Sizzlemanship; Tested Public Speaking;
Tested Sentences That Sell
Some are born great others
achieve greatness, and some
have greatness thrust upon them.
-Shakespeare
Twelfth Night
New York
PRENTICE-HALL, INC.
1952
THIS BOOK IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
by
ELMER WHEELER
TO LINDA BETH, WHO
WILL READ THIS SIX
YEARS FROM NOW
IF WISHES WERE HORSES
If you were offered three wishes right now that could and would
be fulfilled through sheer magic by a fairy godmother, what would
they be? Would they be wishes for success . . . money . . . travel . . .
new clothes ... a new car ... a home ... or to marry a handsome
prince or a beautiful princess?
All these things: your success in life, your bank account, a beautiful
car, a home to be proud of, a wonderful mate, are proportional to
your dreams your daydreams!
And here, at long last, and for the first time in this age, I believe
seems to be the practical, the workable Big Secret of how to trans-
form your wishes, your desires, and your daydreams into realities
and this secret works as surely as if you had a magic wand in your
own hand!
An Incredible Power
In this era of colored TV pictures, radar, guided rockets, the
harnessing of the incredible power of the atom, and man's mind
probing more and more into the unknown, it is not beyond the realm
of understanding that a man has discovered this secret . . .
Or, in the interests of the absolute truth, he has perhaps rediscovered
it out of the unrecorded civilizations of the past, since there must have
been some foundation for the theory of the philosophers of old who
believed sincerely that "Castles in Spain" could be turned into real
stone and mortar.
The man who has discovered (or rediscovered) this secret is Elmer
Wheeler, a Sales Engineer and Consultant of international renown,
He is famous for his unparalleled "Word Laboratory" and library of
"Tested Selling Words." He is famous as a lecturer and is well known
everywhere as the "Sizzler" since it was he that created the well-
known selling phrase, "Sell the Sizzle, not the steak."
He is a noted author, having written such books as Tested Sentences
That Sell, Tested Retail Selling, How to Sell Yourself to Others, The
Fat Boy's Book and many more tested works that have helped thou-
sands of men and women to achieve a lasting success.
A Master Formula
Elmer Wheeler's Master Formula, contained in this new book, is
developed and blueprinted for you in the following easily read pages
as a true and exacting science, as workable today as any mathe-
matical or chemical formula to be found.
Getting your wishes and desires out of your daydreams and into
your objective grasp as a usable power of great force is, to this
author, a matter of "simple engineering" that you can master in the
length of time that it takes you to read these pages.
This is, perhaps, not a new theory nor a new science, but, most
certainly, this Master Formula is a new force - a new power (for you
who will use it) in the "HOW" of saddling your wishes and desires
in order to convert them into horses you can ride to success.
1,000 Times Tested
As proof, that this Master Formula does and will work for you,
Elmer Wheeler offers the successes of 1,000 men and women.
They are the people about whom he has written in his newspaper
column, "Success Secrets" published through General Features Syndi-
cate, during the past five years.
When he asked each of these 1,000 successes what they considered
the secret of their success to be, he discovered a theme a thread, if
you please running through all of the answers. This theme, or
thread, under close scrutiny proved to be a loose or general pattern!
In a keen analysis of this pattern he reduced all answers to their
very essence and in this essence he discovered the Master Formula
six basic rules, that, through their conscious or unconscious use, had
made these 1,000 people a success.
Six Basic, Simple Rules that you can use!
Not a Miracle
Although these six rules, which led, by their use, to the success of
these ijooo people, may work in a magic manner, there is, in the true
sense of the word, absolutely nothing magical about them.
They are practical and workable in the everyday sense of these two
words!
Best of all, they are practical and workable for us "litde people"
in life. The 1,000 successes of whom Mr. Wheeler has written do
not include the Fords, Wanamakers, Edisons, or others whom history
records as "Big Men."
Those of whom he writes and from whom this Master Formula
came include the GFs who daydreamed in the trenches, housewives,
plumbers, small boys . . . people, most of whom have attained their
success since the last war some of them even millionaires but every-
one an undeniable success through the use (knowingly or unwittingly)
of the six basic rules contained herein.
So, although there is more than a passing possibility that this book
would help the genius or financial wizard, it is primarily intended
to help us "litde people". .. the man in industry, the bookkeeper,
the girl behind the ribbon counter, the bootblack, the truck driver . . .
every man or woman who wistfully wishes for and desires the better
things of life, who daydreams about them and wants their dreams
to come true.
A Parallel of Horatio Alger
The people you read about in this book could very well be your
neighbors! Very often their success parallels that of the heroes and
heroines of Horatio Alger's novels.
They include the boy who invented a paring knife, the man who
invented the zipper, a GI who founded a radio firm from a wheel-
chair. They are boys and girls, men and women, the kind you hear
and see striving for success on an "amateur hour" radio program or
the ones you read about in "business success" magazines.
They are people such as yourself, people who want to improve their
lot in life, become better people, gain success and position in life.
This fascinating book is for you! You can make your wishes, desires,
and daydreams pay handsome dividends through the application of
the six simple basic rules in this Master Formula!
This amazing publication tells you HOW TO MAKE YOUR
DAYDREAMS COME TRUE! and the Master Formula will work
for you if you will but let it!
NELS KONOLD
Chapter I .
WHO CAN BECOME A SUCCESS?
Sitting back thinking, "If I had a million' is like the
grasshopper playing his fiddle while the little ants are
figuring, "How can I get a million?" Anybody can be-
come a success.
How WOULD YOU like a "magic formula" to make your
wishes come true?
How would you like to turn your Castles in Spain into
real-life that you can touch, see, feel, and hold in your very
own hands ?
If you can add one and one and always get two, you can
use this formula for it is that simple.
Have you ever stood at your job, sat in a Pullman, or
paused a moment at your factory bench to daydream of
meeting some fair prince or charming princess ?
Have you ever dreamed of being one of the most respected
members of your community, with a big house, big car, and
everything that goes with them?
One plus one will always get you two!
As a woman have you ever looked at a fashion magazine
and sighed, "If only I had a million dollars I'd buy those
clothes ?"
As you worked in a rich man's home adjusting his radio
or dish washer, painting, decorating, or doing odd jobs of
repairing, have you ever said, "Why has he all this - why have
I so little?"
Ever put your nose against a travel-bureau window and
dream of visiting many foreign lands, foot-loose and fancy-
free, no job worries, no money troubles?
Ever yearn to have a good paying executive position?
Well, at last, a formula to make these dreams come true
has been put into the grasp of every one of us.
Making Dreams Come True
Some years ago I started a newspaper column called
Success Secrets.
It tells the secrets that have made ordinary people rich.
It is not the stories of famous Fords and Edisons, but of
Mary and Charlie and GI Joe the people living or working
next to you.
These average people told me their success stories. As they
told them to me I used to sit back and wonder what made
their success "tick."
What "formula," if any, lay behind each success?
Could an exacting formula be made? Could you always
add one and one and get two in success as you did in
mathematics ?
Would it work for everybody alike? Or did you have to
be born under certain stars, or otherwise be "gifted" to have
that rare faculty of dreaming up something then making
it come true?
Here is a GI who sat in the trenches during World War II
dreaming of having his own business when he came back
home. "No more working for others," he told himself.
Then he dreamed of using his ability to carve to make pipes
that "fit the personalities as well as the mouths" of people.
Today he is making a small fortune up in North Dakota.
There is a man just outside of Erie, Pa., who was stuck with
a roadside stand. Everybody passed him by. He dreamed of
being on Main Street "where people will see me."
He made his dream come true. How? Well, he added one
and one and got two, and later on I'll give you many such
cases, with actual names, of the 1,000 people who told me
how they made their dreams come true.
1,000 Success Secrets
When you can get anything that's been tested 1,000 times,
you begin to see a similarity.
In looking over the 1,000 success secrets of 1,000 of my
readers, I began to see a pattern. A success pattern.
A formula as easy to use as one plus one makes two, and a
formula that worked equally well for anybody.
My only concern for a while was: Could this formula be
used by everybody, or only for a given few?
One thousand readers told me they were just ordinary
folks, with ordinary educations, with ordinary backgrounds,
with typical dreams, typical hopes and desires.
They told me what they wanted from life, and all wanted
about the same things in the same order, security, happiness,
pleasure, money, health, and a chance to relax and see the
world.
But I soon saw anybody can wish for things, but few
knew how to get these wishes.
Yet when they accidentally hit upon this formula, it
worked near magic for them, it was that good and that
simple.
For remember, magic is simplicity!
Why a Book in Four Parts?
It takes four books to tell this fascinating story.
It could not possibly be done in one book. The reader
first must be "conditioned" before he can fully appreciate
and grasp the formula.
Only in this way will the formula "take."
Much as a doctor must "condition" a patient he will
operate on, so must the reader be placed in the proper mind
to be most receptive to the formula.
Therefore, Part One, or section one, as you might call it,
is designed to "condition" you. Do not skip it!
Part Two then gives you the formula!
After which you are given "proof of the pudding" in
Part Three with most convincing evidence that the formula
has worked for 1,000 people and is therefore 1,000 times
tested.
Part Four contains the stories of many of the 1,000 men,
women, and children who have appeared in our newspaper
column, Success Secrets, as final documentary evidence that
you, too, can become a millionaire in life.
I'm a Big Success Today
You may have happiness, money, health, and figure that
you are "made." Why worry?
The other day I heard an old story, but it still answers
the person who figures he is "already there - why worry?"
It concerns the late William Wrigley, the chewing gum
king.
One day, the story goes, Mr. Wrigley was riding on a
train between New York and Chicago with a friend who
asked him why he continued to spend so much money on
advertising and publicity.
"Your gum is known all over the world," he said. "Why
don't you save the millions you are spending on sales pro-
motion?"
Mr. Wrigley thought a minute and then asked, "How
fast is this train going?"
"About 60 miles an hour," his friend replied.
"Then" asked Mr. Wrigley, "why doesn't the railroad
company remove the engine and let the train travel on its
own momentum?"
My guess is that you and I can use Mr. Wrigley's business
philosophy in our daily lives as well as in our business.
Five Rules for the Person Who Says, "I'm Too Busy"
It takes time to read a book on how to become an even
bigger and better success in life, so I can also hear many of
you say you are too busy to have time to read.
You are usually busy talking with friends, acquaintances,
the bosses, the employees with interviews about your busi-
ness.
If you could cut "conversation time" in half, you'd have
plenty of time for more pleasures and for reading.
So here are five Rules to cut down on "conversation,"
whether it be with a friend the boss or a customer;
1. Make your conversation snappy. Avoid a lot of hems
and haws. Get to the point in 10 seconds.
2. Make your conversation helpful. Don't take time be-
littling things or people, as this takes up valuable time. It
starts prolonged arguments, too.
3. Change your conversation constantly. The same old
line day in and day out is boring to others. Vary your con-
versation constantly.
4. Don't be too clever. It starts arguments. People love to
crucify know-it-alls. They lead you on, hoping for a down-
fall. All of which eats up time during the day.
5. Say something complimentary. Then leave. This leaves
a fine taste behind you. Protects your retreat. Gets you a
faster audience next time of listeners, not arguers.
Yep, observing these five rules will save enough time
daily to give you time for lots of pleasures and study.
Magic Tricks Are Simple
I have often watched and admired people who can do
magic tricks. I'm a great frequenter of magic shops.
I always try to guess how a trick is done. Often I figure it
just can't be done.
Then I buy it and it is explained to me, and how simple
it is then.
In fact, I almost feel cheated, it is so simple.
All magic looks difficult until it is explained by the
magician, then we laugh at our own simplicity.
The same way with success. It looks hard when we look
at the rich man sitting in his big office, being driven home
by a chauffeur, eating his pheasant and drinking his
champagne.
Yet once he tells us how he did it, we sit back and wonder,
"Why didn't we think of that?"
It's the same way with magic.
Magicians Won't Repeat
Another thing I've noticed about good magicians. They
seldom repeat a trick.
They fool you once, but know that if they repeat too
often, you'll catch on.
You'll see through their magic, and see how simple it
really is.
In fact, you'll see it isn't magic.
The same way with success. If you watch enough people
become a success, you'll "see through" their methods.
You'll see how simple their methods are.
You'll be able to be a success yourself, which is why so
many secretaries of famous men have become top execu-
tives of corporations themselves.
They hobnobbed with their "magician employers, 55 and
saw the formula of sitting behind a big desk.
And one and all saw just one single formula: Dont think
if, think how.
Soon I'll explain what I mean.
One Plus One Always Adds Up to Two
Sitting back thinking, "If I had a million' is like the
grasshopper playing his fiddle while the little ants are
figuring, "How can I get a million?" Anybody can be-
come a success.
How WOULD YOU like a "magic formula" to make your
wishes come true?
How would you like to turn your Castles in Spain into
real-life that you can touch, see, feel, and hold in your very
own hands ?
If you can add one and one and always get two, you can
use this formula for it is that simple.
Have you ever stood at your job, sat in a Pullman, or
paused a moment at your factory bench to daydream of
meeting some fair prince or charming princess ?
Have you ever dreamed of being one of the most respected
members of your community, with a big house, big car, and
everything that goes with them?
One plus one will always get you two!
As a woman have you ever looked at a fashion magazine
and sighed, "If only I had a million dollars I'd buy those
clothes ?"
As you worked in a rich man's home adjusting his radio
or dish washer, painting, decorating, or doing odd jobs of
repairing, have you ever said, "Why has he all this - why have
I so little?"
Ever put your nose against a travel-bureau window and
dream of visiting many foreign lands, foot-loose and fancy-
free, no job worries, no money troubles?
Ever yearn to have a good paying executive position?
Well, at last, a formula to make these dreams come true
has been put into the grasp of every one of us.
Making Dreams Come True
Some years ago I started a newspaper column called
Success Secrets.
It tells the secrets that have made ordinary people rich.
It is not the stories of famous Fords and Edisons, but of
Mary and Charlie and GI Joe the people living or working
next to you.
These average people told me their success stories. As they
told them to me I used to sit back and wonder what made
their success "tick."
What "formula," if any, lay behind each success?
Could an exacting formula be made? Could you always
add one and one and get two in success as you did in
mathematics ?
Would it work for everybody alike? Or did you have to
be born under certain stars, or otherwise be "gifted" to have
that rare faculty of dreaming up something then making
it come true?
Here is a GI who sat in the trenches during World War II
dreaming of having his own business when he came back
home. "No more working for others," he told himself.
