is focused on the prospect i review the reasons why i like him i build a likable image of the prospect before i say one word to him about insurance this little technique works because i like

him he sooner or later likes me pretty soon instead of sitting across the table from him i'm on the same side with him and we're working out his insurance plan together he trusts and believes in my judgment because i am a friend now people don't always accept me right off the bat but i've found that so long as i continue to like a fellow he'll come around and we can get down to business just last week my friend went on i was making the third call on a difficult prospect he met me at the door

and before i could even say good evening he proceeded to give me hell he went on and on not even stopping for a breath until he had run down and finished with and don't ever come back here again after he had said that i just stood there looking into his eyes for about five seconds and then said softly and with genuine sincerity because i meant it but mr s i'm calling tonight as your friend yesterday he bought a 250 000 endowment policy saul polk is popularly called the appliance king of chicago starting with nothing sol

poke now sells millions of dollars worth of appliances in a year in metropolitan chicago solpoke credits a lot of his success to his attitude toward shoppers customers says mr polk should be treated like they are guests in my home isn't that thinking toward people and isn't it about the simplest success formula one can put to work just treat customers like guests in your home this technique works outside the store too substitute the word employees for customers so that it reads employees should be treated like guests in my home give first class treatment to your employees

and you get first class cooperation first class output think first class about everyone around you and you'll receive first class results in return one of the reviewers of an early version of this book is a close personal friend who owns his own business management consulting firm when he read the above illustration he commented that's the positive result of liking and respecting people let me give you a personal experience of a friend of mine which shows what happens if you don't like and admire people his experience has a big point here it is my firm obtained

a contract to provide consulting services to a relatively small soft drink bottling concern the contract was substantial the client had little formal education his business was in bad shape and in recent years he had made some very costly mistakes three days after we had got the contract an associate and i were driving out to his plant which was about forty five minutes from our offices to this day i don't know how it started but somehow we began talking about the negative qualities of our client before we realized it we were talking about how his own

stupidity had brought about the mess he was in instead of discussing how we could best approach solving his problems i remember one remark i made which i thought particularly clever the only thing holding up mr f is fat my associate laughed and came up with an equally choice observation and that son of his junior must be all of 35 but the only qualification he has for the job he's holding is he speaks english the whole drive out we talked about nothing else but what a weak-minded numb skull we had as a client well the conference

that afternoon was cold looking back i think our client sense somehow the way we felt toward him he must have thought these fellows think i'm stupid or something and all they're going to do for my money is give me some smooth sounding talk two days later i got a two sentence letter from this client it said i've decided to cancel our contract for your consulting services if there is a charge for your services to date please bill me printing ourselves with negative thoughts for only 40 minutes cost us a contract what made it even more

painful was learning about a month later that this former client had contracted with an out-of-town firm for the professional assistance he needed we would never have lost him had we concentrated on his many fine qualities and he has them most people do here's how you can have some fun and discover a basic success principle at the same time for the next two days listen in on as many conversations as you can note two things which person in the conversation does the most talking and which person is the more successful hundreds of my own little experiments

have revealed this the person who does the most talking and the person who is the most successful are rarely the same person almost without exception the more successful the person the more he practices conversation generosity that is he encourages the other person to talk about himself his views his accomplishments his family his job his problems conversation generosity paves the way to greater success in two important ways one conversation generosity wins friends two conversation generosity helps you learn more about people remember this the average person would rather talk about himself than anything else in this world

when you give him the chance he likes you for it conversation generosity is the easiest simplest and surest way there is to win a friend the second benefit of conversation generosity learning more about other people is important too as we said in chapter one people are what we study in our success lab the more we can learn from them their thought processes their strong and weak points why they do what and as they do the better equipped we are to influence them effectively in the way that we want let me illustrate a large new york

advertising agency like all advertising agencies specializes of course in telling the public why it should buy the products it advertises but this agency does something else too it requires its copywriters to spend one week each year behind counters so they can listen to what the people say about the products they promote listening provides the clues these copywriters need to write better more effective ads many progressive businesses conduct so-called terminal interviews with employees who are leaving the reason is not to sell the employees on staying with the company but to find out why he is quitting

then the company can bring about improvements in its employee relations listening pays off listening pays off for the salesman too often people think of a good salesman as a good talker or a fast talker sales managers however are not as impressed by a good talker as they are by a good listener a fellow who can ask questions and get desired answers don't be a conversation hog listen win friends and learn courtesy practiced in every relationship with another person is the finest tranquilizer you can use no commercial preparation is one-tenth as effective in relaxing you as

doing little things for other people thinking right toward people removes frustrations and stress when you boil it all down the big cause of stress is negative feelings toward other people so think positive toward people and discover how wonderful really wonderful this world is the real test for thinking right toward people comes when things don't go exactly the way we want how do you think when you're passed up for a promotion or when you fail to win an office in a club you belong to or when you're criticized for the job you've done remember this how

you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win the answer for thinking right toward people when things don't go exactly our way comes from benjamin fairless one of the century's most outstanding persons mr fairless who rose from very modest circumstances to become chief executive of the united states steel corporation said this quoted in life magazine october 15 1956 it depends on how you look at things for example i never had a teacher i hated naturally i was disciplined just like every other pupil but i always figured it was my fault

that the discipline was necessary i have also liked every boss i ever had i always tried to please him and do more than he expected if i possibly could nevertheless i have had some disappointments times when i greatly wanted a promotion and somebody else got it but i never figured that i was the victim of office politics or prejudice or bad judgment on the boss's part instead of sulking or quitting in a huff i reasoned things out obviously the other fellow deserved the promotion more than i did what could i do to make myself deserving

of the next opportunity at the same time i never got angry with myself for losing and never wasted any time berating myself remember benjamin fearless when things go wrong just do two things one ask yourself what can i do to make myself more deserving of the next opportunity two don't waste time and energy being discouraged don't berate yourself plan to win next time in a capsule put these principles to work one make yourself lighter to lift be likable practice being the kind of person people like this wins their support and puts fuel in your success

building program two take the initiative in building friendships introduce yourself to others at every opportunity make sure you get the other person's name straight and make certain he gets your name straight too drop a personal note to your new friends you want to get to know better three accept human differences and limitations don't expect anyone to be perfect remember the other person has a right to be different and don't be a reformer 4. tune into channel p the good thought station find qualities to like and admire in a person not things to dislike and don't

let others prejudice your thinking about a third person think positive thoughts toward people and get positive results five practice conversation generosity be like successful people encourage others to talk let the other person talk to you about his views his opinions his accomplishments six practice courtesy all the time it makes other people feel better it makes you feel better too seven don't blame others when you receive a setback remember how you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win chapter 10 get the action habit here's something leaders in every field agree

on there is a shortage of top flight expertly qualified persons to fill key positions there really is as the saying goes plenty of room at the top as one executive explained there are many almost qualified people but there is one success ingredient often missing that is the ability to get things done to get results every big job whether it be operating a business high level selling in science the military or the government requires a man who thinks action principal executives looking for a key person demand answers to questions like will he do the job will

he follow through is he a self-starter can he get results or is he just a talker all these questions have one aim to find out if the fellow is a man of action excellent ideas are not enough an only fair idea acted upon and developed is one hundred percent better than a terrific idea that dies because it isn't followed up the great self-made merchant john wanamaker often said nothing comes merely by thinking about it think of it everything we have in this world from satellites to skyscrapers to baby food is just an idea acted upon

as you study people both the successful and the just average you find they fall into two classes the successful are active we'll call them activationists the just average the mediocre the unsuccessful are passive we'll call them passivationists we can discover a success principle by studying both groups mr activationist is a doer he takes action gets things done follows through on ideas and plans mr passivationist is a donor he postpones doing things until he has proved he shouldn't or can't do them or until it's too late the difference between mr activationist and mr passivationist shows through

in countless little ways mr activationist plans a vacation he takes it mr passivationist plans a vacation but he postpones it until next year mr a decides he should attend church regularly he does mr p thinks it's a good idea to go to church regularly too but he finds ways to postpone acquiring this new habit mr a feels that he should drop a note to someone he knows to congratulate him on some achievement he writes the note under the same circumstances mr p finds a good reason to put off writing the note and it never gets

written difference shows up in big things too mr a wants to go into business for himself he does mr p also wants to go into business for himself but he discovers just in the nick of time a good reason why he had better not mr a age 40 decides he wants to take up a new line of work he does the same idea occurs to mr p but he debates himself out of doing anything about it the difference between messers activationist and passivationist shows through in all forms of behavior mr a gets the things done

he wants done and as byproducts he gains confidence a feeling of inner security self-reliance and more income mr p doesn't get the things done he wants done because he won't act as byproducts he loses confidence in himself destroys his self-reliance lives in mediocrity mr activationist does mr passivationist is going to do but doesn't everyone wants to be an activationist so let's get the action habit a lot of passivationists got that way because they insisted on waiting until everything was one hundred percent favorable before they took action perfection is highly desirable but nothing man-made or man-designed

is or can be absolutely perfect so to wait for the perfect set of conditions is to wait forever here are three case histories that show how three persons reacted to conditions case number one why gn hasn't married mr gn is now in his late thirties is well educated works as an accountant and lives alone in chicago gn's big desire is to get married he wants love companionship a home children the works gn has been close to marriage once he was only one day away but each time he has been near marriage he discovers something wrong

with the girl he's about to marry just in time before i made an awful mistake one instance stands out two years ago gn thought he finally had met just the right girl she was attractive pleasant intelligent but gn had to be absolutely sure that marriage was the right thing as they were discussing marriage plans one evening the future mrs gn made a few remarks that bothered gn so to make certain he was marrying the right girl gn drew up a four-page document of stipulations she was to agree to before they got married the document neatly

typed and looking very legal covered every segment of living gn could think of there was one section on religion what church they would go to how often they would attend how much they would donate another section covered children how many and when in detail gn outlined the kind of friends they would have his future wife's employment status where they would live how their income would be spent to finish the document gn devoted half a page to listing specific habits the girl must break or must acquire this covered such habits as smoking drinking makeup entertainment and

so on when gn's prospective bride reviewed his ultimatum she did what you would expect she sent it back with a note saying the usual marriage clause for better or for worse is good enough for everyone else and it's good enough for me the whole thing is off as gn was relating his experience to me he said worriedly now what was so wrong in writing out this agreement after all marriage is a big step you can't be too careful but gn was wrong you can be too careful too cautious not only in planning a marriage but

in planning anything in the world where things get done the standards can be too high gn's approach to marriage was very much like his approach to his work his savings his friendships everything else the test of a successful person is not an ability to eliminate all problems before they arise but to meet and work out difficulties when they do arise we must be willing to make an intelligent compromise with perfection lest we wait forever before taking action it's still good advice to cross bridges as we come to them case number two why jm lives in

a new home in every big decision the mind battles with itself to act or not to act to do or not to do here's how one young fellow elected to act and reaped big rewards jm's situation is similar to that of a million other young men he is in his 20s has a wife and child and still has only a modest income mr and mrs jm lived in a small apartment both wanted a new home they wanted the advantage of more space cleaner surroundings a place for the youngster to play and a chance to build

up equity in their own property but there was a hitch to buying a new home the down payment one day as jm was writing next month's rent check he became very disgusted with himself he observed that the rent payment was as much as monthly payments on a new home jm called his wife and said how would you like to buy a new home next week what's got into you she asked why make jokes you know we can't we haven't even got the money for the down payment but jm was determined there are hundreds of thousands

of couples like us who are going to buy a new home someday but only about half of them ever do something always comes up to stop them we're going to buy a home i don't know yet how we'll raise the down payment but we will well the next week they found a house they both liked quite unpretentious but nice for one thousand two hundred dollars down now the obstacle was to find a way to raise one thousand two hundred dollars jm knew he couldn't borrow it through the usual channels for this would encumber his credit

so that he couldn't get a mortgage for the sale price where there's a will there's always a way suddenly jm got a brainstorm why not contact the builder and work out a private loan arrangement for one thousand two hundred dollars this jm did at first the builder was called to the idea but jm persisted finally it was agreed the builder would in effect advance jm the one thousand two hundred dollars to be repaid at one hundred dollars a month plus interest now all jm had to do was to find one hundred dollars a month mr