Then he dreamed of using his ability to carve to make pipes
that "fit the personalities as well as the mouths" of people.
Today he is making a small fortune up in North Dakota.
There is a man just outside of Erie, Pa., who was stuck with
a roadside stand. Everybody passed him by. He dreamed of
being on Main Street "where people will see me."
He made his dream come true. How? Well, he added one
and one and got two, and later on I'll give you many such
cases, with actual names, of the 1,000 people who told me
how they made their dreams come true.
1,000 Success Secrets
When you can get anything that's been tested 1,000 times,
you begin to see a similarity.
In looking over the 1,000 success secrets of 1,000 of my
readers, I began to see a pattern. A success pattern.
A formula as easy to use as one plus one makes two, and a
formula that worked equally well for anybody.
My only concern for a while was: Could this formula be
used by everybody, or only for a given few?
One thousand readers told me they were just ordinary
folks, with ordinary educations, with ordinary backgrounds,
with typical dreams, typical hopes and desires.
They told me what they wanted from life, and all wanted
about the same things in the same order, security, happiness,
pleasure, money, health, and a chance to relax and see the
world.
But I soon saw anybody can wish for things, but few
knew how to get these wishes.
Yet when they accidentally hit upon this formula, it
worked near magic for them, it was that good and that
simple.
For remember, magic is simplicity!
Why a Book in Four Parts?
It takes four books to tell this fascinating story.
It could not possibly be done in one book. The reader
first must be "conditioned" before he can fully appreciate
and grasp the formula.
Only in this way will the formula "take."
Much as a doctor must "condition" a patient he will
operate on, so must the reader be placed in the proper mind
to be most receptive to the formula.
Therefore, Part One, or section one, as you might call it,
is designed to "condition" you. Do not skip it!
Part Two then gives you the formula!
After which you are given "proof of the pudding" in
Part Three with most convincing evidence that the formula
has worked for 1,000 people and is therefore 1,000 times
tested.
Part Four contains the stories of many of the 1,000 men,
women, and children who have appeared in our newspaper
column, Success Secrets, as final documentary evidence that
you, too, can become a millionaire in life.
I'm a Big Success Today
You may have happiness, money, health, and figure that
you are "made." Why worry?
The other day I heard an old story, but it still answers
the person who figures he is "already there - why worry?"
It concerns the late William Wrigley, the chewing gum
king.
One day, the story goes, Mr. Wrigley was riding on a
train between New York and Chicago with a friend who
asked him why he continued to spend so much money on
advertising and publicity.
"Your gum is known all over the world," he said. "Why
don't you save the millions you are spending on sales pro-
motion?"
Mr. Wrigley thought a minute and then asked, "How
fast is this train going?"
"About 60 miles an hour," his friend replied.
"Then" asked Mr. Wrigley, "why doesn't the railroad
company remove the engine and let the train travel on its
own momentum?"
My guess is that you and I can use Mr. Wrigley's business
philosophy in our daily lives as well as in our business.
Five Rules for the Person Who Says, "I'm Too Busy"
It takes time to read a book on how to become an even
bigger and better success in life, so I can also hear many of
you say you are too busy to have time to read.
You are usually busy talking with friends, acquaintances,
the bosses, the employees with interviews about your busi-
ness.
If you could cut "conversation time" in half, you'd have
plenty of time for more pleasures and for reading.
So here are five Rules to cut down on "conversation,"
whether it be with a friend the boss or a customer;
1. Make your conversation snappy. Avoid a lot of hems
and haws. Get to the point in 10 seconds.
2. Make your conversation helpful. Don't take time be-
littling things or people, as this takes up valuable time. It
starts prolonged arguments, too.
3. Change your conversation constantly. The same old
line day in and day out is boring to others. Vary your con-
versation constantly.
4. Don't be too clever. It starts arguments. People love to
crucify know-it-alls. They lead you on, hoping for a down-
fall. All of which eats up time during the day.
5. Say something complimentary. Then leave. This leaves
a fine taste behind you. Protects your retreat. Gets you a
faster audience next time of listeners, not arguers.
Yep, observing these five rules will save enough time
daily to give you time for lots of pleasures and study.
Magic Tricks Are Simple
I have often watched and admired people who can do
magic tricks. I'm a great frequenter of magic shops.
I always try to guess how a trick is done. Often I figure it
just can't be done.
Then I buy it and it is explained to me, and how simple
it is then.
In fact, I almost feel cheated, it is so simple.
All magic looks difficult until it is explained by the
magician, then we laugh at our own simplicity.
The same way with success. It looks hard when we look
at the rich man sitting in his big office, being driven home
by a chauffeur, eating his pheasant and drinking his
champagne.
Yet once he tells us how he did it, we sit back and wonder,
"Why didn't we think of that?"
It's the same way with magic.
Magicians Won't Repeat
Another thing I've noticed about good magicians. They
seldom repeat a trick.
They fool you once, but know that if they repeat too
often, you'll catch on.
You'll see through their magic, and see how simple it
really is.
In fact, you'll see it isn't magic.
The same way with success. If you watch enough people
become a success, you'll "see through" their methods.
You'll see how simple their methods are.
You'll be able to be a success yourself, which is why so
many secretaries of famous men have become top execu-
tives of corporations themselves.
They hobnobbed with their "magician employers, 55 and
saw the formula of sitting behind a big desk.
And one and all saw just one single formula: Dont think
if, think how.
Soon I'll explain what I mean.
One Plus One Always Adds Up to Two
Chapter 2.
LUCK IS NOTORIOUSLY UNRELIABLE
How Important is luck - how valuable is "getting the
breaks" in becoming a success? Here is what 1,000 suc-
cessful people told me.
I ASKED 1,000 of my newspaper readers how important was
luck and "getting the breaks" in their success.
All of them told me that luck is unreliable. That it is
easier to make luck happen, than to sit back and wait for
it to happen.
That occasionally lucky "breaks'* occurred, but that only
too often they came so fast you didn't see them as they
passed your nose.
Or else when luck came, you didn't recognize it.
Luck, it seems, is notoriously unreliable in making you
a success in making daydreams come true.
Does Opportunity Knock Twice?
When I put this question to many of the successful people
I had written up in Success Secrets, most of them told me
they wouldn't know opportunity if it did knock.
It seems they were so busy making opportunity^ that when
it showed up accidentally it went unrecognized.
It is the down-and-outer sitting on the park bench, they
told me, that is most apt to see opportunity when it occurs,
since he spends his life waiting for lucky breaks and op-
portunity.
So when a quarter rolls up to his feet, he is an opportunist
and grabs it.
The man busy with success is apt not to see the quarter
roll up. His mind is on dollar bills flying by too fast for
him to grab.
Opportunity may knock many times.
It depends on how often you make it knock.
I'll give you a formula to make opportunity knock not
once, nor twice, but as often as you choose.
People Who Get the Breaks
First before I give you this master formula, let me analyze
more with you on what makes one person a success while
his next door neighbor is a failure.
I asked these 1,000 people how much their success could
be attributed to getting the so-called "breaks."
Most of them asked me what I meant by "breaks."
"Opportunity," I told them. "You know, somebody is
looking just for what you have made, and they buy it."
This seemed to bewilder these successful men and women,
who had made fortunes and happiness for themselves.
They told me their "breaks" were nothing more than the
result of their own thinking, that proper thought made
"breaks" occur.
Of course if by chance something did happen, it helped
their success along.
But "breaks," they told me, are not necessary to make you
a success.
When Breaks Do Occur
It seems that "bad luck" helps more than "breaks."
Tough times harden you, make you think longer and
faster than when you are lulled by good times.
But when "breaks" do occur, naturally you seize upon
them to your advantage.
You must be prepared for the "breaks."
The hobo sitting on the park bench grabs the quarter, but
not being prepared for his sudden stroke of wealth, he is
apt to mishandle that two bits and get nothing from it but
a moment of fast spending. It would be the same with $100
or $1,000.
But if you are prepared through education, through ex-
perience, or through being on your toes, then when a quarter
or a dollar or a job or a promotion comes up, you'll know
how to make the most of it.
You'll know how to make the most of a "break."
The Will to Win
No formula will work for you if you haven't the "will
to win" - the desire to want to be a success of some sort.
While you may often have desire, you will be on a merry-
go-round if you don't have some "know how" to guide
your wishes in life, and here are some rules:
1. Think and be calm. You'll have more common sense,
2. Ask questions: Why? How? What? Where?
3. Act "like a million" and you'll feel "like a million."
4. Give the best you have. You'll get the best there is*
5. Be enthusiastic. "Boy, am I enthusiastic" is the sparkle
in living.
6. Be courteous and pleasant
7. Do today now what you know you ought to do.
8. Don't be afraid of yourself or of the morrow.
9. Have Faith. In God. In Country. In Yourself.
10, Aim high. And keep everlastingly at it.
The road to the top is wide open. Every day new names
are added to the roster of success.
Troubles Help More Than Hammocks
It seems that leisure, too much money, too many good
times, weaken people.
Romes always fall after a career of gorging and false fun
and too much lying around in hammocks.
You can't think in a hammock. Hard benches make you
think.
I will show you, later on, name after name of people who
went places only after trouble urged them on, made them
mad to a point where they made up their minds to be a
success "or else."
Welcome hard times. Welcome trouble. It stimulates you.
You go farther than the fat man slumbering overly-content
in a hammock.
Of course, as you'll see, you must know when success has
arrived so that you can safely enjoy lying in a hammock.
Knowing how to recognize success when it comes is a
major part of this formula.
But remember troubles help more than hammocks in
making you a success in life.
Don't Depend on Luck
Just don't depend on luck.
If it happens around, be prepared for the "break."
Don't say, "If luck comes" "If I get the breaks."
That is why the beggar never rode a horse, he said, "If
wishes were horses, beggars would ride."
Little Joe Doakes, in the trenches, didn't say, "if." He sat
back and figured, "how"
He wanted to know how he could own that business of
his own? How he could be independent?
George Blaisdell, with two employees and $260 worth of
second-hand equipment, had an idea for G.I. smokers. He
invented the Zippo lighter!
Thinking "how" not wishing "if," set him up in his
business.
Thinking "how" will make your dreams come true, too.
It's All in How You Think
How Important is luck - how valuable is "getting the
breaks" in becoming a success? Here is what 1,000 suc-
cessful people told me.
I ASKED 1,000 of my newspaper readers how important was
luck and "getting the breaks" in their success.
All of them told me that luck is unreliable. That it is
easier to make luck happen, than to sit back and wait for
it to happen.
That occasionally lucky "breaks'* occurred, but that only
too often they came so fast you didn't see them as they
passed your nose.
Or else when luck came, you didn't recognize it.
Luck, it seems, is notoriously unreliable in making you
a success in making daydreams come true.
Does Opportunity Knock Twice?
When I put this question to many of the successful people
I had written up in Success Secrets, most of them told me
they wouldn't know opportunity if it did knock.
It seems they were so busy making opportunity^ that when
it showed up accidentally it went unrecognized.
It is the down-and-outer sitting on the park bench, they
told me, that is most apt to see opportunity when it occurs,
since he spends his life waiting for lucky breaks and op-
portunity.
So when a quarter rolls up to his feet, he is an opportunist
and grabs it.
The man busy with success is apt not to see the quarter
roll up. His mind is on dollar bills flying by too fast for
him to grab.
Opportunity may knock many times.
It depends on how often you make it knock.
I'll give you a formula to make opportunity knock not
once, nor twice, but as often as you choose.
People Who Get the Breaks
First before I give you this master formula, let me analyze
more with you on what makes one person a success while
his next door neighbor is a failure.
I asked these 1,000 people how much their success could
be attributed to getting the so-called "breaks."
Most of them asked me what I meant by "breaks."
"Opportunity," I told them. "You know, somebody is
looking just for what you have made, and they buy it."
This seemed to bewilder these successful men and women,
who had made fortunes and happiness for themselves.
They told me their "breaks" were nothing more than the
result of their own thinking, that proper thought made
"breaks" occur.
Of course if by chance something did happen, it helped
their success along.
But "breaks," they told me, are not necessary to make you
a success.
When Breaks Do Occur
It seems that "bad luck" helps more than "breaks."
Tough times harden you, make you think longer and
faster than when you are lulled by good times.
But when "breaks" do occur, naturally you seize upon
them to your advantage.
You must be prepared for the "breaks."
The hobo sitting on the park bench grabs the quarter, but
not being prepared for his sudden stroke of wealth, he is
apt to mishandle that two bits and get nothing from it but
a moment of fast spending. It would be the same with $100
or $1,000.
But if you are prepared through education, through ex-
perience, or through being on your toes, then when a quarter
or a dollar or a job or a promotion comes up, you'll know
how to make the most of it.
You'll know how to make the most of a "break."
The Will to Win
No formula will work for you if you haven't the "will
to win" - the desire to want to be a success of some sort.
While you may often have desire, you will be on a merry-
go-round if you don't have some "know how" to guide
your wishes in life, and here are some rules:
1. Think and be calm. You'll have more common sense,
2. Ask questions: Why? How? What? Where?
3. Act "like a million" and you'll feel "like a million."
4. Give the best you have. You'll get the best there is*
5. Be enthusiastic. "Boy, am I enthusiastic" is the sparkle
in living.
6. Be courteous and pleasant
7. Do today now what you know you ought to do.
8. Don't be afraid of yourself or of the morrow.
9. Have Faith. In God. In Country. In Yourself.
10, Aim high. And keep everlastingly at it.
The road to the top is wide open. Every day new names
are added to the roster of success.
Troubles Help More Than Hammocks
It seems that leisure, too much money, too many good
times, weaken people.
Romes always fall after a career of gorging and false fun
and too much lying around in hammocks.
You can't think in a hammock. Hard benches make you
think.
I will show you, later on, name after name of people who
went places only after trouble urged them on, made them
mad to a point where they made up their minds to be a
success "or else."
Welcome hard times. Welcome trouble. It stimulates you.
You go farther than the fat man slumbering overly-content
in a hammock.
Of course, as you'll see, you must know when success has
arrived so that you can safely enjoy lying in a hammock.
Knowing how to recognize success when it comes is a
major part of this formula.
But remember troubles help more than hammocks in
making you a success in life.
Don't Depend on Luck
Just don't depend on luck.
If it happens around, be prepared for the "break."
Don't say, "If luck comes" "If I get the breaks."
That is why the beggar never rode a horse, he said, "If
wishes were horses, beggars would ride."
Little Joe Doakes, in the trenches, didn't say, "if." He sat
back and figured, "how"
He wanted to know how he could own that business of
his own? How he could be independent?