and mrs jm sharpened their pencils and figured out a way to cut expenditures twenty five dollars a month but that still left seventy five dollars which jm would have to raise each month then jm got another idea the next morning he went in to see his boss he explained to his employer what he was doing his boss was glad to learn that jm was going to buy a new home then jm said look mr t to work this deal out i've got to earn at least seventy five dollars more each month now i know jm

continued you'll give me a raise when you feel that i deserve it what i want now is just a chance to earn more money there are some things around here that could best be done on weekends will you make it possible for me to work then the employer was impressed with jm's sincerity and ambition he proposed a way for jm to work 10 extra hours each weekend and mr and mrs jm moved into their new home one the resolution to take action ignited jm's mind to think of ways to accomplish his goal two jm gained

tremendously in new confidence it will be much easier for him to take action in other major situations three jm provided his wife and child the living standard they deserved had he waited postponed buying the house until conditions were perfect there is a real possibility they never would have owned a home of their own case number three cd wanted to start his own business but mr cd represents another case of what happens to big ideas when one waits until conditions are perfect before taking action on those ideas shortly after world war ii cd got a job

with the customs division of the us post office department he liked his work but after five years he became dissatisfied with the confinement regular hours low pay and the seniority system with its relatively narrow chances for advancement then he got an idea he had learned a great deal about what it takes to be a successful importer why not set himself up in the business of importing low-cost gift items and toys cd knew many successful importers who didn't have his knowledge of the ins and outs of this business it's been 10 years now since cd decided

he wanted to go into business for himself but today he's still working for the customs office why well every time cd was just about ready to cut loose on his own something happened that stopped him from taking action lack of money economic recession new baby need for temporary security trade restrictions and more excuses all served as reasons for waiting for postponing real truth is that cd let himself develop into a passivationist he wanted conditions to be perfect before he took action since conditions were never perfect cd never took action here are two things to do

to help you avoid the costly mistake of waiting until conditions are perfect before you act one expect future obstacles and difficulties every venture presents risks problems and uncertainties let's suppose you wanted to drive your car from chicago to los angeles but you insisted on waiting until you had absolute assurance that there would be no detours no motor trouble no bad weather no drunken drivers no risk of any kind when would you start never in planning your trip to los angeles it makes sense to map your route check your car in other ways to eliminate as

much risk as possible before you start but you can't eliminate all risks two meet problems and obstacles as they arise the test of a successful person is not the ability to eliminate all problems before he takes action but rather the ability to find solutions to difficulties when he encounters them in business marriage or in any activity cross bridges when you come to them we can't buy an insurance policy against all problems make up your mind to do something about your ideas five or six years ago a very capable professor told me of his plans for

writing a book a biography of a controversial personality of a few decades ago his ideas were more than interesting they were alive fascinating the professor knew what he wanted to say and he had the skill and energy to say it the project was destined to reward him with much inner satisfaction prestige and money last spring i saw my friend again and i innocently asked him whether the book was about finished this was a blunder it opened up an old wound no he hadn't written the book he struggled with himself for a moment as if he

were debating with himself whether to explain why finally he explained that he had been too busy he had more responsibilities and just couldn't get to it in reality what the professor had done was to bury the idea deep in his mental graveyard he let his mind grow negative thoughts he visualized the tremendous work and sacrifices that would be involved he saw all sorts of reasons why the project would fail ideas are important let's make no mistake about that we must have ideas to create and improve anything success shuns the man who lacks ideas but let's

make no mistakes about this point either ideas in themselves are not enough that idea for getting more business for simplifying work procedures is a value only when it is acted upon every day thousands of people bury good ideas because they are afraid to act on them and afterward the ghosts of those ideas come back to haunt them put these two thoughts deep in your mind first give your ideas value by acting on them regardless of how good the idea unless you do something with it you gain nothing second act on your ideas and gain mind

tranquility someone once said that the saddest words of tongue or pen are these it might have been every day you hear someone saying something like had i gone into business seven years ago i'd sure be sitting pretty now or i had a hunch it would work out like that i wish i had done something about it a good idea if not acted upon produces terrible psychological pain but a good idea acted upon brings enormous mental satisfaction got a good idea then do something about it use action to cure fear and gain confidence here's something to

remember action feeds and strengthens confidence inaction in all forms feeds fear to fight fear act to increase fear wait put off postpone once i heard a young paratrooper instructor explain the jump really isn't so bad it's the waiting to jump that gets a fellow on the trip to the jump site i always try to make the time pass quickly for the men it's happened more than once that a trainee thought too much about what may happen and panicked if we can't get him to jump the next trip he's through as a paratrooper instead of gaining

confidence the longer he postpones the jump the more scared he gets waiting even makes the experts nervous time magazine reported that edward r murrow the nation's top newscaster perspires and is on edge just before he telecasts but once he's in action fear disappears many veteran actors experience the same sensation they agree that the only cure for stage fright is action getting right out there before the audience is the cure for dread worry fear action cures fear one evening we were visiting in a friend's home when their five-year-old boy who had been put to bed 30

minutes before cried out the youngster had been overstimulated by a science fiction film and was afraid the little green monsters were going to enter his room and kidnap him i was intrigued by the way the boy's father relieved the lad's worry he didn't say don't worry son nothing is going to get you go back to sleep instead he took positive action he made quite a show for the boy by inspecting the windows to be sure they were tight then he picked up one of the boy's plastic guns and put it on a table beside his

bed and said billy here's a gun for you just in case the little fellow had a look of complete relief four minutes later he was fast asleep many physicians give neutral harmless medication to people who insist they've got to have something to make them sleep to lots of folks the act of swallowing a pill even though unknown to them the pill has no medication makes them feel better it's perfectly natural to experience fear in one of many forms but the usual methods of combating it simply don't work i've been with many salesmen who tried to

cure fear which creeps up on even the most experienced of them at times by going around the block a few times or drinking extra coffee but these things don't get results the way to combat that kind of fear yes any kind of fear yes any kind of fear is action dread making a certain phone call make it and dread disappears put it off and it will get harder and harder to make dread going to a doctor for a checkup go and your worry vanishes chances are nothing serious is wrong with you and if there is

you know where you stand put off that checkup and you feed your fear until it may grow so strong that you actually are sick dread discussing a problem with your superior discuss it and discover how those worries are conquered build confidence destroy fear through action start your mental engine mechanically an aspiring young writer who wasn't experiencing success made this confession my trouble is whole days and weeks pass that i can't get a thing written you see he remarked writing is creative you've got to be inspired your spirit must move you true writing is creative but

here's how another creative man also a writer explained his secret for producing quantities of successful material i use a mind force technique he began i've got deadlines to meet and i can't wait for my spirit to move me i've got to move my spirit here's how my method works i make myself sit down at my desk then i pick up a pencil and go through mechanical motions of writing i put down anything i doodle i get my fingers and arm in motion and sooner or later without my being conscious of it my mind gets on

the right track sometimes of course i get ideas out of the blue when i'm not trying to write he went on but these are just bonuses most of the good ideas come from just getting to work action must precede action that's a law of nature nothing starts itself not even the dozens of mechanical gadgets we use daily your home is heated automatically but you must select take action the temperature you want your car shifts gears automatically only after you have set the right lever the same principle applies to mind action you get your mind in

gear to make it produce for you a young branch sales manager for a door-to-door sales organization explained how he trained his sales force the mechanical way to start each day earlier and more successfully there's a tremendous resistance to the door-to-door salesman as anyone who has ever sold house to house knows he commented and it's hard even for the veteran salesman to make that first call in the morning he knows the odds are pretty good that he'll get some pretty rough treatment before the day is over so it's natural for him to put off getting started

in the morning he'll drink a couple of extra cups of coffee maybe cruise around the neighborhood a while or do a dozen little things to postpone that first call i train each new man this way i explained to him that the only way to start is to start don't deliberate don't postpone getting started do this just park your car get your sample case walk to the door ring the bell smile say good morning and make your presentation all mechanically without a lot of conscious thought start making calls this way and you break the ice by

the second or third call your mind is sharp and your presentations become effective a humorist once said the most difficult problem in life was getting out of a warm bed into a cold room and he had a point the longer you lie there and think how unpleasant it will be to get up the more difficult it becomes even in such a simple operation as this mechanical action just throwing off the covers and putting your feet on the floor defeats dread the point is clear people who get things done in this world don't wait for the

spirit to move them they move the spirit try these two exercises one use the mechanical way to accomplish simple but sometimes unpleasant business and household chores rather than think about the unpleasant features of the task jump right in and get going without a lot of deliberation perhaps the most unpleasant household task to most women is washing dishes my mother is no exception but she has mastered a mechanical approach to dispensing with this task quickly so she can return to things she likes to do as she leaves the table she always mechanically picks up several dishes

and without thinking about the task ahead just get started in just a few minutes she is through doesn't this beat stacking dishes and dreading the unpleasant inevitable do this today pick the one thing you like to do least then without letting yourself deliberate on or dread the task do it that's the most efficient way to handle chores two next use the mechanical way to create ideas map out plans solve problems and do other work that requires top mental performance rather than wait for the spirit to move you sit down and move your spirit here's a

special technique guaranteed to help you use a pencil and paper a simple pencil is the greatest concentration tool money can buy if i had to choose between an ultra fancy deeply carpeted beautifully decorated soundproof office and a pencil and paper i'd choose the pencil and paper every time with a pencil and paper you can tie your mind to a problem when you write a thought on paper your full attention is automatically focused on that thought that's because the mind is not designed to think one thought and write another at the same time when you write

on paper you write on your mind too tests prove conclusively that you remember something much longer and much more exactly if you write the thought on paper and once you master the pencil and paper technique for concentration you can think in noisy or other distracting situations when you want to think start writing or doodling or diagramming it's an excellent way to move your spirit now is the magic word of success tomorrow next week later sometime someday often is not our synonyms for the failure word never lots of good dreams never come true because we say

i'll start someday when we should say i'll start now right now take one example saving money just about everybody agrees that saving money is a good idea but just because it's a good idea doesn't mean many folks follow an organized savings and investment program many people have intentions to save but only relatively few act on these intentions here's how one young couple got into gear with a regular wealth accumulation program bill's take-home income was one thousand dollars a month but he and his wife janet spent one thousand dollars each month too both wanted to save

but there were always reasons why they felt they couldn't begin for years they had promised themselves we'll start when we get a raise when we've caught up with our installments when we're over the hump next month next year finally janet got disgusted with their failure to save she said to bill look do we want to save or don't we he replied of course we do but you know as well as i we can't put aside anything now but for once janet was in a do or die mood we've been telling ourselves for years we're going

to start a savings program we don't save because we think we can't now let's start thinking we can i saw an ad today that shows if we'd save just one hundred dollars a month in 15 years we'd have eighteen thousand dollars plus six thousand six hundred dollars accumulated interest the ad also said it's easier to spend what's left over after savings than it is to save what's left over after spending if your game let's start with ten percent of your pay and let's save off the top we may eat crackers and milk before the months

up but if we have to we will bill and janet were cramped for a few months but soon they were adjusted to their new budget now they feel it's just as much fun to spend money on savings as it is to spend it on something else want to write a note to a friend do it now got an idea you think would help your business present it now live the advice of benjamin franklin don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today remember thinking in terms of now gets things accomplished but thinking in terms

of someday or some time usually means failure one day i stopped in to see an old business friend she had just returned from a conference with several of her executives the moment i looked at her i could tell there was something she wanted to get off her chest she had the look of a woman who had suffered real disappointment you know she said i called that conference this morning because i wanted some help on a proposed policy change but what kind of help did i get i had six men in there and only one of

them had anything to contribute two others talked but what they said was just an echo of what i had said it was like talking with a bunch of vegetables i confess it's hard for me to find out what those fellows think really she went on you'd think those fellows would speak up and let me know what they think after all it directly affects each of them my friend didn't get help in the conference but had you roamed the hall after the meeting broke up you'd have heard her junior associates making remarks like i felt like

saying why didn't someone suggest i don't think we ought to go ahead so often the vegetables those who have nothing to say in the conference room are full of talk after the meeting when what they've got to say won't make any difference they're suddenly full of life when it's too late business executives want comment the fellow who hides his light under a bushel hurts himself get the speak up habit each time you speak up you strengthen yourself come forward with your constructive ideas we all know how many college students prepare their assignments with fine intentions

joe college sets aside a whole evening for some concentrated study here is a general pattern of how too often the evening is spent joe's ready to begin studying at 7 p.m but his dinner seems just a bit heavy so he decides to get in a little tv a little turns out to be an hour's worth since the program was pretty good at 8 pm he sits down at his desk but gets right back up because he just remembered he promised to call his girl this shoots another 40 minutes he hadn't talked to her all day

an incoming call takes another 20 minutes on his way back to his desk joe is drawn into a ping pong game another hour gone the ping-pong makes him feel sweaty so he takes a shower next he needs a snack the combined effect of the ping pong in the shower have made him hungry and so the evening planned with good intentions drifts away finally at 1am he opens the book but he's too sleepy to absorb the subject finally he surrenders completely next morning he tells the professor i hope you give me a break i studied till

2 a.m for this exam joe college didn't get into action because he spent too much time getting ready to get into action and joe college isn't alone in being a victim of over preparedness joe salesman joe executive joe professional worker josephine housewife they all often try to build strength and get ready with office chats coffee breaks sharpening pencils reading personal business getting the desk cleared off tv and dozens of other little escape devices but there's a way to break this habit tell yourself i'm in condition right now to begin i can't gain a thing by

putting it off i'll use the get ready time and energy to get going instead what we want more than anything else in our business an executive in a machine tool company said in an address to a group of sales executives is more people who get sound ideas and then push them through there's not one job in our production and marketing setup that can't be done better a lot better i don't want to infer that we're not doing a good job now we are but like all progressive companies we need new products new markets new and

more efficient ways of doing things we depend on people with initiative they're the ball carriers on our team initiative is a special kind of action it's doing something worthwhile without being told to do it the person with initiative has a standing invitation to join the high income brackets in every business and profession the director of marketing research in a medium-sized drug manufacturing firm told me how he got to be a director of marketing research it's a good lesson in the power of initiative five years ago i got an idea he told me i was working

then as a sort of missionary salesman calling on wholesalers i discovered that one thing we lacked was facts about the consumers we wanted to buy our drug line i talked about the need for market research to everyone here at first i got only deaf ears because management couldn't see the need for it i was pretty much obsessed with the idea of marketing research in our company so i sort of took the bull by the horns i asked and got permission to prepare a monthly report on facts of drug marketing i collected information from every source

i could find i kept on with this and pretty soon management and the other salesman found themselves really interested in what i was doing just one year after i started crusading for research i was relieved of my regular duties and asked to concentrate on developing my ideas the rest he continued was just natural development now i've got two assistants a secretary and about three times the yearly income i had five years ago here are two special exercises for developing the initiative habit one be a crusader when you see something that you believe ought to be

done pick up the ball and run a new subdivision not far from where i live was about two-thirds built when expansion came almost to a standstill a few families with a don't care attitude had moved in this prompted several of the finest families in the area to sell their homes at a loss and move on as so often happens the do care families caught the don't care attitude from their don't care neighbors everyone that is except harry l harry did care and he decided to crusade for a fine neighborhood harry began by calling together some

friends he pointed out that this subdivision had tremendous potential but that something must be done now or the area would soon be a strictly second-class neighborhood harry's enthusiasm and initiative quickly won support soon there were clean up the vacant lots projects garden clubs were organized a massive tree planting project was started a playground was built for the youngsters a community swimming pool was constructed the don't care families became eager supporters the whole subdivision took on new life and new sparkle it's really a pleasure now to drive through that community it shows what a crusader can

do do you feel your business should develop a new department make a new product or in some other way expand well then crusade for it feel your church needs a new building crusade for it would you like your children's school to have better equipment crusade and get it for them and you can bank on this while crusades may start out as one-man crusades if the idea behind the enterprise is good soon you'll have lots of support be an activationist and crusade 2. be a volunteer each of us has been in situations in which we wanted

to volunteer for some activity but didn't why because of fear not fear that we couldn't accomplish the task but rather fear of what our associates would say the fear of being laughed at of being called an eager beaver of being accused of bucking for a raise holds many people back it's natural to want to belong to be accepted to have group approval but ask yourself which group do i want to have except me the group that laughs because it is secretly jealous or the group that is making progress by doing things the right choice is

obvious the volunteer stands out he receives special attention most important of all he gives himself an opportunity to show he has special ability and ambition by volunteering by all means volunteer for those special assignments think about the leaders you know in business the military your community do they fit the description of activationist or would you say they are passivationists ten times out of ten they're activationists people who do things the fellow who stands on the sidelines who holds off who is passive does not lead but the doer the fellow who thinks action finds others want

to follow him people place confidence in the fellow who acts they naturally assume he knows what he is doing i've never heard anyone complimented and praised because he doesn't disturb anyone he doesn't take action or he waits until he's told what to do have you grow the action habit practice these key points one be an activationist be someone who does things be a doer not a donor two don't wait until conditions are perfect they never will be expect future obstacles and difficulties and solve them as they arise three remember ideas alone won't bring success ideas

have value only when you act upon them four use action to cure fear and gain confidence do what you fear and fear disappears just try it and see five start your mental engine mechanically don't wait for the spirit to move you take action dig in and you move the spirit six think in terms of now tomorrow next week later and similar words often are synonymous with the failure word never bn i'm starting right now kind of person seven get down to business pronto don't waste time getting ready to act start acting instead eight seize the

initiative be a crusader pick up the ball and run be a volunteer show that you have ability and ambition to do get in gear and go chapter 11 how to turn defeat into victory social workers and others who work on skid row find many differences in age religious faith education and background among the tragic souls who have dropped into america's gutters some of these citizens are surprisingly young others are old a sprinkling are college graduates a few have essentially no formal education some are married others are not but the people on skid row do have

something in common each one is defeated whipped beaten each one has encountered situations that conquered him each is eager even anxious to tell you about the situation that wrecked him about his own private waterloo these situations cover the waterfront of human experience from my wife ran out on me to i lost everything i had and had no place else to go to i did a couple of things that made me a social outcast so i came down here when we move up from skid row into the dominion of mr and mrs average american we see

obvious differences in living habits but again we discover that mr mediocre gives essentially the same reasons to explain his mediocrity as mr skid row gave to explain his complete collapse inside mr mediocre feels defeated he has unhealed wounds suffered in situations that beat him now he is super cautious he plods along ducking the thrill of living victoriously discontented with himself he feels beaten but tries hard to endure the sentence of mediocrity that fate has handed him he too has surrendered to defeat but in a reasonably clean socially accepted way now when we climb upstairs into

the uncrowded world of success we again discover people from every possible background corporate executives leading ministers government officials top men in every field we discover come from poor homes rich homes broken homes cotton patches cornfields and slums these people who lead every branch of our society have experienced every tough situation you can describe it is possible to match every mr skid row with a mr mediocre and a mr success on every score age intelligence background nationality you name it with one exception the one thing you can't match them on is their response to defeat when

the fellow we call mr skid row got knocked down he failed to get up again he just lay there splattered out mr mediocre got up to his knees but he crawled away and went out of sight ran in the opposite direction so he'd be sure never to take a beating again but mr success reacted differently when he got knocked down he bounced up learned a lesson forgot the beating and moved upward one of my closest friends is an exceptionally successful management consultant when you walk into his office you feel that you are really uptown the

fine furniture the carpeting the busy people the important clients all tell you his company is prosperous a cynic might say it must have taken a real con man to put across an operation like this but the cynic would be wrong it didn't take a con man and it didn't take a brilliant man or a wealthy man or a lucky man all and i hesitate to use the word all because all means so much sometimes all it took was a persistent man who never thought he was defeated behind this prosperous and respected company is the story

of a man fighting battling his way upward losing 10 years savings in his first six months in business living in his office several months because he lacked money to pay rent on an apartment turning down numerous good jobs because he wanted more to stay with his idea and make it work hearing prospects for his service say no a hundred times as often as they said yes during the seven unbelievably hard years it took him to succeed i never heard my friend complain once he'd explain dave i'm learning this is competitive business and because it's intangible

it's hard to sell but i'm learning how and he did once i told my friend that this experience must be taking a lot out of him but he replied no it's not taking something out of me it's putting something into me instead check the lives of the people in who's who in america and you'll find that those who have succeeded in a major way have been pounded by losing situations each person in this elite corps of successful men has encountered opposition discouragement setbacks personal misfortune read the biographies and autobiographies of great people and again you

discover that each of these people could have surrendered to setbacks many times or do this learn the background of the president of your company or the mayor of your city or select any person you consider a real success when you probe you'll discover the individual has overcome big real obstacles it is not possible to win high level success without meeting opposition hardship and setback but it is possible to use setbacks to propel you forward let's see how i saw some commercial airline statistics recently showing that there is only one fatality per 10 billion miles flown

air travel is a magnificently safe way to go these days unfortunately air accidents still occur but when they do the civil aviation administration is on the scene quickly to find out what caused the crash fragments of metal are picked up from miles around and pieced together a variety of experts reconstruct what probably happened witnesses and survivors are interviewed the investigation goes on for weeks months until the question what caused this crash is answered once the caa has the answer immediate steps are taken to prevent a similar accident from happening again if the crash was caused

by a structural defect other planes of that type must have that defect corrected or if certain instruments are found faulty corrections must be made literally hundreds of safety devices on modern aircraft have resulted from caa investigations the caa studies setbacks to pave the way to safer air travel and it's obvious that their efforts pay off doctors use setbacks to pave the way to better health and longer life often when a patient dies for an uncertain reason doctors perform a post-mortem to find out why in this way they learn more about the functioning of the human

body and lives of other people are saved a sales executive friend of mine devotes one entire sales meeting a month to helping his salesmen discover why they lost important sales the lost sale is reconstructed and carefully examined in this way the salesman learns how to avoid losing similar sales in the future the football coach who wins more games than he loses goes over the details of each game with his team to point out their mistakes some coaches have movies made of each game so the team can literally see its bad moves the purpose to play

the next game better caa officials successful sales executives physicians football coaches and professionals in every field follow this success principle salvage something from every setback when a setback hits us personally our first impulse is often to become so emotionally upset that we fail to learn the lesson professors know that a student's reaction to a failing grade provides a clue to his success potential when i was a professor at wayne state university in detroit some years ago i had no choice but to turn in a failing grade for a graduating senior this was a real blow

to the student he had already made graduation plans and canceling was embarrassing he was left with two alternatives retake and pass the course and receive his degree at a later graduation or quit school without earning a degree i expected that the student would be disappointed perhaps even somewhat belligerent when he learned of his setback i was right after i explained that his work was far below passing standards the student admitted that he hadn't put forth a serious effort in the course but he continued my past record is at least average can't you consider that i

pointed out that i could not because we measure performance one course at a time i added that rigid academic codes prohibited changing grades for any reason other than an honest mistake on the part of the professor then the student realizing that all avenues toward a grade change were closed became quite angry professor he said i could name fifty people in this city who succeeded in a big way without taking this course or even knowing about it what's so blasted important about this course why should a few bad marks in one course keep me from getting

my degree thank god he added they don't look at things on the outside like you professors do after that remark i paused for about 45 seconds i've learned that when you've been sniped at one fine way to prevent a war of words is to take a long pause before answering then i said to my student friend much of what you say is true there are many many highly successful people who know absolutely nothing about the subject matter in this course and it is possible for you to win success without this knowledge in the total scheme

of life this course content won't make or break you but your attitude toward this course may what do you mean by that he asked just this i answered outside they grade you just as we grade you what counts there just as what counts here is doing the job outside they won't promote you or pay you more for doing second class work i paused again to make certain the point got through then i said may i make a suggestion you're highly disappointed now i can appreciate how you feel and i don't think any less of you

if you're a little sore at me but look at this experience positively there's a tremendously important lesson here if you don't produce you don't get where you want to go learn this lesson and five years from now you'll regard it as one of the most profitable lessons you learned in all the time you invested here i was glad when i learned a few days later that this student had re-enrolled for the course this time he passed with flying colors afterward he made a special call to see me to let me know how much he had