George Blaisdell, with two employees and $260 worth of
second-hand equipment, had an idea for G.I. smokers. He
invented the Zippo lighter!
Thinking "how" not wishing "if," set him up in his
business.
Thinking "how" will make your dreams come true, too.
It's All in How You Think
Chapter 3.
THERE ISN'T ENOUGH "PULL" TO
GO AROUND
I often wondered to myself just how much "pull" was
necessary to get that job, that promotion, that big sale,
that pot full of money, so I asked some successful people.
THEY TOLD ME that there isn't enough "pull" to go around.
That if you sit back and depend on "pull" to get you places,
you are apt to land in a pauper's grave "Pull" Stone Park!
This is the big mistake made by the hobo on the park
bench.
He thinks: If only I had "pull."
He sees fancy cars driving by, sees people eating in fancy
restaurants, and figures "pull" made this possible for them.
He bewails the fact he never had any "pull".
That is his mistake, sitting back waiting for luck, for op-
portunity, for "pull."
The man who gets places makes his own "pull."
A Pork Bench Dream
You never can tell what will happen when you dream on
a park bench if you keep your eyes open.
One day more than 46 years ago, G. I. Plummer sat down
on a bench across from a car barn. And because he was
tired and broke he decided to look for a job with the street
car company that operated the barn. He got a job sweep-
ing floors.
Today Plummer is one of the headmen of the firm, one
of the largest in the South. But Plummer wouldn't have
been sitting on that park bench back in 1906 if he hadn't
made a mistake. He had gotten lost and had walked to the
outskirts before coming to the park and the car barn.
That mistake turned out to be a "success secret" for
Plummer, however, because he used his opportunity. At
nights he attended school, took a practical drawing cor-
respondence course, and enrolled in the famous Alexander
Hamilton Institute for business training.
As a result, Plummer's progress to the top of his company
was steady. But the hard work of night and correspondence
school isn't all of his story.
Recently Plummer attended a celebration in his honor
as the man with the longest service with his company.
Isn't that a real climax to a dream that started out on a
park bench?
"Pull" Can Be Manufactured
When you read the Master Formula you'll quickly see
how to manufacture as much "pull" as you want.
But "pull" is as deceitful as luck is unreliable.
A general was asked to give a speech. He didn't know
what to talk about
On entering a meeting room he noticed a sign on the door
that said, "Push."
Standing up in front of his audience he said, "If youll
turn and look at the sign on the entrance door you'll see in
one word the big secret of how to become a success."
The audience turned to look at the door. Naturally they
saw the inside of the door, not the outside as had the gen-
eral.
They read, "Pull."
P.S. Even this "pull" has been removed by alert fire
marshals! Doors must open out in most meeting places, so
the same audience today would see the right word "push."
"Push" Not "Pull" Is the Secret
The general had an idea. He just mis-fired on it.
For he knew, as did my 1,000 successful men and women,
that it is "push," not "pull," that makes you a success.
You can push your way to the top.
It is too hard to pull your way up.
It is easier to push a wheelbarrow than to try to pull it.
Watch any successful laborer.
He pushes not pulls.
Try this yourself.
"Pull" Is Limited In Extent
There is not enough "pull" to go around.
"Pull" is always limited. Few get it.
When they do get it, they are apt to muff it. Because
"pull" weakens you.
Trying to get "pull" with the boss, with a customer, with
a friend, with the Lord is a waste of time.
Better to push than to pull. For there isn't enough "pull"
to be passed around by the boss, the customer, or the
friend.
"Pull" is limited in scope.
Ask the beggar sitting on the park bench. He's waited all
of his lifetime for the "pull," the "break" that never comes.
His momentum is at low ebb, so that when "pull" does
occur, he isn't able to capitalize on it, to put it to advantage.
"Push" would have done him more good.
"Pull" Is Only Good for Boot Straps
About the only time "pull" helps is in putting on boots.
You can pull them on easier by the boot straps.
It is "know-how" that gives you this sort of "pulling
power."
"Pulling power" is good. "Pull" is not.
You can, in fact, pull yourself up the ladder of success.
It is hard to be under yourself to give you push. You pull
yourself up by will-power, by thought.
Just don't depend on "pull" Lean on "push" instead.
Curtis Sanford got fired from an Alabama drug store. He
told his boss he'd return some day with a Cadillac with gold
fenders, and the boss would be glad to give him "curb
service."
Curtis went to Texas, not in a Cadillac, but a bus. He
had no "pull" with anyone. But he got the idea of making
the famous Cotton Bowl into another Rose Bowl for New
Year's games.
Curtis has lots of "push"; thus so successful was he that
the City Fathers of Dallas finally came to him and "took
over." They bought him out. Curtis, when I last saw him,
didn't have gold fenders on his Cadillacbut the brace of
horns in front of it sure looked gold!
I'll bet they made a fine toot when he pulled up in front
of that drug store in Alabama!
Shall I Change My Job?
Some people change their jobs because they think they
haven't got "pull" where they are. "Pull" in a job is not im-
portant. What is important, when you consider changing
your job then? Here's what I think.
It's a funny thing, but job changes don't always work. If
you find it too hot in New Orleans to work, you'll beef
about it being too cold in Minneapolis.
You can get along just as well on the present job as one
that looks better somewhere else; but put yourself and this
other job to this test. Then you'll know whether to make
the move before you use my formula:
1. Do I have enough training and experience to be pretty
sure of doing well at the other job ?
2. In the long run, can I expect a better salary on the
other job than on the one I'm holding?
3. Are the working conditions of the other job as good
as those of my present one?
4. Is the other job as likely to be steady as the one I have
now?
If the answer to more than one of these questions is
"definitely no," then it would be better to stick to the job
you have, as a general rule. Even if the answer to every one
of the four is "yes," go slow.
Consider whether you'd be better off or worse off than
now, just supposing the new job did fold up within a year
or two. You must take risks to be successful, but you'll
never come to the top through luck alone.
Once you do resolve to grab an opportunity though, don't
put off doing so or you may lose it.
Use imagination to look ahead! Use common sense to
guide you in judging what you see! Use courage to make
a definite decision.
Four Words To Gain "Pull"
The kind of "pull" you do want with someone is to have
that someone like you. If that is true, here is a four-word
rule to observe in order to be sure you get "pull":
''First understand then speak"
I like this proverb given to me by my friend, G. Guajardo
Davis of Mexico City.
In typical Spanish styling, it tells a big success secret that
will put anyone on the top of the pile.
Only too often in our daily contacts in the business world
or at home, we speak before we understand.
We are too prone to shout, "You don't understand me!"
We run off "half shod."
If we had listened to the other person for a minute or
two longer, we might have understood his point of view;
then we could have spoken with more authority.
Therefore, I'd suggest for you to get "pull" that you un-
derstand all you can about the other person, his views or
ideas, before you talk.
Then he'll be more willing to listen. You've got "pull"
with him.
"Push" and "Pull" Are Everywhere
When you look upon getting "pull" as making someone
like you, then you can understand why "pull" can be every-
where*
But depending too much on it isn't too good. For often
when "pull" fails, "push" will take over.
However, if you sit back and say, "If I had "pull" I'd go
places" then even "push" won't help you.
So discard the idea at once that "pull" is needed. It is
nice to have it, but remember:
"Doors open easier when you give them a great big push,
than if you have to pull them/'
When you push them you go forward. When you pull
them you must stop and back away, before the door will open.
So learn how to manufacture both "pull" when it means
making friends, and "push."
"Push" Sends Rockets Nearly to the Moon Only
When They Near the Moon Does "Pull" Take Over.
GO AROUND
I often wondered to myself just how much "pull" was
necessary to get that job, that promotion, that big sale,
that pot full of money, so I asked some successful people.
THEY TOLD ME that there isn't enough "pull" to go around.
That if you sit back and depend on "pull" to get you places,
you are apt to land in a pauper's grave "Pull" Stone Park!
This is the big mistake made by the hobo on the park
bench.
He thinks: If only I had "pull."
He sees fancy cars driving by, sees people eating in fancy
restaurants, and figures "pull" made this possible for them.
He bewails the fact he never had any "pull".
That is his mistake, sitting back waiting for luck, for op-
portunity, for "pull."
The man who gets places makes his own "pull."
A Pork Bench Dream
You never can tell what will happen when you dream on
a park bench if you keep your eyes open.
One day more than 46 years ago, G. I. Plummer sat down
on a bench across from a car barn. And because he was
tired and broke he decided to look for a job with the street
car company that operated the barn. He got a job sweep-
ing floors.
Today Plummer is one of the headmen of the firm, one
of the largest in the South. But Plummer wouldn't have
been sitting on that park bench back in 1906 if he hadn't
made a mistake. He had gotten lost and had walked to the
outskirts before coming to the park and the car barn.
That mistake turned out to be a "success secret" for
Plummer, however, because he used his opportunity. At
nights he attended school, took a practical drawing cor-
respondence course, and enrolled in the famous Alexander
Hamilton Institute for business training.
As a result, Plummer's progress to the top of his company
was steady. But the hard work of night and correspondence
school isn't all of his story.
Recently Plummer attended a celebration in his honor
as the man with the longest service with his company.
Isn't that a real climax to a dream that started out on a
park bench?
"Pull" Can Be Manufactured
When you read the Master Formula you'll quickly see
how to manufacture as much "pull" as you want.
But "pull" is as deceitful as luck is unreliable.
A general was asked to give a speech. He didn't know
what to talk about
On entering a meeting room he noticed a sign on the door
that said, "Push."
Standing up in front of his audience he said, "If youll
turn and look at the sign on the entrance door you'll see in
one word the big secret of how to become a success."
The audience turned to look at the door. Naturally they
saw the inside of the door, not the outside as had the gen-
eral.
They read, "Pull."
P.S. Even this "pull" has been removed by alert fire
marshals! Doors must open out in most meeting places, so
the same audience today would see the right word "push."
"Push" Not "Pull" Is the Secret
The general had an idea. He just mis-fired on it.
For he knew, as did my 1,000 successful men and women,
that it is "push," not "pull," that makes you a success.
You can push your way to the top.
It is too hard to pull your way up.
It is easier to push a wheelbarrow than to try to pull it.
Watch any successful laborer.
He pushes not pulls.
Try this yourself.
"Pull" Is Limited In Extent
There is not enough "pull" to go around.
"Pull" is always limited. Few get it.
When they do get it, they are apt to muff it. Because
"pull" weakens you.
Trying to get "pull" with the boss, with a customer, with
a friend, with the Lord is a waste of time.
Better to push than to pull. For there isn't enough "pull"
to be passed around by the boss, the customer, or the
friend.
"Pull" is limited in scope.
Ask the beggar sitting on the park bench. He's waited all
of his lifetime for the "pull," the "break" that never comes.
His momentum is at low ebb, so that when "pull" does
occur, he isn't able to capitalize on it, to put it to advantage.
"Push" would have done him more good.
"Pull" Is Only Good for Boot Straps
About the only time "pull" helps is in putting on boots.
You can pull them on easier by the boot straps.
It is "know-how" that gives you this sort of "pulling
power."
"Pulling power" is good. "Pull" is not.
You can, in fact, pull yourself up the ladder of success.
It is hard to be under yourself to give you push. You pull
yourself up by will-power, by thought.
Just don't depend on "pull" Lean on "push" instead.
Curtis Sanford got fired from an Alabama drug store. He
told his boss he'd return some day with a Cadillac with gold
fenders, and the boss would be glad to give him "curb
service."
Curtis went to Texas, not in a Cadillac, but a bus. He
had no "pull" with anyone. But he got the idea of making
the famous Cotton Bowl into another Rose Bowl for New
Year's games.
Curtis has lots of "push"; thus so successful was he that
the City Fathers of Dallas finally came to him and "took
over." They bought him out. Curtis, when I last saw him,
didn't have gold fenders on his Cadillacbut the brace of
horns in front of it sure looked gold!
I'll bet they made a fine toot when he pulled up in front
of that drug store in Alabama!
Shall I Change My Job?
Some people change their jobs because they think they
haven't got "pull" where they are. "Pull" in a job is not im-
portant. What is important, when you consider changing
your job then? Here's what I think.
It's a funny thing, but job changes don't always work. If
you find it too hot in New Orleans to work, you'll beef
about it being too cold in Minneapolis.
You can get along just as well on the present job as one
that looks better somewhere else; but put yourself and this
other job to this test. Then you'll know whether to make
the move before you use my formula:
1. Do I have enough training and experience to be pretty
sure of doing well at the other job ?
2. In the long run, can I expect a better salary on the
other job than on the one I'm holding?
3. Are the working conditions of the other job as good
as those of my present one?
4. Is the other job as likely to be steady as the one I have
now?
If the answer to more than one of these questions is
"definitely no," then it would be better to stick to the job
you have, as a general rule. Even if the answer to every one
of the four is "yes," go slow.
Consider whether you'd be better off or worse off than
now, just supposing the new job did fold up within a year
or two. You must take risks to be successful, but you'll
never come to the top through luck alone.
Once you do resolve to grab an opportunity though, don't
put off doing so or you may lose it.
Use imagination to look ahead! Use common sense to
guide you in judging what you see! Use courage to make
a definite decision.
Four Words To Gain "Pull"
The kind of "pull" you do want with someone is to have
that someone like you. If that is true, here is a four-word
rule to observe in order to be sure you get "pull":
''First understand then speak"
I like this proverb given to me by my friend, G. Guajardo
Davis of Mexico City.
In typical Spanish styling, it tells a big success secret that
will put anyone on the top of the pile.
Only too often in our daily contacts in the business world
or at home, we speak before we understand.
We are too prone to shout, "You don't understand me!"
We run off "half shod."
If we had listened to the other person for a minute or
two longer, we might have understood his point of view;
then we could have spoken with more authority.
Therefore, I'd suggest for you to get "pull" that you un-
derstand all you can about the other person, his views or
ideas, before you talk.
Then he'll be more willing to listen. You've got "pull"
with him.
"Push" and "Pull" Are Everywhere
When you look upon getting "pull" as making someone
like you, then you can understand why "pull" can be every-
where*
But depending too much on it isn't too good. For often
when "pull" fails, "push" will take over.
However, if you sit back and say, "If I had "pull" I'd go
places" then even "push" won't help you.
So discard the idea at once that "pull" is needed. It is
nice to have it, but remember:
"Doors open easier when you give them a great big push,
than if you have to pull them/'
When you push them you go forward. When you pull
them you must stop and back away, before the door will open.