appreciated our earlier discussion i learned something from flunking your course the first time he said it may sound odd but you know professor now i'm glad i did not pass the first time we can turn setbacks into victories find the lesson apply it and then look back on defeat and smile moviegoers will never forget the great lionel barrymore in 1936 mr barrymore broke his hip the fracture never healed most people thought mr barrymore was finished but not mr barrymore he used the setback to pave the way to even greater acting success for the next 18

years despite pain that never abated he played dozens of successful roles in a wheelchair on march 15 1945 w colvin williams was walking behind a tank in france the tank hit a mine exploded and permanently blinded mr williams but this didn't stop mr williams from pursuing his goal to be a minister and counselor when he was graduated from college and with honors too mr williams said he thought his blindness will actually be an asset in my career i can never judge my appearances therefore i can always give a person a second chance my blindness keeps

me from cutting myself off from a person because of the way he looks i want to be the kind of person to whom anyone can come and feel secure to express himself isn't that a magnificent living example of cruel bitter defeat being turned into victory defeat is only a state of mind and nothing more one of my friends who is a substantial and successful investor in the stock market carefully appraises each investment decision in the light of his past experiences one time he told me when i first started investing 15 years ago i really got

singed a few times like most amateurs i wanted to get rich quick instead i got broke quick but that didn't stop me i knew the basic strengths of the economy and that over the long pole well-selected stocks are about the best investment anybody can make so i just regarded those first bad investments as part of the cost of my education he left on the other hand i know a number of people who having made an unwise investment or two are strictly anti-securities rather than analyze their mistakes and join in a good thing they reach the

completely false conclusion that investing in common stocks is just a form of gambling and sooner or later everybody loses decide right now to salvage something from every setback next time things seem to go wrong on the job or at home calm down and find out what caused the trouble this is the way to avoid making the same error twice being licked is valuable if we learn from it we human beings are curious creatures we're quick to accept full credit for our victories when we win we want the world to know about it it's natural to

want others to look at you and say there goes the fellow who did such and such but human beings are equally quick to blame someone else for each setback it's natural for salesmen to blame customers when sales are lost it's natural for executives to blame employees or other executives when things get out of gear it's natural for husbands to blame wives and wives to blame husbands for quarrels and family problems it is true that in this complex world others may trip us but it is also true that more often than not we trip ourselves we

lose because of personal inadequacy some personal mistake condition yourself for success this way remind yourself that you want to be as nearly perfect as is humanly possible be objective put yourself in a glass tube and look at yourself as a disinterested third party would look at the situation see if you have a weakness that you've never noticed before if you have take action to correct it many people become so accustomed to themselves that they fail to see ways for improvement the great metropolitan opera star risa stevens said in reader's digest july 1955 that at the

unhappiest moment of her life she received the best advice she's ever had early in her career miss stevens lost the metropolitan opera auditions of the air after losing ms stevens was bitter i longed to hear she said that my voice was really better than the other girls that the verdict was grossly unfair that i had just lacked the right connections to win but miss stevens's teacher didn't coddle her instead she said to ms stevens my dear have the courage to face your faults much as i wanted to fall back on self-pity continued miss stevens they

those words kept coming back to me that night they woke me i couldn't sleep until i faced my shortcomings lying there in the dark i asked myself why did i fail how can i win next time and i admitted to myself that my voice range was not as good as it had to be that i had to perfect my languages that i must learn more roles ms stevens went on to say how facing her faults not only helped her to succeed on stage but also helped her win more friends and develop a more pleasing personality

being self-critical is constructive it helps you to build the personal strength and efficiency needed for success blaming others is destructive you gain absolutely nothing from proving that someone else is wrong be constructively self-critical don't run away from inadequacies be like the real professionals they seek out their faults and weaknesses then correct them that's what makes them professionals don't of course try to find your faults so you can say to yourself here's another reason i'm a loser instead view your mistakes as here's another way to make me a bigger winner the great orville hubbard once said

a failure is a man who has blundered but is not able to cash in on the experience often we blame luck for our setbacks we say well that's the way the ball bounces and let it go at that but stop and think balls don't bounce in certain ways for uncertain reasons the bounce of a ball is determined by three things the ball the way it is thrown and the surface it strikes definite physical laws explain the bounce of a ball not luck suppose the caa were to issue a report saying we're sorry the crash occurred

but folks that's just the way the ball bounces you'd say it's time to get a new caa or suppose a doctor explained to a relative i'm awfully sorry i don't know what happened it's just one of those things you'd switch doctors when you or another relative became ill the that's the way the ball bounces approach teaches us nothing we are no better prepared to avoid a duplication of the mistake the next time we face a similar situation the football coach who takes saturday's loss with well boys that's the way the ball bounces isn't helping his

team avoid the same mistakes the next saturday orville hubbard mayor of dearborn michigan for 17 consecutive years is one of the nation's most colorful and respected urban administrators for 10 years prior to becoming mayor of dearborn mr hubbard could have used the bad luck excuse and stepped out of politics before becoming a perennial winner orville hubbard was unlucky three times in trying to get the nomination for mayor three times he tried to get the nomination for state senator but failed once he was beaten in a race for a congressional nomination but orville hubbard studied these

setbacks he regarded them as part of his political education and today he is one of the sharpest most unbeatable politicians in local government instead of blaming luck research those setbacks if you lose learn lots of folks go through life explaining their mediocrity with hard luck tough luck sour luck bad luck these people are still like children immature searching for sympathy without realizing it they failed to see opportunities to grow bigger stronger more self-reliant stop blaming luck blaming luck never got anyone where he wanted to go a friend who is a literary consultant writer and critic

chatted with me recently about what it takes to be a successful writer a lot of would-be writers he explained simply aren't serious about wanting to write they try for a little while but give it up when they discover there is real work involved i haven't much patience with these people because they're looking for a shortcut and there just isn't one but he went on i don't want to imply that pure persistence is enough the plain truth is often it isn't just now i'm working with a fellow who's written 62 short fiction pieces but hasn't sold

one obviously he is persistent in his goal to become a writer but this fellow's problem is that he uses the same basic approach in everything he writes he's developed a hard format for his stories he has never experimented with his material his plots and characters and perhaps even style what i'm trying to do now is to get this client to try some new approaches and some new techniques he has ability and if he'll do some experimenting i'm sure he'll sell much of what he writes but until he does he'll just go on receiving one rejection

slip after another the advice of the literary consultant is good we must have persistence but persistence is only one of the ingredients of victory we can try and try and try and try and try again and still fail unless we combine persistence with experimentation edison is credited with being one of america's most persistent scientists it's reported that he conducted thousands of experiments before he invented the electric light bulb but note edison conducted experiments he persisted in his goal to develop a light bulb but he made that persistence pay off by blending it with experimentation persisting

in one way is not a guarantee of victory but persistence blended with experimentation does guarantee success recently i noticed an article about the continuous search for oil it said that oil companies study the rock formations carefully before they drill a well yet despite their scientific analysis seven out of eight wells drilled turn out to be dry holes oil companies are persistent in their search for oil not by digging one hole to ridiculous depths but rather by experimenting with a new well when good judgment says the first well won't produce many ambitious people go through life

with admirable persistence and show of ambition but they fail to succeed because they don't experiment with new approaches stay with your goal don't waver an inch from it but don't beat your head against a wall if you aren't getting results try a new approach people who have bulldog persistence who can grab something and not let go have an essential success quality here are two suggestions for developing greater power to experiment the ingredient that when blended with persistence gets results one tell yourself there is a way all thoughts are magnetic as soon as you tell yourself

i'm beaten there's no way to conquer this problem negative thoughts are attracted and each of these helps convince you that you are right that you are whipped believe instead there is a way to solve this problem and positive thoughts rush into your mind to help you find a solution it's believing there is a way that is important marriage counselors report no success in saving marriages until one and preferably both partners see that it is possible to win back happiness psychologists and social workers say an alcoholic is doomed to alcoholism until he believes he can beat

his thirst this year thousands of new businesses are being formed five years from now only a small portion will be still in operation most of those who fail will say competition was just too much we had no choice but to quit the real problem is that when most people hit the tar things are rough barrier they think only defeat and so they are defeated when you believe there is a way you automatically convert negative energy let's quit let's go back into positive energy let's keep going let's move ahead a problem a difficulty becomes unsolvable only

when you think it is unsolvable attract solutions by believing solutions are possible refuse simply refuse to even let yourself say or think that it's impossible 2. back off and start afresh often we stay so close to a problem for so long that we can't see new solutions or new approaches an engineer friend was retained a few weeks ago to design a distinctly new aluminum structure in fact nothing even resembling it had even been developed or designed before i saw him just a few days ago and i asked him how his new building was coming along

not too well he replied i guess i haven't spent enough time with my garden this summer when i live with tough design problems for a long stretch i've got to get away and let some new ideas soak in you'd be surprised he continued to know how many engineering ideas come to me when i'm just sitting beside a tree holding a water hose on the grass president eisenhower once was asked at a news conference why he took so many weekend vacations his answer is good advice for everybody who wants to maximize his creative ability mr eisenhower

said i do not believe that any individual whether he is running general motors or the united states of america can do the best job just by sitting at a desk and putting his face in a bunch of papers actually the president ought to be trying to keep his mind free of inconsequential details and doing his own thinking on the basic principles and factors so that he can make clear and better judgments a former business associate of mine takes a 72-hour out-of-town vacation with his wife once each month he found this backing off and starting afresh

increased his mental efficiency thereby making him more valuable to his clients when you hit a snag don't throw up the whole project instead back off get mentally refreshed try something as simple as playing some music or taking a walk or a short nap then when you tackle it again the solution often comes almost before you know it seeing the good side pays off in big situations too a young man told me how he concentrated on seeing the good side when he lost his job he explained it this way i was working for a large credit

reporting company one day i was given short notice to leave there was an economy wave on and they dismissed the employees who were least valuable to the company the job didn't pay too well but by the standards i grew up with it was pretty good i really felt terrible for a few hours but then i decided to look at being bounced as a blessing in disguise i really didn't like the job much and had i stayed there i'd never have gone far now i had a chance to find something i really liked to do it

wasn't long until i found a job that i liked a lot better that paid more money too being fired from that credit company was the best thing that ever happened to me remember you see in any situation what you expect to see see the good side and conquer defeat all things do work together for good if you'll just develop clear vision in quick review the difference between success and failure is found in one's attitudes towards setbacks handicaps discouragements and other disappointing situations five guideposts to help you turn defeat into victory are one study setbacks to

pave your way to success when you lose learn and then go on to win next time two have the courage to be your own constructive critic seek out your faults and weaknesses and then correct them this makes you a professional three stop blaming luck research every setback find out what went wrong remember blaming luck never got anyone where he wanted to go 4. blend persistence with experimentation stay with your goal but don't beat your head against a stone wall try new approaches experiment five remember there is a good side in every situation find it see

the good side and whip discouragement chapter 12 use goals to help you grow every bit of human progress our inventions big and little our medical discoveries our engineering triumphs our business successes were first visualized before they became realities baby moons circle the earth not because of accidental discoveries but because scientists set conquer space as a goal a goal is an objective a purpose a goal is more than a dream it's a dream being acted upon a goal is more than a hazy oh i wish i could a goal is a clear this is what i'm

working toward nothing happens no forward steps are taken until a goal is established without goals individuals just wander through life they stumble along never knowing where they are going so they never get anywhere goals are as essential to success as air is to life no one ever stumbles into success without a goal no one ever lives without air get a clear fix on where you want to go dave mahoney rose from a low paying job in the mail room of an advertising agency to an agency vice president at 27 and president of the good humor

company at 33 this is what he says about goals the important thing is not where you were or where you are but where you want to get the progressive corporation plans company goals 10 to 15 years ahead executives who manage leading businesses must ask where do we want our company to be 10 years from now then they gauge their efforts accordingly new plant capacity is built not for today's needs but rather for needs five to ten years in the future research is undertaken to develop products that won't appear for a decade or longer the modern