So learn how to manufacture both "pull" when it means
making friends, and "push."
"Push" Sends Rockets Nearly to the Moon Only
When They Near the Moon Does "Pull" Take Over.
Chapter 4.
MUST YOU BE BORN WITH MONEY
TO BECOME A SUCCESS?
How important is being born with a "gold spoon" in be-
coming a success in life? Can money buy success?
CAN YOU TAKE the money you inherit and put it on the
barrel head and buy success by the pound ?
Will money "make money?"
Traveling around as a newspaperman, seeing rich men
all around me, seeing successful people people owning their
own business, or running them from plush offices, I figured
perhaps they had money to get to these top places.
So I checked up on my theory.
I saw, for example, Charlie Wilson, former head of Gen-
eral Electric Company. He once worked for $4 a week.
John P. Mansfield, in 1920, was a factory worker. In 1952,
in America, the "Land of Opportunity," he became the
president of Plymouth Motors.
Charlie Schwab got his start pushing (not pulling) a
wheelbarrow.
The head of Arrow Shirts once worked as a clerk in a
retail store.
Vincent Riggio, president today of Lucky Strikes, once
was a barber, then a salesman for his firm. Today he is the
head.
None of these men had money to start them off.
Money Is Apt To Hurt You
Money is apt to weaken your effort You don't work so
hard. You relax, and then the slow turtle, the phigger, passes
you by.
Hershey, the candy bar king, once had to sell his choco-
lates off a little wagon. He had no golden spoon to help him.
Wrigley, the chewing gum man, used to sell soap chips
door-to-door to make a living.
If he had been born with money, he might not have had
the urge, perhaps would not have needed an urge, to make
him create the great chewing-gum firm.
Money oftentimes lulls you falsely into over-relaxation,
and then somebody passes you by up the ladder of Success,
Fame, and Fortune.
Money Is Not Needed
Giannini, who headed that famous chain of banks in
California, wasn't born with money.
He needed money. So he sold vegetables off a truck to get
his start.
John Hartford started his 15,000 A & P stores with one
"hole in the wall" in 1912.
"Oscar" of Waldorf fame was once a bus boy.
Ralph Hix, the late head of the New Yorker Hotel, was
also a bus boy and also was not born with money.
It seems money doesn't necessarily help you make a
success.
Look at the backgrounds of men at the top, around you,
and you'll find only too often they were once "poor boys."
So don't begrudge the fact you weren't born with money,
for your chances of going to the top are better.
Golden Spoons Will Tarnish Fast
Money gives you a false sense of security; that is, if it has
been given to you, for then you have no way of knowing
how important it is.
But if, as with these men I have just mentioned, you
earn that money yourself, then somehow or other you know
how to hang on to it.
It has relative value.
You know how hard it was to earn so you make it hard
for it to get away.
Gold spoons tarnish fast Many a boy or girl born with
money soon loses it.
Many a widow who inherits it loses it just as fast.
Be glad you will have to earn your money. It will have
more meaning, will buy you more happiness.
One thousand of my newspaper story successes proved this
to me.
How To Borrow Money
There may come a time when you need some money to
buy a few work supplies.
There is no mystery to borrowing money. Any banker
will tell you that.
Here are four successful hints to use when you drop
around for a loan:
1. Think out the interview in advance.
2. Start your conversation by explaining exactly what
you want the money for; how long you will need it; and
how you'll pay it back.
3. Be prepared to offer some type of security.
4. Don't promise more than you can do.
How To Build Financial Credit
Once you get money, you will need to build up financial
confidence in a community. Here is how:
Most important of all pay the loan on time.
Bank credit is a very important factor in your future
success.
So establish a good reputation and you'll be welcomed
back.
Visit your banker. Get to know him. Get him to know
you.
It is a lot easier to do business with people you know, and
your banker is surely one youll want to know.
And he wants to know you> too.
Money Itself Won't Work
But as I've said, money all by itself won't turn Castles in
Spain into something real.
So don't get a loan, and then sit back and hope that is
all that is needed.
Worse yet, don't sit back waiting for a mythical pot of
gold to make its appearance.
The chance of winning a fortune on a radio program is
very remote.
Many a son has made his fortune while he was waiting
for his rich uncle to die!
Eric Johnston, the movie man and censor, late of govern-
ment fame, sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door.
He had no money, nor security to borrow it. Neither did
Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, or other movie stars.
They made it.
Did You Know?
There is such a thing today as a Horatio Alger Awards
Committee of 3,000 people.
That this great American tradition of recognizing success
hasn't died down ?
That here were the men who recently won these awards:
Ralph Bunche, 1950 Nobel Peace Prize winner, worked
his way through college as a janitor.
Milton Eisenhower, President of Pennsylvania State Col-
lege, earned his way through school as a farm boy.
James J. Kerrigan, President of Merck & Co., started with
them at $3 a week.
Charles Kettering, General Motors research consultant,
was a telephone lineman.
Thomas E. Millsop, President of Weirton Steel Co., began
as a laborer.
Norman Vincent fede, Ecclesiastical figure, was a grocery
boy in small Ohio town.
W, A. Roberts, President of Allis Chalmers, educated him-
self on an Ozark farm.
Remember, the day and spirit of Horatio Alger hasn't
died!
Dreams Aren*t Made from Gold Linings.
TO BECOME A SUCCESS?
How important is being born with a "gold spoon" in be-
coming a success in life? Can money buy success?
CAN YOU TAKE the money you inherit and put it on the
barrel head and buy success by the pound ?
Will money "make money?"
Traveling around as a newspaperman, seeing rich men
all around me, seeing successful people people owning their
own business, or running them from plush offices, I figured
perhaps they had money to get to these top places.
So I checked up on my theory.
I saw, for example, Charlie Wilson, former head of Gen-
eral Electric Company. He once worked for $4 a week.
John P. Mansfield, in 1920, was a factory worker. In 1952,
in America, the "Land of Opportunity," he became the
president of Plymouth Motors.
Charlie Schwab got his start pushing (not pulling) a
wheelbarrow.
The head of Arrow Shirts once worked as a clerk in a
retail store.
Vincent Riggio, president today of Lucky Strikes, once
was a barber, then a salesman for his firm. Today he is the
head.
None of these men had money to start them off.
Money Is Apt To Hurt You
Money is apt to weaken your effort You don't work so
hard. You relax, and then the slow turtle, the phigger, passes
you by.
Hershey, the candy bar king, once had to sell his choco-
lates off a little wagon. He had no golden spoon to help him.
Wrigley, the chewing gum man, used to sell soap chips
door-to-door to make a living.
If he had been born with money, he might not have had
the urge, perhaps would not have needed an urge, to make
him create the great chewing-gum firm.
Money oftentimes lulls you falsely into over-relaxation,
and then somebody passes you by up the ladder of Success,
Fame, and Fortune.
Money Is Not Needed
Giannini, who headed that famous chain of banks in
California, wasn't born with money.
He needed money. So he sold vegetables off a truck to get
his start.
John Hartford started his 15,000 A & P stores with one
"hole in the wall" in 1912.
"Oscar" of Waldorf fame was once a bus boy.
Ralph Hix, the late head of the New Yorker Hotel, was
also a bus boy and also was not born with money.
It seems money doesn't necessarily help you make a
success.
Look at the backgrounds of men at the top, around you,
and you'll find only too often they were once "poor boys."
So don't begrudge the fact you weren't born with money,
for your chances of going to the top are better.
Golden Spoons Will Tarnish Fast
Money gives you a false sense of security; that is, if it has
been given to you, for then you have no way of knowing
how important it is.
But if, as with these men I have just mentioned, you
earn that money yourself, then somehow or other you know
how to hang on to it.
It has relative value.
You know how hard it was to earn so you make it hard
for it to get away.
Gold spoons tarnish fast Many a boy or girl born with
money soon loses it.
Many a widow who inherits it loses it just as fast.
Be glad you will have to earn your money. It will have
more meaning, will buy you more happiness.
One thousand of my newspaper story successes proved this
to me.
How To Borrow Money
There may come a time when you need some money to
buy a few work supplies.
There is no mystery to borrowing money. Any banker
will tell you that.
Here are four successful hints to use when you drop
around for a loan:
1. Think out the interview in advance.
2. Start your conversation by explaining exactly what
you want the money for; how long you will need it; and
how you'll pay it back.
3. Be prepared to offer some type of security.
4. Don't promise more than you can do.
How To Build Financial Credit
Once you get money, you will need to build up financial
confidence in a community. Here is how:
Most important of all pay the loan on time.
Bank credit is a very important factor in your future
success.
So establish a good reputation and you'll be welcomed
back.
Visit your banker. Get to know him. Get him to know
you.
It is a lot easier to do business with people you know, and
your banker is surely one youll want to know.
And he wants to know you> too.
Money Itself Won't Work
But as I've said, money all by itself won't turn Castles in
Spain into something real.
So don't get a loan, and then sit back and hope that is
all that is needed.
Worse yet, don't sit back waiting for a mythical pot of
gold to make its appearance.
The chance of winning a fortune on a radio program is
very remote.
Many a son has made his fortune while he was waiting
for his rich uncle to die!
Eric Johnston, the movie man and censor, late of govern-
ment fame, sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door.
He had no money, nor security to borrow it. Neither did
Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, or other movie stars.
They made it.
Did You Know?
There is such a thing today as a Horatio Alger Awards
Committee of 3,000 people.
That this great American tradition of recognizing success
hasn't died down ?
That here were the men who recently won these awards:
Ralph Bunche, 1950 Nobel Peace Prize winner, worked
his way through college as a janitor.
Milton Eisenhower, President of Pennsylvania State Col-
lege, earned his way through school as a farm boy.
James J. Kerrigan, President of Merck & Co., started with
them at $3 a week.
Charles Kettering, General Motors research consultant,
was a telephone lineman.
Thomas E. Millsop, President of Weirton Steel Co., began
as a laborer.
Norman Vincent fede, Ecclesiastical figure, was a grocery
boy in small Ohio town.
W, A. Roberts, President of Allis Chalmers, educated him-
self on an Ozark farm.
Remember, the day and spirit of Horatio Alger hasn't
died!
Dreams Aren*t Made from Gold Linings.
Chapter 5.
IS EDUCATION NECESSARY TO
BECOME A SUCCESS?
Will the man with the most diplomas and the largest
library in town, be the biggest success?
"NOPE" say my 1,000 successful men and women!
Education won't harm you, all agreed, but it is definitely
not a guarantee of success.
"Book learning" seems to be one thing, but "common-
sense learning" is quite another thing.
In fact, people who have "sense" seem to go places faster
and stay there longer than people with just plain "formal
education,"
The school room is important.
But the streets of experience seem to be better*
Take Ford For Example
I am told that Henry Ford had just six years of what we
call "grammar school" education.
Yet the man made money had friends and did a lot
for humanity.
Would a college education have helped him more?
How could he have done more?
He changed the entire mode of living, for all humanity,
with his Ford automobile.
He made suburbs possible made farms more delightful
to live on, and produced lots of work for road builders.
I think Henry was quite satisfied with his lack of "formal
education."
He didn't miss the college he never attended.
Seven Rules More Important Than Education
While, as I say, don't by-pass formal education, here are
seven rules anyone can put to good use to condition him in
life for what lies ahead:
1. Try to be worth more than your employer pays you.
Think in terms of how much you can do, not how little;
how well you can do it, not how you can "get by."
2. Study the people about you. Be a good listener and
you'll be a good leader.
3. Use your initiative. It's usually better to do something
even if you're sometimes wrong than to do nothing.
4. Avoid petty politics. Squabbles of a personal nature
often cause happy associations to fade.
5. Use good manners. It doesn't cost anything to be
polite and you may be surprised at the results.
6. Be reliable. When an employer has a choice between
an erratic genius and a steady worker, hell usually choose
the person he can count on to do a job every day.
7. Know what you want to do and where you're headed.
How to Become "Educated"
The answer is on the wall in a New York restaurant
where next to a stuffed fish is a sign: "Take a tip from me
I wouldn't be here if had kept my mouth shut!"
You can't learn when your mouth is open. Close it and
you'll add to your education.
Nature deliberately made your mouth to be closed and
your ears to be open. Talk ten seconds and listen ten
minutes.
H. K. Curtis, the famous magazine publisher, was a past
master of these principles. In his youth, as a young ad-
vertising salesman, he made it a point to make a fast but
complete presentation, giving his prospect ample time to
make his decision.
Then he rose quickly and started for the door. He wanted
to be sure that his prospect knew that he would not take
too much valuable time.
Curtis was not abrupt or discourteous, nor did he fail to
cover completely his selling points. He merely excluded all
unnecessary chatter. And most of all - He knew when to
stop talking.
Charles T. Lipscomb Jr., president of the Pepsodent com-
pany, is another who is impressed by the importance of
stopping before your prospect is tired. Charley tells of a
trip he made as a young salesman to the mountains of
Tennessee.
An old timer sitting on nail keg in front of his mountain
store listened to a long sales presentation and finally told
Lipscomb:
"Young feller, I like the product and Fm going to buy
it. But let me give you a word of advice: You talk too darn
much."
What's true in selling is true in everything don't talk
yourself out of success. Listen to what the other fellow has
to say instead* You'll get a real education that way.
Two Steps To Success Without Education
While formal education "never hurt nobody," ambition
and drive will replace a lot of years in school.
Anyone with normal intelligence and who has a reason
to want to be successful can reach the very top if he or
she will work hard enough.
That's been my observation for years and today more and
more social scientists are agreeing.
You will find most men of achievement have a great deal
of steam behind them, although many have had inferior
formal educations.
Charles E. Wilson, former president of General Electric
and U.S. Mobilization chief, never finished high school.
Gen, George Patton, one of our greatest generals, was so
far below average it took him five years instead of the
normal four to finish West Point.
Thomas Mann, the author, was not a good student, while
Albert Einstein was slow even in learning to walk.
Thomas Edison actually was considered stupid by his
father and for the short time he attended school was at the
bottom of his class.
There are hundreds of other successful men I could
mention. But these few examples will help you remember
our success secret for the day.
A friend of mine expresses it this way: A rich man is
nothing but a poor man with money!
Work hard and you can change from poor to rich as
easily as the next man.
Take Old Tom Edison
Good thing Edison was not burdened down with "formal
education/'
He might have figured, with other diplomaed engineers,
that the light bulb could not be invented. According to
engineers, the bumble bee "can't fly" built as he is.
They told the Wright Brothers things couldn't fly, but
the brothers lacked such "learnin' " and just went ahead and
invented the flying machine.