corporation does not leave its future to chance should you each of us can learn a precious lesson from the forward-looking business we can and should plan at least 10 years ahead you must form an image now of the person you want to be ten years from now if you are to become that image this is a critical thought just as the business that neglects to plan ahead will be just another business if it even survives the individual who fails to set long-range goals will most certainly be just another person lost in life shuffle without goals

we cannot grow let me share with you an example of why we must have long-run goals to achieve real success just last week a young man let me call him fb came to me with a career problem fb looked well mannered and intelligent he was single and had finished college four years ago we talked for a while about what he was doing now his education his aptitudes and general background then i said to him you came to see me for help on making a job change what kind of job are you looking for well he

said that's what i came to see you about i don't know what i want to do his problem of course was a very common one but i realized that just to arrange for the young man to have interviews with several possible employers would not help him trial and error is a pretty poor way to select a career with dozens of career possibilities the odds of stumbling into the right choice are several dozen to one i knew i had to help fbe see that before he starts going someplace career-wise he's got to know where that someplace

is so i said let's look at your career plan from this angle will you describe for me your image of yourself 10 years from now fb obviously studying the question finally said well i guess i want what just about everyone else wants a good job that pays well and a nice home really though he continued i haven't given it too much thought this i assured him was quite natural i went on to explain that his approach to selecting a career was like going to an airline ticket counter and saying give me a ticket the people

selling the tickets just can't help you unless you give them a destination so i said and i can't help you find a job until i know what your destination is and only you can tell me that this jarred fb into thinking we spent the next two hours not talking about the merits of different kinds of jobs but rather discussing how to set goals fb learned i believe the most important lesson in career planning before you start out know where you want to go like the progressive corporation plan ahead you are in a sense a business

unit your talent skills and abilities are your products you want to develop your products so they command the highest possible price forward planning will do it here are two steps that will help first visualize your future in terms of three departments work home and social dividing your life this way keeps you from becoming confused prevents conflicts helps you look at the whole picture second demand of yourself clear precise answers to these questions what do i want to accomplish with my life what do i want to be and what does it take to satisfy me using

this planning guide will help an image of me 10 years from now 10 years planning guide a work department 10 years from now one what income level do i want to attain two what level of responsibility do i seek three how much authority do i want to command for what prestige do i expect to gain from my work b home department ten years from now one what kind of standard of living do i want to provide for my family and myself two what kind of house do i want to live in three what kind of

vacations do i want to take four what financial support do i want to give my children in their early adult years c social department ten years from now one what kinds of friends do i want to have two what social groups do i want to join three what community leadership positions would i like to hold four what worthwhile causes do i want to champion a few years ago my young son insisted the two of us build a doghouse for peanut an intelligent pup of dubious pedigree and my son's pride and joy his persistence and enthusiasm

won so we proceeded to build a home peanut could call her own our combined carpentry talent equaled zero and the end product clearly reflected that fact shortly afterward a good friend stopped by and upon seeing what we had done asked what's that you've stuck up there among the trees that's not a dog house is it i replied that it was then he pointed out just a few of our mistakes and summed it all up with why didn't you get a plan nobody these days builds a doghouse without a blueprint and please as you visualize your

future don't be afraid to be blue sky people these days are measured by the size of their dreams no one accomplishes more than he sets out to accomplish so visualize a big future here is a word for word excerpt from the life plan of one of my former trainees listen to it note how well this fellow visualized his home future as he wrote this it is obvious he really saw himself in the future my home goal is to own a country estate the house will be of the typical southern manor type two stories white columns

and all we will have the grounds fenced in and probably will have a fish pond or two on the place as my wife and i both enjoy fishing we will keep our doberman kennels back of the house somewhere the thing i have always wanted is a long winding driveway with trees lining each side but a house is not necessarily a home i am going to do everything i can to make our house more than just a place to eat and sleep of course we do not intend to leave god out of our plans and throughout

the years we will spend a certain amount of time in church activities ten years from now i want to be in a position to take a family cruise around the world i would like very much to do this before the family gets scattered all over the world by marriages etc if we can't find the time to make the cruise all at once we will put it into four or five separate vacations and visit a different part of the world each year naturally all these plans in home department depend on how well things go in my

work department so i'll have to keep on the ball if i'm to accomplish all this this plan was written five years ago the trainee then owned two small dime stores now he owns five and he has purchased 17 acres for his country estate he's thinking and progressing right along toward his goal the three departments of your life are closely interrelated each depends on the others to some extent but the one department that has the most influence over the other departments is your work thousands of years ago the caveman who had the happiest home life and

was most respected by his cavemates was the fellow who was most successful as a hunter as a generalization the same point holds true today the standard of living we provide our families and the social and community respect we attain depends largely on our success in the work department not long ago the mckinsey foundation for management research conducted a large-scale study to determine what it takes to become an executive leaders in business government science and religion were questioned over and over again in different ways these researchers kept getting one answer the most important qualification for an

executive is the sheer desire to get ahead remember this advice of john wanamaker a man is not doing much until the cause he works for possesses all there is of him desire when harnessed is power failure to follow desire to do what you want to do most paves the way to mediocrity i recall a conversation with a very promising young writer on a college newspaper this fellow had ability if anyone showed promise for a career in journalism it was he shortly before his graduation i asked him well dan what are you going to do get

into some form of journalism dan looked at me and said heck no i like writing and reporting very much and i've had a lot of fun working on the college paper but journalists are a dime a dozen and i don't want to starve i didn't see or hear from dan for five years then one evening i chanced to meet him in new orleans dan was working as an assistant personnel director for an electronics company and he was quick to let me know that he was quite dissatisfied with his work oh i'm reasonably well paid i'm

with a wonderful company and i've got reasonable security but you know my heart isn't in it i wish now i'd gone with a publisher or newspaper when i finished school dan's attitude reflected boredom uninterest he was cynical about many things he will never achieve maximum success until he quits his present job and gets into journalism success requires heart and soul effort and you can put your heart and soul only into something you really desire had dan followed his desire he could have risen to the very top in some phase of communication and over the long

pull he would have made much more money and achieved far more personal satisfaction than he will find in his present kind of work switching from what you don't like to do to what you do like to do is like putting a 500 horsepower motor in a 10 year old car all of us have desires all of us dream of what we really want to do but few of us actually surrender to desire instead of surrendering to desire we murder it five weapons are used to commit success suicide destroy them they're dangerous one self depreciation you

have heard dozens of people say i would like to be a doctor or an executive or a commercial artist or in business for myself but i can't do it i lack brains i'd fail if i tried i lack the education and or experience many young folks destroy desire with the old negative self-depreciation two security itis persons who say i've got security where i am use the security weapons to murder their dreams three competition the field is already overcrowded people in that field are standing on top of each other are remarks which kill desire fast for

parental dictation i've heard hundreds of young people explain their career choice with i'd really like to prepare for something else but my parents want me to do this so i must most parents i believe do not intentionally dictate to their children what they must do what all intelligent parents want is to see their children live successfully if the young person will patiently explain why he or she prefers a different career and if the parent will listen there will be no friction the objectives of both the parent and the young person for the young person's career

are identical success five family responsibility the attitude of it would have been wise for me to change over five years ago but now i've got a family and i can't change illustrates this kind of desire murder weapon throw away those murder weapons remember the only way to get full power to develop full go force is to do what you want to do surrender to desire and gain energy enthusiasm mental zip and even better health and it's never too late to let desire take over the overwhelming majority of really successful people work much longer than 40

hours a week and you don't hear them complain of overwork successful people have their eyes focused on a goal and this provides energy the point is this energy increases multiplies when you set a desired goal and resolve to work toward that goal many people millions of them can find new energy by selecting a goal and giving all they've got to accomplish that goal goals cure boredom goals even cure many chronic ailments let's probe a little deeper into the power of goals when you surrender yourself to your desires when you let yourself become obsessed with a

goal you receive the physical power energy and enthusiasm needed to accomplish your goal but you receive something else something equally valuable you receive the automatic instrumentation needed to keep you going straight to your objective the most amazing thing about a deeply entrenched goal is that it keeps you on course to reach your target this isn't double talk what happens is this when you surrender to your goal the goal works itself into your subconscious mind your subconscious mind is always in balance your conscious mind is not unless it is in tune with what your subconscious mind

is thinking without full cooperation from the subconscious mind a person is hesitant confused indecisive now with your goal absorbed into your subconscious mind you react the right way automatically the conscious mind is free for clear straight thinking let's illustrate this with two hypothetical persons as you listen you'll recognize these characters among the real people you know we'll call them tom and jack these fellows are comparable in all respects except one tom has a firmly entrenched goal jack does not tom has a crystal clear image of what he wants to be he pictures himself as a

corporation vice president ten years hence because tom has surrendered to his goal his goal through his subconscious mind signals to him saying do this or don't do that it won't help get you where you want to go the goal constantly speaks i am the image you want to make real here is what you must do to make me real tom's goal does not pilot him in vague generalities it gives him specific directions in all his activities when tom buys a suit the goal speaks and shows tom the wise choice the goal helps to show tom

what steps to take to move up to the next job what to say in the business conference what to do when conflict develops what to read what stand to take should tom drift a little off course his automatic instrumentation housed securely in his subconscious mind alerts him and tells him what to do to get back on course tom's goal has made him super sensitive to all the many forces at work that affect him jack on the other hand lacking a goal also lacks the automatic instrumentation to guide him he is easily confused his actions reflect

no personal policy jack wavers shifts guesses at what to do lacking consistency of purpose jack flounders on the ruddy road to mediocrity may i suggest you listen to this section again right now let this concept soak in then look around you study the very top echelon of successful persons note how they without exception are totally devoted to their objective observe how the life of a highly successful person is integrated around a purpose surrender to that goal really surrender let it obsess you and give you the automatic instrumentation you need to reach that goal on occasion

all of us have waked up on saturday morning with no plans no agenda either mental or written that spells out what we're going to do on days like that we accomplish next to nothing we aimlessly drift through the day glad when it's finally over but when we face the day with a plan we get things done this common experience provides an important lesson to accomplish something we must plan to accomplish something before world war ii our scientists saw the potential power locked in the atom but relatively little was known about how to split the atom

and unleash that tremendous power when the united states entered the war forward-thinking scientists saw the potential power of an atomic bomb a crash program was developed to accomplish just one goal build an atomic bomb the result is history in just a few years the concentrated effort paid off the bombs were dropped and the war was ended but without that crash program to accomplish a goal splitting the atom would have been delayed perhaps a decade maybe longer set goals to get things done our great production system would be hopelessly bogged down if production executives did not

establish and adhere to target dates and production schedules sales executives know salesmen sell more when they are given a carefully defined quota to sell professors know students get term papers written on time when a deadline is set now as you press forward to success set goals deadlines target dates self-imposed quotas you will accomplish only what you plan to accomplish according to dr georgie burch of the tulane university school of medicine an expert in the study of human longevity many things determine how long you will live weight heredity diet psychic tension personal habits but dr burch

says the quickest way to the end is to retire and do nothing every human being must keep an interest in life just to keep living each of us has a choice retirement can be the beginning or the end the do nothing but eat sleep and rock attitude is the poison yourself fast form of retirement most folks who regard retirement as the end of purposeful living soon find retirement is the end of life itself with nothing to live for no goals people waste away fast the other extreme the sensible way to retire is the i'm going

to pitch right in and start fast method one of my finest friends lou gordon has chosen this way to retire lou's retirement several years ago as a vice president of atlanta's biggest bank was really commencement day for him he established himself as a business consultant and his pace is amazing now in his 60s he serves numerous clients and is in national demand as a speaker one of his special projects is helping to build pi sigma epsilon a young but fast growing fraternity for professional salesmen and sales executives every time i see lou he seems younger

he's a young 30 in spirit few people i know of any age are reaping more from life than this senior citizen who resolved not to go out to pasture and the lou gordons aren't the boring old grumps feeling sorry for themselves because they're old goals intense goals can keep a person alive when nothing else will mrs d the mother of a college friend of mine contracted cancer when her son was only two to darken matters her husband had died only three months before her illness was diagnosed her physicians offered little hope but mrs d would

not give up she was determined that she would see her two-year-old son through college by operating a small retail store left her by her husband there were numerous surgical operations each time the doctors would say just a few more months the cancer was never cured but those few more months stretched into 20 years she saw her son graduated from college six weeks later she was gone a goal a burning desire was powerful enough to stave off sure death for two decades use goals to live longer no medicine in the world and your physician will bear