If Tom Edison had gone to an engineering school maybe
he'd have invented the phonograph just a little sooner.
Then again maybe they'd have convinced him, engineer-
ing-wise, that it could not be invented.
I do know they say when Edison made 10,000 tries and
failed, his only remark was: "Now I know 10,000 ways not
to do it!"
Don't By-pass Education
Don't regret not having "book learnin'" under a pro-
fessional teacher.
Many people can't read or study diligently without the
prodding of a teacher, without a daily set time, in a school
room, to study.
Others can take a home correspondence school course
and have the initiative to study by themselves.
Either way, education helps.
Reading newspapers, trade journals, books by mail, gives
you just as much information as going to a school to get it.
Although Ford and Edison and the Wright Brothers and
others may not have had the advantage of going to a col-
lege, they were as educated as any college processor.
Education need not be secured in an ivy hall.
It can be secured just as well in a hall bedroom.
What Is Education Anyway?
Education can be "know-how" on a technical subject that
only books can give you.
Or it can be information you can secure as an apprentice
by working for an experienced "hand."
Some professions require formal education, such as being
a doctor or a dentist. They take training under experts.
Yet some of our best lawyers were self-trained. Take
Lincoln, for example.
To me, education is knowing where to find information.
You can't possibly learn everything in a school room, but
if you learn just one thing: where to find what you want,
then you can be a success.
When at a trial an opposing lawyer tried to prove that
Henry Ford was supposed to be "ignorant'* because he
lacked formal education, Henry sure got back at the lawyer.
When the lawyer asked Henry a lot of fancy questions,
Henry said, "I hire men to find such information for me."
So Don't Miss Education
My little Master Formula, which we are getting closer to
chapter by chapter, doesn't require you to have a formal
education.
I am convinced after talking to so many people who have
made money, and all since the last two wars, that education
is not a requirement to success.
Don't feel that the days of the Ford, the Edison, the
Wanamaker are over with that folks can't make money
"like in the old days." Or that big business is the only place
to make it these days, for shortly I'll cite many, many names
and actual places where "ordinary folks" are making for-
tunes today.
Making fortunes because they ask "how" and never ever
use the word "if."
The Most Practical Diploma is Earned in the
School of Hard Knocks.
BECOME A SUCCESS?
Will the man with the most diplomas and the largest
library in town, be the biggest success?
"NOPE" say my 1,000 successful men and women!
Education won't harm you, all agreed, but it is definitely
not a guarantee of success.
"Book learning" seems to be one thing, but "common-
sense learning" is quite another thing.
In fact, people who have "sense" seem to go places faster
and stay there longer than people with just plain "formal
education,"
The school room is important.
But the streets of experience seem to be better*
Take Ford For Example
I am told that Henry Ford had just six years of what we
call "grammar school" education.
Yet the man made money had friends and did a lot
for humanity.
Would a college education have helped him more?
How could he have done more?
He changed the entire mode of living, for all humanity,
with his Ford automobile.
He made suburbs possible made farms more delightful
to live on, and produced lots of work for road builders.
I think Henry was quite satisfied with his lack of "formal
education."
He didn't miss the college he never attended.
Seven Rules More Important Than Education
While, as I say, don't by-pass formal education, here are
seven rules anyone can put to good use to condition him in
life for what lies ahead:
1. Try to be worth more than your employer pays you.
Think in terms of how much you can do, not how little;
how well you can do it, not how you can "get by."
2. Study the people about you. Be a good listener and
you'll be a good leader.
3. Use your initiative. It's usually better to do something
even if you're sometimes wrong than to do nothing.
4. Avoid petty politics. Squabbles of a personal nature
often cause happy associations to fade.
5. Use good manners. It doesn't cost anything to be
polite and you may be surprised at the results.
6. Be reliable. When an employer has a choice between
an erratic genius and a steady worker, hell usually choose
the person he can count on to do a job every day.
7. Know what you want to do and where you're headed.
How to Become "Educated"
The answer is on the wall in a New York restaurant
where next to a stuffed fish is a sign: "Take a tip from me
I wouldn't be here if had kept my mouth shut!"
You can't learn when your mouth is open. Close it and
you'll add to your education.
Nature deliberately made your mouth to be closed and
your ears to be open. Talk ten seconds and listen ten
minutes.
H. K. Curtis, the famous magazine publisher, was a past
master of these principles. In his youth, as a young ad-
vertising salesman, he made it a point to make a fast but
complete presentation, giving his prospect ample time to
make his decision.
Then he rose quickly and started for the door. He wanted
to be sure that his prospect knew that he would not take
too much valuable time.
Curtis was not abrupt or discourteous, nor did he fail to
cover completely his selling points. He merely excluded all
unnecessary chatter. And most of all - He knew when to
stop talking.
Charles T. Lipscomb Jr., president of the Pepsodent com-
pany, is another who is impressed by the importance of
stopping before your prospect is tired. Charley tells of a
trip he made as a young salesman to the mountains of
Tennessee.
An old timer sitting on nail keg in front of his mountain
store listened to a long sales presentation and finally told
Lipscomb:
"Young feller, I like the product and Fm going to buy
it. But let me give you a word of advice: You talk too darn
much."
What's true in selling is true in everything don't talk
yourself out of success. Listen to what the other fellow has
to say instead* You'll get a real education that way.
Two Steps To Success Without Education
While formal education "never hurt nobody," ambition
and drive will replace a lot of years in school.
Anyone with normal intelligence and who has a reason
to want to be successful can reach the very top if he or
she will work hard enough.
That's been my observation for years and today more and
more social scientists are agreeing.
You will find most men of achievement have a great deal
of steam behind them, although many have had inferior
formal educations.
Charles E. Wilson, former president of General Electric
and U.S. Mobilization chief, never finished high school.
Gen, George Patton, one of our greatest generals, was so
far below average it took him five years instead of the
normal four to finish West Point.
Thomas Mann, the author, was not a good student, while
Albert Einstein was slow even in learning to walk.
Thomas Edison actually was considered stupid by his
father and for the short time he attended school was at the
bottom of his class.
There are hundreds of other successful men I could
mention. But these few examples will help you remember
our success secret for the day.
A friend of mine expresses it this way: A rich man is
nothing but a poor man with money!
Work hard and you can change from poor to rich as
easily as the next man.
Take Old Tom Edison
Good thing Edison was not burdened down with "formal
education/'
He might have figured, with other diplomaed engineers,
that the light bulb could not be invented. According to
engineers, the bumble bee "can't fly" built as he is.
They told the Wright Brothers things couldn't fly, but
the brothers lacked such "learnin' " and just went ahead and
invented the flying machine.
If Tom Edison had gone to an engineering school maybe
he'd have invented the phonograph just a little sooner.
Then again maybe they'd have convinced him, engineer-
ing-wise, that it could not be invented.
I do know they say when Edison made 10,000 tries and
failed, his only remark was: "Now I know 10,000 ways not
to do it!"
Don't By-pass Education
Don't regret not having "book learnin'" under a pro-
fessional teacher.
Many people can't read or study diligently without the
prodding of a teacher, without a daily set time, in a school
room, to study.
Others can take a home correspondence school course
and have the initiative to study by themselves.
Either way, education helps.
Reading newspapers, trade journals, books by mail, gives
you just as much information as going to a school to get it.
Although Ford and Edison and the Wright Brothers and
others may not have had the advantage of going to a col-
lege, they were as educated as any college processor.
Education need not be secured in an ivy hall.
It can be secured just as well in a hall bedroom.
What Is Education Anyway?
Education can be "know-how" on a technical subject that
only books can give you.
Or it can be information you can secure as an apprentice
by working for an experienced "hand."
Some professions require formal education, such as being
a doctor or a dentist. They take training under experts.
Yet some of our best lawyers were self-trained. Take
Lincoln, for example.
To me, education is knowing where to find information.
You can't possibly learn everything in a school room, but
if you learn just one thing: where to find what you want,
then you can be a success.
When at a trial an opposing lawyer tried to prove that
Henry Ford was supposed to be "ignorant'* because he
lacked formal education, Henry sure got back at the lawyer.
When the lawyer asked Henry a lot of fancy questions,
Henry said, "I hire men to find such information for me."
So Don't Miss Education
My little Master Formula, which we are getting closer to
chapter by chapter, doesn't require you to have a formal
education.
I am convinced after talking to so many people who have
made money, and all since the last two wars, that education
is not a requirement to success.
Don't feel that the days of the Ford, the Edison, the
Wanamaker are over with that folks can't make money
"like in the old days." Or that big business is the only place
to make it these days, for shortly I'll cite many, many names
and actual places where "ordinary folks" are making for-
tunes today.
Making fortunes because they ask "how" and never ever
use the word "if."
The Most Practical Diploma is Earned in the
School of Hard Knocks.
Chapter 6.
IS SUCCESS DUE TO WHERE
YOU'RE BORN?
Are people born in the North likely to be more suc-
cessful than those born in the South? Has climate any-
thing to do with success?
DOES THE AIR you breathe affect your success ?
Do the minerals in the land around where you are born,
that get into your system through drinking water and vege-
tables, control your success?
I believe not.
My 1,000 Success Secret men and women are from every
state in the Union, many from distant lands.
Yet, one and all have become a success in the field they
have most wanted.
Hot Weather No Deterrent
Weather may slow you up. Make you move less slowly,
but it doesn't deter success.
Newton sat dreamily under an apple tree, slowed up by
the weather no doubt, yet when an apple hit him on the
noggin he started to think.
His muscles may have been slowed up by the summer or
his own laziness at the moment, but his mind was still
active.
Long, cold winter nights are more conducive to study
than life under the moon in the tropics, but that doesn't
mean people are less successful in tropical weather.
A Mexican can be as successful with a three-hour noon-
time siesta as the Canadian who must run between calls to
keep warm.
Weather isn't important to success.
Take The Traveling Salesman
You can transfer a good salesman anywhere in the world,
and if he's good in one place he is often good in all places.
Sure, his success might vary slightly but somehow or
other success in one place can mean success in other places.
Transfer a dud salesman, trying to fit him where he can
produce, and only too often you still find him a dud.
Circumstances in climate might affect some folks, but on
the whole people can be a success anywhere providing they
have that urge to think "How" not "if."
Ask any salesmanager whose men travel.
Chain Stores Prove the Point
Once a fellow gets an idea that clicks in one spot, he can
often make it click anywhere.
That is why chain stores are found everywhere.
The idea clicks in every city, once it has clicked in one
city.
Yes, sometimes a restaurant won't "go" outside of New
York. But that is rare. For, once the dreamers build their
Castle in Spain of brick and mortar in one city and make it
work, then the chances of its going elsewhere are equally
promising.
There are food chains, tire chains, car chains, bank chains,
and money lending chains. Climate rarely affects them.
J. C. Penney has successful stores in 150 cities, and so has
W. T. Grant, and Mr. Sears and his partner Roebuck.
So look in your own front yard, or back yard, on your
own Main Street for your success.
It lies there as much as in New York, London, or Paris.
That is, if you don't use "if" but "how'/ that one magic
word that every chain store executive uses more than any-
thing else.
"How" says he, "can we open up in Memphis!"
What Is Success?
You see success doesn't mean lots of money. It doesn't
mean marrying a rich widow or a charming prince.
It can mean anything.
Success, you see, is getting what you want most, whether
it is money, marriage, new dresses, or a new place to live in.
Success is gaining your highest ambition.
That is why the South American can become a success
simply by getting more hours a day in which to siesta. To
him, that might be success over somebody else who cannot
afford to sleep during the day.
Success therefore is relative,
Climate Has No Bearing
Success to the man in Alaska might be two igloos in
which to live, rather than just one.
The Frenchman's success might be to have a pretty wife,
lots of music and champagne, when he is unmarried and has
to drink just plain wine.
The German might believe success to him will be a
bigger home and more children. The Italian, the Dutchman,
the American all have individual ideas o success.
The Northerner might figure the Southerner is slow; but
the Southerner feels the Northerner is just burning him-
self out rushing too much.
The climate he lives in, you see, may make a difference
in what someone thinks of when he thinks of success, but
the climate has no bearing on what it takes to achieve that
success.
How To Remember People
Where you are born has little effect on whether you will
be a success or not, but remembering names and people
everywhere you go does have a big effect on your success.
Let me just toss in five simple ways to remember names:
1. Whenever you hear a name, repeat it once that helps
fix it in your memory.
2. Use it two or three times in speaking to the man you
are introduced to.
3. Whenever you use the name, make a mental picture of
the man, which further helps etch the name in your
memory.
4. Write down all the new names you have come in con-
tact with during the day.
Note in your mind's eyes the way they were dressed, the
conversation you had and another mental snapshot of how
they looked.
5. Endeavor to call new names and faces to mind and as-
sociate the two.
Try this "art of remembering" for one month. Use it for
names. Use it for remembering things you want to learn.
And you'll find all names and all things simple and easy
to remember. Use it to help you remember the Master
Formula when it unfolds later on.
I'd give this formula to you now but as in school, cer-
tain things precede others.
To leap into the Master Formula without this condition-
ing would weaken its effect in making you a success.
Live Where You Want
Maybe your success is to be on the top floor of the Empire
State Building with a big office.
Maybe it is having three servants on an island in the
South Pacific.
It might be having three weeks' vacation a year instead
of one; or having a vacation yearly in Miami instead of at
Lake Placid in the summer.
Success to you may not be success to me.
So live where you want.
Firecrackers Make the Same Noise Everywhere.
YOU'RE BORN?
Are people born in the North likely to be more suc-
cessful than those born in the South? Has climate any-
thing to do with success?
DOES THE AIR you breathe affect your success ?
Do the minerals in the land around where you are born,
that get into your system through drinking water and vege-
tables, control your success?
I believe not.
My 1,000 Success Secret men and women are from every
state in the Union, many from distant lands.
Yet, one and all have become a success in the field they
have most wanted.
Hot Weather No Deterrent
Weather may slow you up. Make you move less slowly,
but it doesn't deter success.
Newton sat dreamily under an apple tree, slowed up by
the weather no doubt, yet when an apple hit him on the
noggin he started to think.
His muscles may have been slowed up by the summer or
his own laziness at the moment, but his mind was still
active.
Long, cold winter nights are more conducive to study
than life under the moon in the tropics, but that doesn't
mean people are less successful in tropical weather.
A Mexican can be as successful with a three-hour noon-
time siesta as the Canadian who must run between calls to
keep warm.
Weather isn't important to success.
Take The Traveling Salesman
You can transfer a good salesman anywhere in the world,
and if he's good in one place he is often good in all places.
Sure, his success might vary slightly but somehow or
other success in one place can mean success in other places.
Transfer a dud salesman, trying to fit him where he can
produce, and only too often you still find him a dud.
Circumstances in climate might affect some folks, but on
the whole people can be a success anywhere providing they
have that urge to think "How" not "if."
Ask any salesmanager whose men travel.
Chain Stores Prove the Point
Once a fellow gets an idea that clicks in one spot, he can
often make it click anywhere.
That is why chain stores are found everywhere.
The idea clicks in every city, once it has clicked in one
city.
Yes, sometimes a restaurant won't "go" outside of New
York. But that is rare. For, once the dreamers build their
Castle in Spain of brick and mortar in one city and make it
work, then the chances of its going elsewhere are equally
promising.
There are food chains, tire chains, car chains, bank chains,
and money lending chains. Climate rarely affects them.
J. C. Penney has successful stores in 150 cities, and so has
W. T. Grant, and Mr. Sears and his partner Roebuck.
So look in your own front yard, or back yard, on your
own Main Street for your success.
It lies there as much as in New York, London, or Paris.
That is, if you don't use "if" but "how'/ that one magic
word that every chain store executive uses more than any-
thing else.
"How" says he, "can we open up in Memphis!"
What Is Success?
You see success doesn't mean lots of money. It doesn't
mean marrying a rich widow or a charming prince.
It can mean anything.
Success, you see, is getting what you want most, whether
it is money, marriage, new dresses, or a new place to live in.
Success is gaining your highest ambition.
That is why the South American can become a success
simply by getting more hours a day in which to siesta. To
him, that might be success over somebody else who cannot
afford to sleep during the day.
Success therefore is relative,
Climate Has No Bearing
Success to the man in Alaska might be two igloos in
which to live, rather than just one.
The Frenchman's success might be to have a pretty wife,
lots of music and champagne, when he is unmarried and has
to drink just plain wine.
The German might believe success to him will be a
bigger home and more children. The Italian, the Dutchman,
the American all have individual ideas o success.
The Northerner might figure the Southerner is slow; but
the Southerner feels the Northerner is just burning him-
self out rushing too much.
The climate he lives in, you see, may make a difference
in what someone thinks of when he thinks of success, but
the climate has no bearing on what it takes to achieve that
success.
How To Remember People
Where you are born has little effect on whether you will
be a success or not, but remembering names and people
everywhere you go does have a big effect on your success.
Let me just toss in five simple ways to remember names:
1. Whenever you hear a name, repeat it once that helps
fix it in your memory.
2. Use it two or three times in speaking to the man you
are introduced to.
3. Whenever you use the name, make a mental picture of
the man, which further helps etch the name in your
memory.
4. Write down all the new names you have come in con-
tact with during the day.
Note in your mind's eyes the way they were dressed, the
conversation you had and another mental snapshot of how
they looked.
5. Endeavor to call new names and faces to mind and as-
sociate the two.
Try this "art of remembering" for one month. Use it for
names. Use it for remembering things you want to learn.
And you'll find all names and all things simple and easy
to remember. Use it to help you remember the Master
Formula when it unfolds later on.
I'd give this formula to you now but as in school, cer-
tain things precede others.
To leap into the Master Formula without this condition-
ing would weaken its effect in making you a success.
Live Where You Want
Maybe your success is to be on the top floor of the Empire
State Building with a big office.
Maybe it is having three servants on an island in the
South Pacific.
It might be having three weeks' vacation a year instead
of one; or having a vacation yearly in Miami instead of at
Lake Placid in the summer.
Success to you may not be success to me.
So live where you want.
Firecrackers Make the Same Noise Everywhere.
Chapter 7.
HOW IMPORTANT IS AGE IN
GAINING SUCCESS?
Age doesn't seem to matter - a boy of 13 invents a paring
knife, a grandmother starts to paint, and others go places
after middle-age.
I SPOKE the other day at the commencement exercises of the
Southwestern Business University in Houston, Texas, and
gave the Master Formula.
It was my thinking that young men and women might
like to learn these six Steps to Success, since they were just
starting out in life.
To my amazement, afterwards some ten elderly men and
women, parents and teachers, came to me and their biggest
comment was:
"I wish I had known those six Steps some 30 years ago
it's too late now!"
So I figure I better set them straight and tell them, and
you, that age has nothing to do with success, that 30 years
"late" is not "too late," and that most success begins after
middle-age.
Clyde Phillips, Houston business-school owner, started his
school when he was in his teens with one class of three
students. He now has 1,250.
Success Is Quite Ageless
Even a boy or girl can put this plan to work, I mentioned
young Tom Blanchard, age 13, who invented the idea of
a potato peeler.
You know about Grandma Moses, the famed painter lady,
who up in her "last half of life" started to paint and now
is a big success.
It's the same with Winston Churchill.
Henry Ford didn't become a success until after middle-
age.
Jan Sibelius is 86. He has lived to hear himself acclaimed
as one of the great masters of the symphony.
Some of the world's greatest painters, greatest business-
men and women, were failures until after 40, some until
50 others even until the age of 60 or 80.
They suddenly decided to become a success, followed the
formula, and became a success.
Age helps rather than holds you back!
The Sizzle Steak Story
No one knows who invented the so-called sizzling steak
with which I am so associated because of the tag line I like
to use: "Don't sell the steak sell the sizzle/*
It is my belief that a good steak sells faster if it sizzles.
Because then you see it, hear it, and smell it sizzle and you
buy three times as fast.
Andy Brockles of Dallas, Texas, perhaps leads the parade
of restaurant men who first made a steak sizzle. It took
years before Andy's idea caught on, but now he owns a
large-size steak house that sizzles.
On the other hand, young Gene Askenasy, an ex-GI, also
dreamed, and his dream was to make the sizzling steak
platters for all the restaurants who were finding that sizzling
steaks were selling fasten
So Andy, over 50, and Gene, under 30, both became big
successes in life. One sells sizzling steaks the other sells,
through his Kalian Products Company of New York City,
the platters.
Hand in hand, young and old become successes in life.
Time means nothing to success!
What Is "Age?"
How old are you?
There are three possible answers to that.
1. Your years. That is, from the date you were born up
to the present*
2. Your health. You can be old in body at 20, or young
in body at 70. Your "health age" is more important than
your "years age.*'
3. Your mind. You can be old at 20, mentally, and at
60 you can be jumping off horses. Your "mind age" is more
important than your "years age."
So when people ask how old you are, it is hard to answer.
You can't say I am 65 years of age, think like a young
buck at 20 and act like a steer at 16!
Yet to include all three is about the only way to be truth-
ful
True age is all three!
People Getting "Older"
Years ago, say in the days of Rome, you were old at 24.
You began to pop off between 20 and 30, due to ailments
and diseases we can now control.
Just since 1900 your life span has gone up many years!
Today you can last close to 70 as a woman, and slightly
under it as a male.
That is just average!
If you are still young in glands and arteries, and young
in mind, you will perhaps beat even this new average.
People are lasting longer. Government figures indicate
there will soon be more people 65 or over than ever in
history.
Insurance folks will back up this figure, too.
Your best chances of having an annual income of $1,000,000
or more will come when you are between 80 and 89 years old,
an Ohio University psychologist reported recently.
Dn H. C. Lehman presented statistics to the annual meet-
ing of the American Psychological Association (APA) show-
ing that in general, people who become big shots in politics,
diplomacy, collegiate administration, military life, industry,
commerce and the high courts of the land usually are at
least 50 years old.
He had a separate category for receivers of earned annual
incomes of $50,000 or more: Persons 60 to 64.
Retiring at 55 or 60 these days is foolish. You are jes'
beginnin', Maw!
So get some new teeth, a new hearing aid, some store-
bought hair and start life over again, only with a lot of real
experience this time.
As Shaw once said, "The only trouble with youth is that
it is wasted on the young!"
Rules for After Age 45
After your 45th birthday, here are a few good rules to
keep in your mind in order to keep in the run:
1. Watch the want ads for those that emphasize ex-
perience.
2. Watch also for ads that seem to call for more experi-
ence than is likely within the age-limit set. For instance,
some ads set 35 as the top age and then demand experience
that only one out of a thousand men or women have when
they are 35. Sometimes you can apply for and get such jobs
"because you have the experience and are young for your
age."
3. Sell yourself and your experience when talking with
a prospective employer. Forget your age.
4. Watch your appearance. Dress conservatively. Don't
try to wear youthful clothes.
5. Keep in good physical condition. If you need it, don't
be afraid to diet. Slim men are trim men. Thin gals are
fine gals.
6. Use your head. But don't don't act your age,
If You're Older - How About Trying Selling?
Many folks, too old to hold down "salary jobs/' could
find plenty of openings in the selling field, but they ask,
"How can I tell whether I should be a salesman?"
Even after all my years in selling that question is a tough
one to answer. But there are three qualities in the make-up
of every successful salesman I know.
First comes appearance. You don't have to be handsome,
of course. But you must be neat, clean and have a pleasant
expression. A smile is essential.
Second is the ability to say things that bring pleasure to
others. You must not flatter too often, but people do like
to hear about themselves.
Third, you must have the desire to be with people, to
please them, to understand them and to serve them.
If you want to be a salesman, the important thing to note
about these three qualities is that you can acquire all three
of them. You can be a successful salesman like so many
others just by working and practicing the art of looking
your best, talking your best, and doing your best!
A Little Poem of Success
And if you want further details here's a little poem I
read recently that just about sums up every other quality
a good salesman needs:
Think deeply,
Speak gently,
Love much,
Laugh often.
Work hard,
Give freely,
Pay promptly.
Pray earnestly,
And be kind.
That's enough! Follow the advice of those short words
and I'll bet you will be a real success in selling in any
business - and in living.
The Day of "Social Security"
Now if you were to ask me why oldsters go places after
40, 50, and even 80 years of age, and make fortunes, I'd say
their biggest asset is "know-how."
"Know how" is their "social security."
You can't live that long without having a few bruised
knuckles and raps on your chin.
That is education. Getting it the hard way, as only ex-
perience can give.
Ezio Pinza, nearing 60, the so-called "retirement age/'
becomes a romantic star in movies and on TV.
So when the boss gives you a banquet, a watch for "20
years of faithful service/' and pats you on the back as he
opens the door to bid you goodby in "your retirement/'
laugh at him.
Take the watch but laugh at him.
You have maybe 15 20 30 years longer in life to hang
a few more pictures on the wall.
Don't plan a life of fishing. That will soon bore you.
Travel for a time, but you can't spend 20 years doing it.
Do anything- but don't retire. That is the beginning of
the end.
You have "age for sale," age and the "know-how" it will
give for somebody when your store teeth, hearing aid, or
toupee isn't the thing they want.
Yep, remember Grandma Moses! At 80 a painter!
Sell Your "Know How" Not Your Years!
GAINING SUCCESS?
Age doesn't seem to matter - a boy of 13 invents a paring
knife, a grandmother starts to paint, and others go places
after middle-age.
I SPOKE the other day at the commencement exercises of the
Southwestern Business University in Houston, Texas, and
gave the Master Formula.
It was my thinking that young men and women might
like to learn these six Steps to Success, since they were just
starting out in life.
To my amazement, afterwards some ten elderly men and
women, parents and teachers, came to me and their biggest
comment was:
"I wish I had known those six Steps some 30 years ago
it's too late now!"
So I figure I better set them straight and tell them, and
you, that age has nothing to do with success, that 30 years
"late" is not "too late," and that most success begins after
middle-age.
Clyde Phillips, Houston business-school owner, started his
school when he was in his teens with one class of three
students. He now has 1,250.
Success Is Quite Ageless
Even a boy or girl can put this plan to work, I mentioned
young Tom Blanchard, age 13, who invented the idea of
a potato peeler.
You know about Grandma Moses, the famed painter lady,
who up in her "last half of life" started to paint and now
is a big success.
It's the same with Winston Churchill.
Henry Ford didn't become a success until after middle-
age.
Jan Sibelius is 86. He has lived to hear himself acclaimed
as one of the great masters of the symphony.
Some of the world's greatest painters, greatest business-
men and women, were failures until after 40, some until
50 others even until the age of 60 or 80.
They suddenly decided to become a success, followed the
formula, and became a success.
Age helps rather than holds you back!
The Sizzle Steak Story
No one knows who invented the so-called sizzling steak
with which I am so associated because of the tag line I like
to use: "Don't sell the steak sell the sizzle/*
It is my belief that a good steak sells faster if it sizzles.
Because then you see it, hear it, and smell it sizzle and you
buy three times as fast.
Andy Brockles of Dallas, Texas, perhaps leads the parade
of restaurant men who first made a steak sizzle. It took
years before Andy's idea caught on, but now he owns a
large-size steak house that sizzles.
On the other hand, young Gene Askenasy, an ex-GI, also
dreamed, and his dream was to make the sizzling steak
platters for all the restaurants who were finding that sizzling
steaks were selling fasten
So Andy, over 50, and Gene, under 30, both became big
successes in life. One sells sizzling steaks the other sells,
through his Kalian Products Company of New York City,
the platters.
Hand in hand, young and old become successes in life.
Time means nothing to success!
What Is "Age?"
How old are you?
There are three possible answers to that.
1. Your years. That is, from the date you were born up
to the present*
2. Your health. You can be old in body at 20, or young
in body at 70. Your "health age" is more important than
your "years age.*'
3. Your mind. You can be old at 20, mentally, and at
60 you can be jumping off horses. Your "mind age" is more
important than your "years age."
So when people ask how old you are, it is hard to answer.
You can't say I am 65 years of age, think like a young
buck at 20 and act like a steer at 16!
Yet to include all three is about the only way to be truth-
ful
True age is all three!
People Getting "Older"
Years ago, say in the days of Rome, you were old at 24.
You began to pop off between 20 and 30, due to ailments
and diseases we can now control.
Just since 1900 your life span has gone up many years!
Today you can last close to 70 as a woman, and slightly
under it as a male.
That is just average!
If you are still young in glands and arteries, and young
in mind, you will perhaps beat even this new average.
People are lasting longer. Government figures indicate
there will soon be more people 65 or over than ever in
history.
Insurance folks will back up this figure, too.
Your best chances of having an annual income of $1,000,000
or more will come when you are between 80 and 89 years old,
an Ohio University psychologist reported recently.
Dn H. C. Lehman presented statistics to the annual meet-
ing of the American Psychological Association (APA) show-
ing that in general, people who become big shots in politics,
diplomacy, collegiate administration, military life, industry,
commerce and the high courts of the land usually are at
least 50 years old.