this out is as powerful in bringing about long life as is the desire to do something the person determined to achieve maximum success learns the principle that progress is made one step at a time a house is built a brick at a time football games are one a play at a time a department store grows bigger one new customer at a time every big accomplishment is a series of little accomplishments eric severide the well-known author and correspondent reported in reader's digest april 1957 that the best advice he ever received was the principle of the next

mile here's part of what he said during world war ii i and several others had to parachute from a crippled army transport plane into the mountainous jungle on the burma india border it was several weeks before an armed relief expedition could reach us and then we began a painful plotting march out to civilized india we were faced by a 140 mile trek over mountains in august heat and monsoon rains in the first hour of the march i rammed a boot nail deep into one foot by evening i had bleeding blisters the size of a 50

cent piece on both feet could i hobble 140 miles could the others some in worse shape than i complete such a distance we were convinced we could not but we could hobble to that ridge we could make the next friendly village for the night and that of course was all we had to do when i relinquished my job and income to undertake a book of a quarter of a million words i could not bear to let my mind dwell on the whole scope of the project i would surely have abandoned what has become my deepest

source of professional pride i tried to think only of the next paragraph not the next page and certainly not the next chapter thus for six solid months i never did anything but set down one paragraph after another the book wrote itself years ago i took on a daily writing and broadcasting chore that has totaled now more than two thousand scripts had i been asked at the time to sign a contract to write 2000 scripts i would have refused in despair at the enormousness of such an undertaking but i was only asked to write one the

next one and that is all i have ever done the principle of the next mile works for eric severide and it will work for you the step-by-step method is the only intelligent way to attain any objective the best formula i have heard for quitting smoking the one that has worked for more of my friends than any other i call the hour by hour method instead of trying to reach the ultimate goal freedom from the habit just by resolving never to smoke again the person resolves not to smoke for another hour when the hour is up

the smoker simply renews his resolution not to smoke for another hour later as desire diminishes the period is extended to two hours later to a day eventually the goal is won the person who wants freedom from the habit all at once fails because the psychological pain is more than he can stand an hour is easy forever is difficult winning any objective requires a step-by-step method to the junior executive each assignment however insignificant it may appear should be viewed as an opportunity to take one step forward a salesman qualifies for management responsibilities one sale at a

time to the minister each sermon to the professor each lecture to the scientists each experiment to the business executive each conference is an opportunity to take one step forward toward the large goal sometimes it appears that someone achieved success all at once but if you check the past histories of people who seemed to arrive at the top suddenly you'll discover a lot of solid groundwork was previously laid and those successful people who lose fame as fast as they found it simply were phonies who had not built a solid foundation just as a beautiful building is

created from pieces of stone each of which in itself appears insignificant in like manner the successful life is constructed do this start marching toward your ultimate goal by making the next task you perform regardless of how unimportant it may seem a step in the right direction commit this question to memory and use it to evaluate everything you do will this help take me where i want to go if the answer is no back off if yes press ahead it's clear we do not make one big jump to success we get there one step at a

time an excellent plan is to set monthly quotas for accomplishment here is a guide to help achieve these goals examine yourself decide what specific things you should do to make yourself more effective then when the 30-day period is up check your progress and build a new 30-day goal always keep working on the little things to get you in shape for the big things 30-day improvement guide between now and the next 30 days i will a break these habits suggestions one putting off things two negative language three watching tv more than 60 minutes per day four

gossip b acquire these habits suggestions one a rigid morning examination of my appearance two plan each day's work the night before three compliment people at every possible opportunity c increase my value to my employer in these ways suggestions one do a better job of developing my subordinates two learn more about my company what it does and the customers it serves three make three specific suggestions to help my company become more efficient d increase my value to my home in these ways suggestions one show more appreciation for the little things my wife does that i've been

taking for granted two once each week do something special with my whole family three give one hour each day of my undivided attention to my family e sharpen my mind in these ways suggestions one invest two hours each week in reading professional magazines in my field two read one self-help book three make four new friends four spend 30 minutes daily in quiet undisturbed thinking next time you see a particularly well-poised well-groomed clear thinking effective person remind yourself that he wasn't born that way lots of conscious effort invested day by day made the person what he

is building new positive habits and destroying old negative habits is a day-by-day process create your first 30-day improvement guide right now often when i discuss setting goals someone comments along these lines i see that working toward a purpose is important but so often things happen that upset my plans it's true that many factors outside your control do affect your destination there may be serious illness or death in your family the job you're gunning for may be dissolved you may meet with an accident so here is a point we must fix firmly in mind prepare to

take detours in stride if you are driving down a road and you come to a road closed situation you wouldn't camp there nor would you go back home the road closed simply means you can't go where you want to go on this road you'd simply find another road to take you where you want to go observe what military leaders do when they develop a master plan to take an objective they also map out alternative plans if something unforeseen happens that rules out plan a they switch to plan b you rest easy in an airplane even

though the airport where you plan to land is closed in because you know the fellow up there driving the plane has alternative landing fields and a reserve fuel supply it's a rare person who has achieved high level success who has not had to take detours many of them when we detour we don't have to change our goals we just travel a different route you've probably heard many persons say something like oh how i wish i had bought xxx stock back in 19 blank i'd have a pile of money today normally people think of investing in

terms of stocks or bonds real estate or some other type of property but the biggest and most rewarding kind of investment is self-investment purchasing things that build mental power and proficiency the progressive business knows that how strong it will be five years from now depends not on what it does five years in the future but rather on what it does invests this year profit comes from only one source investment there's a lesson for each of us to profit to get the extra reward above a normal income in the years ahead we must invest in ourselves

we must invest to achieve our goals here are two sound self-investments that will pay handsome profits in the years ahead one invest in education true education is the soundest investment you can make in yourself but let's be sure we understand what education really is some folks measure education by the number of years spent in school or the number of diplomas certificates and degrees earned but this quantitative approach to education doesn't necessarily produce a successful person ralph j cordoner chairman of general electric expressed the attitude of top business management toward education this way two of our

most outstanding presidents mr wilson and mr coffin never had an opportunity to attend college although some of our present officers have doctor's degrees 12 out of 41 have no college degrees we are interested in competency not diplomas a diploma or degree may help you get a job but it will not guarantee your progress on the job business is interested in competency not diplomas to others education means the quantity of information a person has stashed away in his brain but the soak up facts method of education won't get you where you want to go more and

more we depend on books files and machines to warehouse information if we can do only what a machine can do we're in a real fix real education the kind worth investing in is that which develops and cultivates your mind how well educated a person is is measured by how well his mind is developed in brief by how well he thinks anything that improves thinking ability is education and you can obtain education in many ways but the most efficient sources of education for most people are nearby colleges and universities education is their business if you haven't

been to college lately you're in for some wonderful surprises you'll be pleased at the wide course offerings available you'll be even more pleased to discover who goes to school after work not the phonies but rather really promising persons many of whom already hold very responsible positions in one evening class of 25 persons i conducted recently there were an owner of a retail chain of 12 stores two buyers for a national food chain four graduate engineers an air force colonel and several others of similar status many people earn degrees in evening programs these days but the

degree which in the final analysis is only a piece of paper is not their primary motivation they are going to school to build their minds which is a sure way to invest in a better future and make no mistake about this education is a real bargain a moderate investment will keep you in school one night each week for a full year compute the cost as a percentage of your gross income and then ask yourself isn't my future worth this small investment why not make an investment decision right now call it school one night a week

for life it will keep you progressive young alert it will keep you abreast of your areas of interest and it will surround you with other people who also are going places two invest in idea starters education helps you mold your mind stretch it train it to meet new situations and solve problems idea starters serve a related purpose they feed your mind give you constructive material to think about where are the best sources of idea starters there are many but to get a steady supply of high quality idea material why not do this resolve to purchase

at least one stimulating book each month and subscribe to two magazines or journals that stress ideas for only a minor sum and a minimum of time you can be tuned in to some of the best thinkers available anywhere at a luncheon one day i overheard one fellow say but it costs too much i can't afford to take the wall street journal his companion obviously a much more success-minded person replied well i've found that i can't afford not to take it again take your cue from the successful people invest in yourself let's take action now in

a quick recap put these success building principles to work one get a clear fix on where you want to go create an image of yourself 10 years from now 2. write out your 10-year plan your life is too important to be left to chance put down on paper what you want to accomplish in your work your home and your social departments three surrender yourself to your desires set goals to get more energy set goals to get things done set goals and discover the real enjoyment of living four let your major goal be your automatic pilot

when you let your goal absorb you you'll find yourself making the right decisions to reach your goal five achieve your goal one step at a time regard each task you perform regardless of how small it may seem as a step toward your goal six build thirty day goals day by day effort pays off seven take detours in stride a detour simply means another route it should never mean surrendering the goal eight invest in yourself purchase those things that build mental power and efficiency invest in education invest in idea starters chapter 13 how to think like

a leader remind yourself once again that you are not pulled to high levels of success rather you are lifted there by those working beside and below you achieving high level success requires the support and the cooperation of others and gaining this support and cooperation of others requires leadership ability success and the ability to lead others that is getting them to do things they wouldn't do if they were not led go hand in hand the success producing principles explained in the previous chapters are valuable equipment in helping you develop your leadership capacity at this point we

want to master four special leadership rules or principles that can cause others to do things for us in the executive suite in business in social clubs in the home anywhere we find people these four leadership rules or principles are one trade minds with the people you want to influence two think what is the human way to handle this three think progress believe in progress push for progress four take time out to confer with yourself and develop your supreme thinking power practicing these rules produces results putting them to use in everyday situations takes the mystery out

of that gold-plated word leadership let's see how leadership rule number one trade minds with the people you want to influence trading minds with the people you want to influence is a magic way to get others friends associates customers employees to act the way you want them to act study these two case histories and see why ted b worked as a television copywriter and director for a large advertising agency when the agency obtained a new account a children's shoe manufacturer ted was assigned responsibility for developing several tv commercials a month or so after the campaign had

been launched it became clear that the advertising was doing little or nothing to increase product movement in retail outlets attention was focused on the tv commercials because in most cities only television advertising was used through research of television viewers they found that about four percent of the people thought it was simply a great commercial one of the best these four percent said the remaining 96 were either indifferent to the commercials or in plain language thought they smelled hundreds of comments like these were volunteered it's wacky the rhythm sounds like a new orleans band at 3am

my kids like to watch most tv commercials but when that shoe thing comes on they go to the bathroom or refrigerator i think it's too uppity up seems to me someone's trying to be too clever something especially interesting turned up when all the interviews were put together and analyzed the four percent who liked the commercial were people pretty much like ted in terms of income education sophistication and interests the remaining 96 percent were definitely in a different socioeconomic class ted's commercials which cost a lot of money flopped because ted thought only of his own interests

he had prepared the commercials thinking of the way he buy shoes not the way the great majority buys shoes he developed commercials that pleased him personally not commercials that pleased the great bulk of the people the results would have been much different had ted projected himself into the minds of the masses of ordinary people and asked himself two questions if i were a parent what kind of a commercial would make me want to buy those shoes if i were a child what kind of a commercial would make me go tell my mom or dad that

i want those shoes why joan failed in retailing joan is an intelligent well-educated attractive girl of 24. fresh from college joan got a job as an assistant buyer in ready to wear goods at a low to medium price department store she came highly recommended joan has ambition talent and enthusiasm one letter read she is certain to succeed in a big way but joan did not succeed in a big way joan lasted only eight months and then quit retailing for other work i knew her buyer well and one day i asked him what happened joan is

a fine girl and she has many fine qualities he said but she had one major limitation what was that i asked well joan was forever buying merchandise that she liked but most of our customers didn't she selected styles colors materials and prices she liked without putting herself in the shoes of the people who shop here when i'd suggest to her that maybe a certain line wasn't right for us she'd say oh they'll love this i do i think this will move fast joan had been brought up in a well-to-do home she had been educated to

want quality price was not important to her joan just couldn't see clothing through the eyes of low to middle income people so the merchandise she bought just wasn't suitable the point is this to get others to do what you want them to do you must see things through their eyes when you trade minds the secret of how to influence other people effectively shows up a very successful salesman friend told me he spends a lot of time anticipating how prospects will react to his presentation before he gives it trading minds with the audience helps the speaker

design a more interesting harder hitting talk trading minds with employees helps the supervisor provide more effective better received instructions a young credit executive explained to me how this technique worked for him when i was brought into the store a medium-sized clothing store as assistant credit manager i was assigned the job of handling all collection correspondence the collection letters the store had been using greatly disappointed me they were strong insulting and threatening i read them and thought brother i'd be mad as hell if somebody sent me letters like these i never would pay so i just

got to work and started writing the kind of letter that would move me to pay an overdue bill if i received it it worked by putting myself in the shoes of the overdue customer so to speak collections climbed to a record high numerous political candidates lose elections because they fail to look at themselves through the minds of the typical voters one political candidate for a national office apparently fully as qualified as his opponent lost by a tremendous margin for one single reason he used a vocabulary that only a small percentage of the voters could understand

his opponent on the other hand thought in terms of the voters interests when he talked to farmers he used their language when he spoke to factory workers he used words they were easily familiar with when he spoke on tv he addressed himself to mr typical voter not to doctor college professor keep this question in mind what would i think of this if i exchanged places with the other person it paves the way to more successful action thinking of the interests of the people we want to influence is an excellent thought rule in every situation a

few years ago a small electronics manufacturer developed a fuse that would never blow out the manufacturer priced the product to sell for a dollar 25 and then retained an advertising agency to promote it the account executive placed in charge of the advertising immediately became intensely enthusiastic his plan was to blanket the country with mass advertising on tv radio and newspapers this is it he said we'll sell 10 million the first year his advisors tried to caution him explaining that fuses are not a popular item they have no romantic appeal and people want to get by

as cheaply as possible when they buy fuses why not the advisor said use selected magazines and sell it to the high income levels they were overruled and the mass campaign was underway only to be called off in six weeks because of disappointing results the trouble was this the advertising executive looked at the high priced fuses with his eyes the eyes of a high income person he failed to see the product through the eyes of the mass market income levels had he put himself in their position he would have seen the wisdom of directing the promotion

toward the upper income groups and the account would have been saved develop your power to trade minds with the people you want to influence the following exercises will help practice trading minds exercises situation giving someone work instructions for best results ask yourself looking at this from the viewpoint of someone who is new to this have i made myself clear situation writing an advertisement for best results ask yourself if i were a typical prospective buyer how would i react to this ad situation telephone manners for best results ask yourself if i were the other person what

would i think of my telephone voice and manners situation gift for best results ask yourself is this gift something i would like or is it something he will like often there is an enormous difference situation the way i give orders for best results ask yourself would i like to carry out orders if they were given to me the way i give them to others situation child discipline for best results ask yourself if i were the child considering his age experience and emotions how would i react to this discipline situation my appearance for best results ask

yourself what would i think of my superior if he were just like me situation preparing a speech for best results ask yourself considering the background and interests of the audience what would i think of this remark situation entertainment for best results ask yourself if i were my guests what kinds of food music and entertainment would i like best put the trading minds principle to work for you one consider the other person's situation put yourself in his shoes so to speak remember his interests income intelligence and background may differ considerably from yours to now ask yourself

if i were in his situation how would i react to this whatever it is you want him to do three then take the action that would move you if you were the other person leadership rule number two think what is the human way to handle this people use different approaches to leadership situations one approach is to assume the position of a dictator the dictator makes all decisions without consulting those affected he refuses to hear his subordinates side of a question because deep down perhaps he's afraid the subordinate might be right and this would cause him

to lose face dictators don't last long employees may fake loyalty for a while but unrest soon develops some of the best employees leave and those remaining get together and plot against the tyrant the result is that the organization ceases to function smoothly this puts the dictator in a bad light with his superior a second leadership technique is the cold mechanical i'm a rule book operator approach the fellow using this approach handles everything exactly according to the book he doesn't recognize that every rule or policy or plan is only a guide for the usual cases this

would-be leader treats human beings as machines and of all things people don't like perhaps the most disliked is being treated like a machine the cold impersonal efficiency expert is not an ideal the machines that work for him develop only part of their energy persons who rise to tremendous leadership heights use a third approach that we call being human several years ago i worked closely with john s who is an executive in the engineering development section of a large aluminum manufacturer john had mastered the be human approach and was enjoying its rewards in dozens of little

ways john made his actions say you are a human being i respect you i'm here to help you in every way i can when an individual from another city joined his department john went to considerable personal inconvenience to help him find suitable housing working through his secretary and two other women employees he set up office birthday parties for each member of the staff the 30 minutes or so required for this was not a cost rather it was an investment in getting loyalty and output when he learned that one of his staff members belonged to a

minority faith john called him in and explained that he would arrange for him to observe his religious holidays that don't coincide with the more common holidays when an employee or someone in the employee's family was ill john remembered he took time to compliment his staff individually for their off the job accomplishments but the largest evidence of john's be human philosophy showed up in the way he handled a dismissal problem one of the employees who had been hired by john's predecessor simply lacked the aptitude and interest for the work involved john handled the problem magnificently he

did not use the conventional procedure of calling the employee into his office and giving him first the bad news and then second 15 or 30 days to move out instead he did two unusual things first he explained why it would be to the employees personal advantage to find a new situation where his aptitudes and interests would be more useful he worked with the employee and put him in touch with a reputable vocational guidance consultant next he did something else above and beyond the call of duty he helped the employee find a new job by setting

up interviews with executives in other companies where the employees skills were needed in just 18 days after the dismissal conference the employee was relocated in a very promising situation this dismissal procedure intrigued me so i asked john to explain his thinking behind it he explained it this way there's an old maxim i formed and held in my mind he began whoever is under a man's power is under his protection too we never should have hired this man in the first place because he's not cut out for this kind of work but since we did the

least i could do was help him to relocate anybody john continued can hire a man but the test of leadership is how one handles the dismissal by helping that employee relocate before he left us built up a feeling of job security in everyone in my department i let them know by example that no one gets dumped on the street as long as i'm here make no mistake john's be human brand of leadership paid off there were no secret gossip sessions about john he received unquestioned loyalty and support he had maximum job security because he gave

maximum job security to his subordinates for about 15 years i've been close to a fellow i'll call bob w bob is in his late 50s he came up the hard way with a hit or miss education and no money bob found himself out of work in 1931 but he's always been a scrambler not one to be idle bob started an upholstery shop in his garage thanks to his untiring efforts the business grew and today it's a modern furniture manufacturing plant with over 300 employees today bob is a millionaire money and material things have ceased to

be a concern but bob is rich in other ways too he's a millionaire in friends contentment and satisfaction of bob's many fine qualities his tremendous desire to help other people stands out bob is human and he's a specialist in treating others the way human beings want to be treated one day bob and i were discussing the matter of criticizing people bob's human way of doing it is a master formula here's the way he put it i don't think you could find anybody who would say i'm a softy or a weakling i run a business when

something isn't going right i fix it but it's the way i fix it that's important if employees are doing something wrong or are making a mistake i am doubly careful not to hurt their feelings and make them feel small or embarrassed i just use four simple steps first i talk to them privately second i praise them for what they are doing well third i point out the one thing at the moment that they could do better and i help them find the way fourth i praise them again on their good points and this four step

formula works when i do it this way people thank me because i've found that's exactly the way they like it when they walk out of this office they have been reminded that they are not only pretty good they can be even better i've been betting on people all my life bob says and the better i treat them the more good things happen to me i honestly don't plan it that way that's just the way it works out let me give you an example back about oh five or six years ago one of the production men

came to work drunk pretty soon there was a commotion in the plant it seems this fellow had taken a five-gallon can of lacquer and was splashing it all over the place well the other workman took the lacquer away from him and the plant superintendent escorted him out i walked outside and found him sitting against the building in a kind of stupor i helped him up put him in my car and took him to his home his wife was frantic i tried to reassure her that everything would be all right oh but you don't understand she

said mr w me doesn't stand for anyone being drunk on the job jim's lost his job and now what will we do i told her jim wouldn't be dismissed she asked how i knew the reason i explained is because i'm mr w she almost fainted i told her i'd do all i could to help jim at the plant and i hope she'd do all she could at home and just have him on the job in the morning when i got back to the plant i went down to jim's department and spoke to jim's co-workers i

told them you've seen something unpleasant here today but i want you to forget it jim will be back tomorrow be kind to him he's been a good worker for a long time and we owe it to him to give him another chance jim got back on the ball and his drinking was never again a problem i soon forgot about the incident but jim didn't two years ago the headquarters of the local union sent some men here to negotiate the contract for the local they had some staggering simply unrealistic demands jim quiet meek jim suddenly became

a leader he got busy and reminded the fellows in the plant that they'd always gotten a fair deal from mr w and we didn't need outsiders coming to tell us how to run our affairs the outsiders left and as usual we negotiated our contract like friends thanks to jim here are two ways to use the be human approach to make you a better leader first each time you face a difficult matter involving people ask yourself what is the human way to handle this ponder over this question when there is a disagreement among your subordinates or

when an employee creates a problem remember bob w's formula for helping others correct their mistakes avoid sarcasm avoid being cynical avoid taking people down a peg or two avoid putting others in their place ask what is the human way to deal with people it always pays sometime sooner sometimes later but it always pays a second way to profit from the be human rule is to let your actions show you put people first show interest in your subordinates off the job accomplishments treat everyone with dignity remind yourself that the primary purpose in life is to enjoy

it as a general rule the more interest you show in a person the more he will produce for you and his production is what carries you forward to greater and greater success praise your subordinates to your supervisor by putting in plugs for them at every opportunity it's an old american custom to admire the fellow who's on the side of the little man your subordinates will appreciate your plugs and their loyalty to you will grow and do not fear that this will lower your own importance in the eyes of your supervisor rather a man big enough

to be humble appears more confident than the insecure man who feels compelled to call attention to his accomplishments a little modesty goes a long way praise your subordinates personally at every opportunity praise them for their cooperation praise them for every extra effort they put forth praise is the greatest single incentive you can give people and it costs you nothing besides a write-in vote has often overthrown a powerful known candidate you never know when your subordinates can do you return by coming to your defense practice praising people rub people the right way be human leadership rule

number three think progress believe in progress push for progress one of the most complimentary things anyone can say about you is he stands for progress he's the man for the job promotions in all fields go to individuals who believe in and push for progress leaders real leaders are in short supply status quorus the everything's all right let's don't upset the apple cart folks far outnumber the progressives the there's lots of room for improvement let's get to work and do it better people join the leadership elite develop a forward look there are two special things you

can do to develop your progressive outlook one think improvement in everything you do two think high standards in everything you do several months ago the president of a medium-sized company asked me to help him make an important decision this executive had built the business by himself and had been functioning as sales manager now with seven salesmen employed he decided his next step was to promote one of his salesmen to the job of sales manager he narrowed the choice down to three all of whom were about equal in experience and sales performance my assignment was to

spend one day in the field with each man and then report my views on which fellow seemed to be best qualified to lead the group each man was told that a consultant would visit him to discuss the overall marketing program for obvious reasons they were not told the specific purpose of my visit two of the men reacted pretty much the same way both were uncomfortable with me they seemed to sense that i was there to change things each of these men was a real defender of the status quo both approved of the way everything was

being done i raised questions about how the territories were laid out the compensation program the sales promotional material every facet of the marketing effort but on all points the response was always everything is okay on specific points these two men explained why the present way couldn't and shouldn't be changed summed up both men wanted the status quo to remain the status quo one of them said to me as he dropped me by my hotel i don't know exactly why you spent the day with me but tell mr m for me that everything is okay as

is don't go re-figuring anything the third man was wonderfully different he was pleased with the company and proud of its growth but he was not wholly content he wanted improvements all day this third salesman gave me his ideas for getting new business providing better service to customers reducing wasted time revising the compensation plan to give more incentive all so that he and the company would make more he had mapped out a new advertising campaign he had been thinking about when i left him his parting remark was i sure appreciate the chance to tell someone about