He had a separate category for receivers of earned annual
incomes of $50,000 or more: Persons 60 to 64.
Retiring at 55 or 60 these days is foolish. You are jes'
beginnin', Maw!
So get some new teeth, a new hearing aid, some store-
bought hair and start life over again, only with a lot of real
experience this time.
As Shaw once said, "The only trouble with youth is that
it is wasted on the young!"
Rules for After Age 45
After your 45th birthday, here are a few good rules to
keep in your mind in order to keep in the run:
1. Watch the want ads for those that emphasize ex-
perience.
2. Watch also for ads that seem to call for more experi-
ence than is likely within the age-limit set. For instance,
some ads set 35 as the top age and then demand experience
that only one out of a thousand men or women have when
they are 35. Sometimes you can apply for and get such jobs
"because you have the experience and are young for your
age."
3. Sell yourself and your experience when talking with
a prospective employer. Forget your age.
4. Watch your appearance. Dress conservatively. Don't
try to wear youthful clothes.
5. Keep in good physical condition. If you need it, don't
be afraid to diet. Slim men are trim men. Thin gals are
fine gals.
6. Use your head. But don't don't act your age,
If You're Older - How About Trying Selling?
Many folks, too old to hold down "salary jobs/' could
find plenty of openings in the selling field, but they ask,
"How can I tell whether I should be a salesman?"
Even after all my years in selling that question is a tough
one to answer. But there are three qualities in the make-up
of every successful salesman I know.
First comes appearance. You don't have to be handsome,
of course. But you must be neat, clean and have a pleasant
expression. A smile is essential.
Second is the ability to say things that bring pleasure to
others. You must not flatter too often, but people do like
to hear about themselves.
Third, you must have the desire to be with people, to
please them, to understand them and to serve them.
If you want to be a salesman, the important thing to note
about these three qualities is that you can acquire all three
of them. You can be a successful salesman like so many
others just by working and practicing the art of looking
your best, talking your best, and doing your best!
A Little Poem of Success
And if you want further details here's a little poem I
read recently that just about sums up every other quality
a good salesman needs:
Think deeply,
Speak gently,
Love much,
Laugh often.
Work hard,
Give freely,
Pay promptly.
Pray earnestly,
And be kind.
That's enough! Follow the advice of those short words
and I'll bet you will be a real success in selling in any
business - and in living.
The Day of "Social Security"
Now if you were to ask me why oldsters go places after
40, 50, and even 80 years of age, and make fortunes, I'd say
their biggest asset is "know-how."
"Know how" is their "social security."
You can't live that long without having a few bruised
knuckles and raps on your chin.
That is education. Getting it the hard way, as only ex-
perience can give.
Ezio Pinza, nearing 60, the so-called "retirement age/'
becomes a romantic star in movies and on TV.
So when the boss gives you a banquet, a watch for "20
years of faithful service/' and pats you on the back as he
opens the door to bid you goodby in "your retirement/'
laugh at him.
Take the watch but laugh at him.
You have maybe 15 20 30 years longer in life to hang
a few more pictures on the wall.
Don't plan a life of fishing. That will soon bore you.
Travel for a time, but you can't spend 20 years doing it.
Do anything- but don't retire. That is the beginning of
the end.
You have "age for sale," age and the "know-how" it will
give for somebody when your store teeth, hearing aid, or
toupee isn't the thing they want.
Yep, remember Grandma Moses! At 80 a painter!
Sell Your "Know How" Not Your Years!
Chapter 8.
IS SUCCESS FOUND ONLY IN
BIG CITIES?
MANY PEOPLE erroneously believe that in order to be a big
success you must live in a big city, that only "big shots" hail
from big towns.
They believe opportunity can be found only in the large
cities where there are supposed to be streets of gold, big
jobs, handsome men and charming ladies!
How wrong they are!
How quickly they realize it when they find the big town
is only too often made up of small-town folks.
They find only too fast the streets are apt to be longer,
wider, colder, and more unfriendly.
True, big cities do produce big things but so do small
towns! s
It's all in what you personally look to find.
Your Own Back Yard
Perhaps there is more success found in back yards than in
glamorous front yards.
More work is done in the kitchen than in the parlor.
Dr. Russell Conwell lectured on, Acres of Diamonds, in
which he told of people who had traveled the world for
love and wealth only to return and find love next door and
wealth in their back yards.
Always the adventuresome go forth to look for diamond
mines, then find that the folks they sold the homestead to,
wake up one morning and find diamonds on it.
That's the true story of the Kimberly Mines in Africa.
Tin mines, gold mines, silvermines all were found in
someone's back yard, after he had left!
So before you take the six Rules and pack them in a suit-
case to try out in New York, London, Paris, or Stockholm
try them in Kalamazoo, Brown wood, or Fort Wayne first!
Small-town Boy Makes Good
Ed Staley, president of W. T. Grant's stores, is a small-
town boy who made good.
He got his start in a town under 10,000 before he went
to a town of 8,000,000.
J. C. Penney sports a fancy office in New York, but his first
one was way back in Wyoming!
The newest president of his stores is also another small-
town boy, making good.
Often I try to find a big-town boy who made good. They
do but ask them, and they have either left the big town or
have a small-town viewpoint.
Just remember to make my formula, or any other formula
work, you don't have to change locale.
No need to rush down for a ticket to a bigger city.
Success lies around you. Watch out you might even be
stepping on a ten-dollar bill right now!
Look Under Your Own Seats
To impress upon his men the value of business that is
nearby and that being near is not seen, Joe Joachimi of the
Fischer Lime and Cement Company made quite a story of
this fact at a recent sales meeting in Memphis.
To dramatize his point, he told everybody to look under
the seats of their chairs. They did.
To the amazement of 20 people, there were dollar bills
pinned under the seats.
Money they were sitting on.
So close it could not be seen until they stood up and tipped
the chair upside down and 20 out of the 300 at the sales
meeting found money.
Looked under your chair lately ?
Some Small-town Successes
There are bigger cities than Houston, Texas, but Doug
Prince saw gold there.
He always dreamed of owning a yacht,
He found one for sale and hauled it down the streets of
Houston. He opened up Houston's finest restaurant in the
yacht, for others who liked the idea of a yacht but couldn't
afford one.
Doug could have steered it for some strange land to find
a fortune. He just steered it up a few streets from the
Houston dock.
There on a Texas prairie you dine on fish food in a yacht.
Alexander Legge didn't start International Harvester in
New York, Berlin or Paris. He found success in the Middle-
West.
John Fritz, the Bethlehem Iron Work's greatest engineer,
found happiness and money in a little Pennsylvania town,
not London.
George Westinghouse liked the little "burg" of Mansfield,
Ohio.
"Small town makes good" might be an apt expression.
How to Assure Small-town Success
Here is how to rate yourself to see if you can be a success,
especially in a small town where these things are very
noticeable.
1. Be pleasant .......................................25%
2. Be honest ..........................................25%
3. Be enthusiastic .................................15%
4. Be patient .........................................10%
5. Be neat .............................................10%
6. Be courteous ......................................5%
7. Be careful in your speech ...................5%
8. Be confident but not over-bearing ......5%
I have tried to rate each quality in the order of its im-
portance, so that you can begin to grade yourself. Prepare
yourself for the bigger, better formula which these few
chapters have led up to.
Practice this success "conditioner." It will help you accept
the major plan as soon as it unfolds itself to you.
Sizzles Found Everywhere
For years I've claimed it is the sizzle that sells the steak-
it is not the cow.
The cow may be okay, but a steer walking through a
restaurant wouldn't make many sales.
When a tenderloin, though, sizzles, first you hear it, then
you see it, and then you smell it. Three senses are involved.
Sizzles can be found in small towns as well as on Broad-
way.
"I give special discounts to people," was the slogan of a
new GI sign painter in Dallas. People liked his remark.
Today he has more people's business than any other sign
painter.
Free rides on merry-go-rounds for kids kept Joe M. O'ffll,
a Nash dealer in Kansas City, from having to move to a big
city. One year alone he sold 3,000 cars.
His sizzle was: "Get 'em into the show room!" That
sizzle can work in the smallest town.
Bill Vollmer, small-town railroad man made good. He is
now president of the Texas and Pacific Railroad. His suc-
cess secret is as workable in San Diego as in San Antonio:
Save, Vote and Pray!
Money in the Streets
The day of Ford, Wanamaker, Edison, or Macy is still
with us, if we look around our small towns.
Joe Franklin Myers, handicapped by World War I, took
a broken-down candy factory just to give 50 people work.
Instead of making regular candy and going into competi-
tion with the big-city boys, he took to making nonf attening
candy, a chocolate mint without salt for persons with high
blood pressure, and a candy designed to absorb saliva for
tots.
Last year he donated $10,000 worth of candy to orphan-
ages.
When Mother's Day rolls around, each employee must
take a three-day weekend so he will be able to visit his
mother all day on Sunday.
Dallas, 'then a small town, did right by Joe.
But Don't Scorn the Cities
On the other hand, don't by-pass a big city if you live
in it.
Opportunities are there. Money lies in the streets.
Marie Tussaud started her famous "wax works" in London
on a shoe string.
It was a pretty strong string, for today she is insured for
over $4,000,000!
Without a doubt she used the very same six Steps that
my 1,000 present-day millionaires used!
She made them work in a big city the biggest of them
all.
John Huyler, another candy man, got his start in New
York City, home of Horatio Alger's characters who rose
from bootblacks to be presidents of firms.
Huyler got his start by bragging what good candy his
competitor made when a customer asked about the other
candy maker.
This so impressed the customer who was interested in in-
vesting money, that he set Huyler up in a chain-store candy
business which today is enormous.
A big-town man realized the importance of "loving thy
neighbor."
Maybe at heart he was "small town."
Success Is Where You Find It.
BIG CITIES?
MANY PEOPLE erroneously believe that in order to be a big
success you must live in a big city, that only "big shots" hail
from big towns.
They believe opportunity can be found only in the large
cities where there are supposed to be streets of gold, big
jobs, handsome men and charming ladies!
How wrong they are!
How quickly they realize it when they find the big town
is only too often made up of small-town folks.
They find only too fast the streets are apt to be longer,
wider, colder, and more unfriendly.
True, big cities do produce big things but so do small
towns! s
It's all in what you personally look to find.
Your Own Back Yard
Perhaps there is more success found in back yards than in
glamorous front yards.
More work is done in the kitchen than in the parlor.
Dr. Russell Conwell lectured on, Acres of Diamonds, in
which he told of people who had traveled the world for
love and wealth only to return and find love next door and
wealth in their back yards.
Always the adventuresome go forth to look for diamond
mines, then find that the folks they sold the homestead to,
wake up one morning and find diamonds on it.
That's the true story of the Kimberly Mines in Africa.
Tin mines, gold mines, silvermines all were found in
someone's back yard, after he had left!
So before you take the six Rules and pack them in a suit-
case to try out in New York, London, Paris, or Stockholm
try them in Kalamazoo, Brown wood, or Fort Wayne first!
Small-town Boy Makes Good
Ed Staley, president of W. T. Grant's stores, is a small-
town boy who made good.
He got his start in a town under 10,000 before he went
to a town of 8,000,000.
J. C. Penney sports a fancy office in New York, but his first
one was way back in Wyoming!
The newest president of his stores is also another small-
town boy, making good.
Often I try to find a big-town boy who made good. They
do but ask them, and they have either left the big town or
have a small-town viewpoint.
Just remember to make my formula, or any other formula
work, you don't have to change locale.
No need to rush down for a ticket to a bigger city.
Success lies around you. Watch out you might even be
stepping on a ten-dollar bill right now!
Look Under Your Own Seats
To impress upon his men the value of business that is
nearby and that being near is not seen, Joe Joachimi of the
Fischer Lime and Cement Company made quite a story of
this fact at a recent sales meeting in Memphis.
To dramatize his point, he told everybody to look under
the seats of their chairs. They did.
To the amazement of 20 people, there were dollar bills
pinned under the seats.
Money they were sitting on.
So close it could not be seen until they stood up and tipped
the chair upside down and 20 out of the 300 at the sales
meeting found money.
Looked under your chair lately ?
Some Small-town Successes
There are bigger cities than Houston, Texas, but Doug
Prince saw gold there.
He always dreamed of owning a yacht,
He found one for sale and hauled it down the streets of
Houston. He opened up Houston's finest restaurant in the
yacht, for others who liked the idea of a yacht but couldn't
afford one.
Doug could have steered it for some strange land to find
a fortune. He just steered it up a few streets from the
Houston dock.
There on a Texas prairie you dine on fish food in a yacht.
Alexander Legge didn't start International Harvester in
New York, Berlin or Paris. He found success in the Middle-
West.
John Fritz, the Bethlehem Iron Work's greatest engineer,
found happiness and money in a little Pennsylvania town,
not London.
George Westinghouse liked the little "burg" of Mansfield,
Ohio.
"Small town makes good" might be an apt expression.
How to Assure Small-town Success
Here is how to rate yourself to see if you can be a success,
especially in a small town where these things are very
noticeable.
1. Be pleasant .......................................25%
2. Be honest ..........................................25%
3. Be enthusiastic .................................15%
4. Be patient .........................................10%
5. Be neat .............................................10%
6. Be courteous ......................................5%
7. Be careful in your speech ...................5%
8. Be confident but not over-bearing ......5%
I have tried to rate each quality in the order of its im-
portance, so that you can begin to grade yourself. Prepare
yourself for the bigger, better formula which these few
chapters have led up to.
Practice this success "conditioner." It will help you accept
the major plan as soon as it unfolds itself to you.
Sizzles Found Everywhere
For years I've claimed it is the sizzle that sells the steak-
it is not the cow.
The cow may be okay, but a steer walking through a
restaurant wouldn't make many sales.
When a tenderloin, though, sizzles, first you hear it, then
you see it, and then you smell it. Three senses are involved.
Sizzles can be found in small towns as well as on Broad-
way.
"I give special discounts to people," was the slogan of a
new GI sign painter in Dallas. People liked his remark.
Today he has more people's business than any other sign
painter.
Free rides on merry-go-rounds for kids kept Joe M. O'ffll,
a Nash dealer in Kansas City, from having to move to a big
city. One year alone he sold 3,000 cars.
His sizzle was: "Get 'em into the show room!" That
sizzle can work in the smallest town.
Bill Vollmer, small-town railroad man made good. He is
now president of the Texas and Pacific Railroad. His suc-
cess secret is as workable in San Diego as in San Antonio:
Save, Vote and Pray!