some of my ideas we've got a good outfit but i believe we can make it better my recommendation of course was for the third man it was a recommendation that coincided perfectly with the feelings of the company president believe in expansion efficiency new products new processes better schools increased prosperity believe in and push for progress and you'll be a leader as a youngster i had an opportunity to see how the different thinking of two leaders can make an amazing difference in the performance of followers i attended a country elementary school eight grades one teacher and

forty children all jammed together inside four brick walls a new teacher was always a big deal led by the big boys the seventh and eighth graders the pupils set out to see how much they could get away with one year there was little more than chaos every day there were dozens of the usual school pranks wars of spit balls and paper airplanes then there were the major incidents such as locking the teacher outside the school for half a day at a time or on another occasion the opposite barricading her within the building for hours another

day each boy in the upper grades brought his dog into the school room let me add that these children were not delinquents stealing physical violence and deliberate harm were not their objectives they were healthy kids conditioned by vigorous rural living and needing an outlet for their tremendous pent-up energies and ingenuities well the teachers somehow managed to stay with the school until the end of that year to know in surprise there was a new teacher the following september the new teacher extracted strikingly different performance from the children she appealed to their personal pride and sense of

respect she encouraged them to develop judgment each child was assigned a specific responsibility like washing blackboards or cleaning erasers or practicing paper grading for the younger grades the new teacher found creative ways to use the energy that had been so misdirected a few months before her educational program was centered on building character why did the children act like young devils one year and like young angels the next the difference was the leader their teacher in all honesty we cannot blame the kids for playing pranks an entire school year in each instance the teacher set the

pace the first teacher deep down didn't care whether the children made progress she set no goals for the children she didn't encourage them she couldn't control her temper she didn't like teaching so the pupils didn't like learning but the second teacher had high positive standards she sincerely liked the children and wanted them to accomplish much she considered each one as an individual she obtained discipline easily because in everything she did she was well disciplined and in each case the pupils adjusted their conduct to fit the examples set by the teachers we find the same form

of adjustment taking place every day in adult groups during world war ii military chiefs continually observed that the highest morale was not found in units where commanders were easy relaxed and lackadaisical crack units were led by officers with high standards who enforced military regulations fairly and properly military personnel simply do not respect and admire officers with low standards college students too take their cue from the examples set by the professors students under one professor cut classes copy term papers and connive in various ways to pass without serious study but the same students under another professor

willingly work extra hard to master the subject in business situations we again find individuals patterning their thinking after that of the superior study a group of employees closely observe their habits mannerisms attitudes toward the company ethics self-control then compare what you find with the behavior of their superior and you discover amazing similarities every year many corporations that have grown sluggish and are headed downward are rebuilt and how by changing a handful of executives at the top companies and colleges and churches and clubs and unions and all other types of organizations are successfully rebuilt from the

top down not from the bottom up change the thinking at the top and you automatically change the thinking at the bottom remember this when you take over the leadership of a group the persons in that group immediately begin to adjust themselves to the standards you set this is most noticeable during the first few weeks their big concern is to clue you in zero you in find out what you expect of them they watch every move you make they think how much rope will he give me how does he want it done what does it take

to please him what will he say if i do this or that once they know they act accordingly check the example you set use this old but ever accurate quatrain as a guide what kind of world would this world be if everyone in it were just like me to add meaning to this self-imposed test substitute the word company for world so it reads what kind of company would this company be if everyone in it were just like me in similar fashion ask yourself what kind of club community school church would it be if everyone in

it acted like you think talk act live the way you want your subordinates to think talk act live and they will over a period of time subordinates tend to become carbon copies of their chief the simplest way to get high level performance is to be sure the master copy is worth duplicating am i a progressive thinker checklist a do i think progressively toward my work one do i appraise my work with the how can we do it better attitude two do i praise my company the people in it and the products it sells at every

possible opportunity three are my personal standards with reference to the quantity and quality of my output higher now than three or six months ago four am i setting an excellent example from my subordinates associates and others i work with b do i think progressively toward my family one is my family happier today than it was three or six months ago two am i following a plan to improve my family's standard of living three does my family have an ample variety of stimulating activities outside the home four do i set an example of a progressive a

supporter of progress for my children c do i think progressively toward myself one can i honestly say i am a more valuable person today than three or six months ago two am i following an organized self-improvement program to increase my value to others three do i have forward-looking goals for at least five years in the future four am i a booster in every organization or group to which i belong d do i think progressively toward my community one have i done anything in the past six months that i honestly feel has improved my community neighborhood

churches schools etc two do i boost worthwhile community projects rather than object criticize or complain three have i ever taken the lead in bringing about some worthwhile improvement in my community four do i speak well of my neighbors and fellow citizens leadership rule number four take time out to confer with yourself and tap your supreme thinking power we usually picture leaders as exceptionally busy people and they are leadership requires being in the thick of things but while it's usually overlooked it is noteworthy that leaders spend considerable time alone alone with nothing but their own thinking

apparatus check the lives of the great religious leaders and you'll find each of them spent considerable time alone moses frequently was alone often for long periods of time so were jesus buddha confucius muhammad gandhi every outstanding religious leader in history spent much time in solitude away from the distractions of life political leaders too those who made lasting names in history for good or bad gained insight through solitude it is an interesting question whether franklin d roosevelt could have developed his unusual leadership capacities had he not spent much time alone while recovering from his polio attack

harry truman spent much time as a boy and as an adult alone on a missouri farm quite possibly hitler would never have achieved power had he not spent months in jail alone where he had time to construct mein kampf that brilliantly wicked plan for world conquest that sold the germans in a blind moment many of the leaders of communism who proved to be so diplomatically skillful lenin stalin marx and many others spent time in jail where they could without distraction plan their future moves leading universities require professors to lecture as few as five hours per

week so that the professor has time to think many outstanding business executives are surrounded all day by assistance secretaries telephones and reports but follow them around for 168 hours a week and 720 hours a month and you discover they spent a surprising amount of time in uninterrupted thought the point is this the successful person in any field takes time out to confer with himself or herself leaders use solitude to put the pieces of a problem together to work out solutions to plan and in one phrase to do their super thinking many people fail to tap

their creative leadership power because they confer with everybody and everything else but themselves you know this kind of person well he's the fellow who goes to great lengths not to be alone he goes to extremes to surround himself with people he can't stand being alone in his office so he goes prowling to see other people seldom does he spend evenings alone he feels a compelling need to talk with others every waking moment he devours a huge diet of small talk and gossip when this person is forced by circumstances to be physically alone he finds ways

to keep from being mentally alone at times like these he resorts to television newspapers radio telephone anything that will take over his thinking process for him in effect he says here mister tv mr newspaper occupy my mind for me i'm afraid to occupy it with my own thoughts mister i can't stand to be alone shun's independent thought he keeps his own mind blacked out he is psychologically scared of his own thoughts as time goes by mr i can't stand to be alone grows increasingly shallow he makes many ill-considered moves he fails to develop firmness of

purpose personal stability he is unfortunately ignorant of the superpower lying unused just behind his forehead don't be a mr i can't stand to be alone successful leaders tap their super power through being alone you can too let's see how as part of a professional development program i asked 13 trainees to closet themselves for one hour each day for two weeks the trainees were asked to shut themselves off from all distractions and think constructively about anything that came to mind at the end of two weeks each trainee without exception reported the experience proved amazingly practical and

worthwhile one fellow stated that before the managed solitude experiment he was on the verge of a sharp break with another company executive but through clear thinking he found the source of the problem and the way to correct it others reported that they solved problems relating to such varied things as changing jobs marriage difficulties buying a home and selecting a college for a teenage child each trainee enthusiastically reported that he had gained a much better understanding of himself his strengths and weaknesses than he had ever had before the trainees also discovered something else that is tremendously

significant they discovered that decisions and observations made alone in managed solitude have an uncanny way of being one hundred percent right the trainees discovered that when the fog is lifted the right choice becomes crystal clear managed solitude pays off one day recently an associate of mine reversed her stand completely on a troublesome issue i was curious to know why she had switched her thinking since the problem was very basic her answer went like this well i haven't been at all clear in my mind as to what we should do so i got up at 3

30 this morning fixed a cup of coffee and just sat on the sofa and thought until 7am i see the whole matter a lot clearer now so the only thing for me to do is reverse my stand and her new stand proved completely correct resolve now to set aside some time each day at least 30 minutes to be completely by yourself perhaps early in the morning before anyone else is stirring about would be best for you or perhaps late in the evening would be a better time the important thing is to select a time when

your mind is fresh and when you can be free from distractions you can use this time to do two types of thinking directed and undirected to do directed thinking review the major problem facing you in solitude your mind will study the problem objectively and lead you to the right answer to do undirected thinking just let your mind select what it wishes to think about in moments like these your subconscious mind taps your memory bank which in turn feeds your conscious mind undirected thinking is very helpful in doing self-evaluation it helps you get down to the

very basic matters like how can i do better what should be my next move remember the main job of the leader is thinking and the best preparation for leadership is thinking spend some time in managed solitude every day and think yourself to success summary to be a more effective leader put these four leadership principles to work one trade minds with the people you want to influence it's easy to get others to do what you want them to do if you'll see things through their eyes ask yourself this question before you act what would i think

of this if i exchanged places with the other person two apply the be human rule in your dealings with others ask what is the human way to handle this in everything you do show that you put other people first just give other people the kind of treatment you like to receive you'll be rewarded three think progress believe in progress push for progress think improvement in everything you do think high standards in everything you do over a period of time subordinates tend to become carbon copies of their chief be sure the master copy is worth duplicating

make this a personal resolution at home at work in community life if it's progress i'm for it four take time out to confer with yourself and tap your supreme thinking power managed solitude pays off use it to release your creative power use it to find solutions to personal and business problems so spend some time alone every day just for thinking use the thinking technique all great leaders use confer with yourself how to use the magic of thinking big in life's most crucial situations there is magic in thinking big but it is so easy to forget

when you hit some rough spots there is danger that your thinking will shrink in size and when it does you lose here are some brief guides for staying big when you're tempted to use the small approach perhaps you'll want to put these guides on small cards for even handier reference a when little people try to drive you down think big to be sure there are some people who want you to lose to experience misfortune to be reprimanded but these people can't hurt you if you'll remember three things one you win when you refuse to fight

petty people fighting little people reduces you to their size stay big two expect to be sniped at it's proof you're growing three remind yourself that snipers are psychologically sick be big feel sorry for them think big enough to be immune to the attacks of petty people b when that i haven't got what it takes feeling creeps up on you think big remember if you think you are weak you are if you think you're inadequate you are if you think you're second class you are with that natural tendency to sell yourself short with these tools one

look important it helps you think important how you look on the outside has a lot to do with how you feel on the inside two concentrate on your assets build a sell yourself to yourself commercial and use it learn to supercharge yourself know your positive self three put other people in proper perspective the other person is just another human being so why be afraid of him think big enough to see how good you really are c when an argument or quarrel seems inevitable think big successfully resist the temptation to argue and quarrel by one asking

yourself honestly now is this thing really important enough to argue about two reminding yourself you never gain anything from an argument but you always lose something think big enough to see that quarrels arguments feuds and fusses will never help you get where you want to go d when you feel defeated think big it is not possible to achieve large success without hardships and setbacks but it is possible to live the rest of your life without defeat big thinkers react to setbacks this way one regard the setback as a lesson research it use it to propel

you forward salvage something from every setback two blend persistence with experimentation back off and start afresh with a new approach think big enough to see that defeat is a state of mind nothing more e when romance starts to slip think big negative petty she's he's unfair to me so i'll get even type of thinking slaughters romance destroys the affection that can be yours do this when things aren't going right in the love department one concentrate on the biggest qualities in the person you want to love you put little things where they belong in second place

two do something special for your mate and do it often think big enough to find the secret to marital joys f when you feel your progress on the job is slowing down think big matter what you do and regardless of your occupation higher status higher pay come from one thing increasing the quality and quantity of your output do this think i can do better the best is not unattainable there is room for doing everything better nothing in this world is being done as well as it could be and when you think i can do better

ways to do better will appear thinking i can do better switches on your creative power think big enough to see that if you put service first money takes care of itself in the words of publius cyrus a wise man will be master of his mind a fool will be its slave