Money in the Streets
The day of Ford, Wanamaker, Edison, or Macy is still
with us, if we look around our small towns.
Joe Franklin Myers, handicapped by World War I, took
a broken-down candy factory just to give 50 people work.
Instead of making regular candy and going into competi-
tion with the big-city boys, he took to making nonf attening
candy, a chocolate mint without salt for persons with high
blood pressure, and a candy designed to absorb saliva for
tots.
Last year he donated $10,000 worth of candy to orphan-
ages.
When Mother's Day rolls around, each employee must
take a three-day weekend so he will be able to visit his
mother all day on Sunday.
Dallas, 'then a small town, did right by Joe.
But Don't Scorn the Cities
On the other hand, don't by-pass a big city if you live
in it.
Opportunities are there. Money lies in the streets.
Marie Tussaud started her famous "wax works" in London
on a shoe string.
It was a pretty strong string, for today she is insured for
over $4,000,000!
Without a doubt she used the very same six Steps that
my 1,000 present-day millionaires used!
She made them work in a big city the biggest of them
all.
John Huyler, another candy man, got his start in New
York City, home of Horatio Alger's characters who rose
from bootblacks to be presidents of firms.
Huyler got his start by bragging what good candy his
competitor made when a customer asked about the other
candy maker.
This so impressed the customer who was interested in in-
vesting money, that he set Huyler up in a chain-store candy
business which today is enormous.
A big-town man realized the importance of "loving thy
neighbor."
Maybe at heart he was "small town."
Success Is Where You Find It.
Chapter 9.
IS SUCCESS FOUND AT THE TOP
OR THE BOTTOM?
/' you say, "suppose this formula you are building
me up to is so good.
"How can I, a secretary, use it to become a success?
"Sure it will work. But I'm too far down the pile to be
able, in one lifetime, to make it work for me as good as
it is.
"What chance has a plumber, an electrician, a bookkeeper
or me, the secretary, to win job security, happiness, health,
or to become head of the firm?"
The answer is simple.
It is simply told in the case histories of 1,000 people
many of whom were secretaries to start with!
Some Few Examples
Woodrow Wilson was not born president of the United
States.
He may have been born with the urge but he was not
marked out in advance by some deity: "Fragile! Future
Presidentl"
He was a humble secretary!
Herbert Hoover, another fine president, didn't have any
brand on him that said, "For President!"
Nope he too was a secretary!
So next time you hear, "He's just a secretary/' better sit
up and take notice.
He might be the next President of the United States!
The Case of Harry Truman
Here is another president who came up from the ranks.
A haberdasher in Kansas City.
He did three things that made him president, three things
you, too, can do to condition yourself for whatever you
want in life:
1. Harry sold himself to the American public. He smiled,
shook hands, and was friendly. People warmed up to him
more than they could to his competitors.
2. Harry didn't hang around. He knew once he made a
"sale" of votes, he should leave and go elsewhere. He kept
on the move.
3. Harry made calls. If you talk to enough people, some-
body is bound to say, "I sure like your idea. I'll buy it."
Whether or not you voted for these three presidents, re-
member they did get America's No. i job, and you must
not overlook their success secrets.
Bet-a-Million Gates
Here is another man, down the line, that worked himself
up to a million.
He sold barbed wire. Others have inventions. (There are
2,500,000 in Washington at this moment.)
But Bet-a-Million Gates, before he had millions to bet
with, went to San Antonio and on the plaza of this city
made a large square of barbed wire.
He put some Longhorns into it. They charged the fence.
Soon they realized a thin piece of barbed wire held them
back.
Impressed, the cattlemen placed orders with this doer.
His total investment to build his millions was just a few
feet of cheap wire but it was barbed.
That was his success secret! Barbed!
Tricks of Secretaries
How can a secretary get places?
Usually by putting the seed of an idea into the other
person's mind, and letting him come back later on with the
same idea as his own.
Many a secretary has so "seeded" the firm the bosses
above him or her to a point where they become a success
themselves.
As a good secretary, you learn more "inside" of a business
than even a vice-president.
Thus when the time comes, you are the logical one to
take over.
Statler, the hotel man, moved at least one of his sec-
retaries up to president.
Hilton, another hotel genius, never brings in "outsiders."
The heads of his famous hotels were all bell hops, room
clerks, who worked their way up.
Eighty-two per cent of all top executives in sales organiza-
tions, according to the National Sales Executive's Club presi-
dent, Bob Whitney, were once salespeople.
None were born with signs on /hem that said, "Beware
here comes a firm president!"
Another Trick of the Trade
A further "conditioner" for the time when the Master
Formula of all will be given to you is best expressed by an
Arabian proverb:
"The best speaker is one who can make men see with
their ears!"
A secretary must have a command of "television lan-
guage."
Language that has vision.
Technicolor words that are alive to the hearer.
The trick is to "say it simple like."
Being fancy with fancy words blurs vision.
Out in West Texas recently, I sat next to a cowboy eat-
ing. When he finished, he wiped his mouth off and asked
the waitress what that "pie a la mode" stuff was.
She said it was pie and ice cream, and he snapped back,
"Then why doncha call it that why use them six-bit
words!"
The cowboy had something there!
This may sound far-fetched but if you know people, you
won't say so.
Here are three good rules:
1. Ma\e your talk simple. Use plain words plainly spoken.
2. Make it emotional. Get excited and others get ex-
cited.
3. Use the word "you" It sells more ideas than the word
"i"
Five Friend-Makers
Before any formula works, you must be aware of five
friend-makers and here they are:
1. "I'm proud of you" Here are the four greatest words
in the world to inflate the other person, making him proud
of you. Say them to boss, employee, wife, husband, neigh-
bors, or kids.
2. "What's your opinion!" The three greatest words to
get immediate attention. Even the firm's president will stop
dead in his tracks if you ask his opinion of something.
3. "If you please." The three greatest words to get people
to do things for you willingly. Few of us say please. We
just say, "Do this."
4. "Thank you!" The world's finest two words to make
people glad they did something for you; to make them want
to do something again.
5. "You." The most powerful of all words. The smallest
word, of course, is the word "I."
If you have these five friend-makers well in mind, you
won't have any difficulty making my Master Formula click
off for you*
Three Friend-Fizzlers
Here are ways to fizzle and not sizzle.
1. "In other words I" People always putting things in
other words annoy the listener. Say it right the first time
and you won't have to put it in other words all day long.
2. "What I meant to say was" You are merely saying,
"I sure am dumb. Let me try saying it again."
3. "To make myself clearer" This means, "You are
dumb. So let me clear it up for you."
Avoid these friend-fizzlers. No formula in the world will
work if you are handicapped with these failure-words.
And be sure to avoid monotony in expressions. Don't
always say, "see," "catch on," "no kiddin' " - or any popular
expression that annoys the tenth time you use it.
"Sure nuff," said once is okay. Said all day long it be-
comes boring, and handicaps you in life.
"Catch on?" is another friend-fizzler, along with, "defi-
litely" after you have said that 30 times in a conversation!
Don't wear words out or you'll wear out friends.
Success Is Top or Bottom
Successful success secrets will put you on top but they
can also work for you when you are on the top.
Don't stop using them once you are on top, or somebody
else will soon replace you.
Staying on top is often harder than getting on top, just
as holding on to wealth is often harder than making it in
the first place.
Sounds silly. But try it.
Easy come, easy go applies to jobs as well as money.
Tom Braniff took a few airplanes and parlayed them into
a big airline, with offices all over North and South America,
from Chicago on down.
Once he was on top, other airlines began shooting at him,
but he stayed on top by one thing:
He undertook a personal campaign in every city he served.
Other airlines opened up small offices. But Tom went to
the cities themselves, talked at luncheon clubs made him-
self known.
Today, Tom Braniff is widely known and fights harder
now to stay known, than he did to rise from the bottom of
the pile to the top.
He was "on the beam" himself!
Sell the Sizzle and You'll Eat Steals
OR THE BOTTOM?
/' you say, "suppose this formula you are building
me up to is so good.
"How can I, a secretary, use it to become a success?
"Sure it will work. But I'm too far down the pile to be
able, in one lifetime, to make it work for me as good as
it is.
"What chance has a plumber, an electrician, a bookkeeper
or me, the secretary, to win job security, happiness, health,
or to become head of the firm?"
The answer is simple.
It is simply told in the case histories of 1,000 people
many of whom were secretaries to start with!
Some Few Examples
Woodrow Wilson was not born president of the United
States.
He may have been born with the urge but he was not
marked out in advance by some deity: "Fragile! Future
Presidentl"
He was a humble secretary!
Herbert Hoover, another fine president, didn't have any
brand on him that said, "For President!"
Nope he too was a secretary!
So next time you hear, "He's just a secretary/' better sit
up and take notice.
He might be the next President of the United States!
The Case of Harry Truman
Here is another president who came up from the ranks.
A haberdasher in Kansas City.
He did three things that made him president, three things
you, too, can do to condition yourself for whatever you
want in life:
1. Harry sold himself to the American public. He smiled,
shook hands, and was friendly. People warmed up to him
more than they could to his competitors.
2. Harry didn't hang around. He knew once he made a
"sale" of votes, he should leave and go elsewhere. He kept
on the move.
3. Harry made calls. If you talk to enough people, some-
body is bound to say, "I sure like your idea. I'll buy it."
Whether or not you voted for these three presidents, re-
member they did get America's No. i job, and you must
not overlook their success secrets.
Bet-a-Million Gates
Here is another man, down the line, that worked himself
up to a million.
He sold barbed wire. Others have inventions. (There are
2,500,000 in Washington at this moment.)
But Bet-a-Million Gates, before he had millions to bet
with, went to San Antonio and on the plaza of this city
made a large square of barbed wire.
He put some Longhorns into it. They charged the fence.
Soon they realized a thin piece of barbed wire held them
back.
Impressed, the cattlemen placed orders with this doer.
His total investment to build his millions was just a few
feet of cheap wire but it was barbed.
That was his success secret! Barbed!
Tricks of Secretaries
How can a secretary get places?
Usually by putting the seed of an idea into the other
person's mind, and letting him come back later on with the
same idea as his own.
Many a secretary has so "seeded" the firm the bosses
above him or her to a point where they become a success
themselves.
As a good secretary, you learn more "inside" of a business
than even a vice-president.
Thus when the time comes, you are the logical one to
take over.
Statler, the hotel man, moved at least one of his sec-
retaries up to president.
Hilton, another hotel genius, never brings in "outsiders."
The heads of his famous hotels were all bell hops, room
clerks, who worked their way up.
Eighty-two per cent of all top executives in sales organiza-
tions, according to the National Sales Executive's Club presi-
dent, Bob Whitney, were once salespeople.
None were born with signs on /hem that said, "Beware
here comes a firm president!"
Another Trick of the Trade
A further "conditioner" for the time when the Master
Formula of all will be given to you is best expressed by an
Arabian proverb:
"The best speaker is one who can make men see with
their ears!"
A secretary must have a command of "television lan-
guage."
Language that has vision.
Technicolor words that are alive to the hearer.
The trick is to "say it simple like."
Being fancy with fancy words blurs vision.
Out in West Texas recently, I sat next to a cowboy eat-
ing. When he finished, he wiped his mouth off and asked
the waitress what that "pie a la mode" stuff was.
She said it was pie and ice cream, and he snapped back,
"Then why doncha call it that why use them six-bit
words!"
The cowboy had something there!
This may sound far-fetched but if you know people, you
won't say so.
Here are three good rules:
1. Ma\e your talk simple. Use plain words plainly spoken.
2. Make it emotional. Get excited and others get ex-
cited.
3. Use the word "you" It sells more ideas than the word
"i"
Five Friend-Makers
Before any formula works, you must be aware of five
friend-makers and here they are:
1. "I'm proud of you" Here are the four greatest words
in the world to inflate the other person, making him proud
of you. Say them to boss, employee, wife, husband, neigh-
bors, or kids.
2. "What's your opinion!" The three greatest words to
get immediate attention. Even the firm's president will stop
dead in his tracks if you ask his opinion of something.
3. "If you please." The three greatest words to get people
to do things for you willingly. Few of us say please. We
just say, "Do this."
4. "Thank you!" The world's finest two words to make
people glad they did something for you; to make them want
to do something again.
5. "You." The most powerful of all words. The smallest
word, of course, is the word "I."
If you have these five friend-makers well in mind, you
won't have any difficulty making my Master Formula click
off for you*
Three Friend-Fizzlers
Here are ways to fizzle and not sizzle.
1. "In other words I" People always putting things in
other words annoy the listener. Say it right the first time
and you won't have to put it in other words all day long.
2. "What I meant to say was" You are merely saying,
"I sure am dumb. Let me try saying it again."
3. "To make myself clearer" This means, "You are
dumb. So let me clear it up for you."
Avoid these friend-fizzlers. No formula in the world will
work if you are handicapped with these failure-words.
And be sure to avoid monotony in expressions. Don't
always say, "see," "catch on," "no kiddin' " - or any popular
expression that annoys the tenth time you use it.
"Sure nuff," said once is okay. Said all day long it be-
comes boring, and handicaps you in life.
"Catch on?" is another friend-fizzler, along with, "defi-
litely" after you have said that 30 times in a conversation!
Don't wear words out or you'll wear out friends.
Success Is Top or Bottom
Successful success secrets will put you on top but they
can also work for you when you are on the top.
Don't stop using them once you are on top, or somebody
else will soon replace you.
Staying on top is often harder than getting on top, just
as holding on to wealth is often harder than making it in
the first place.
Sounds silly. But try it.
Easy come, easy go applies to jobs as well as money.
Tom Braniff took a few airplanes and parlayed them into
a big airline, with offices all over North and South America,
from Chicago on down.
Once he was on top, other airlines began shooting at him,
but he stayed on top by one thing:
He undertook a personal campaign in every city he served.
Other airlines opened up small offices. But Tom went to
the cities themselves, talked at luncheon clubs made him-
self known.
Today, Tom Braniff is widely known and fights harder
now to stay known, than he did to rise from the bottom of
the pile to the top.
He was "on the beam" himself!
Sell the Sizzle and You'll Eat Steals
Chapter 10.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO
BECOME A SUCCESS?
^Mr HEN you GIVE me the formula you are preparing me for,
how soon can I expect it to work ?," you ask me.
Again I go to the Spanish for an answer:
"He who wants to grow rich in a year will be hanged in
a month!'
This old Spanish proverb reminds me that a person can
"hang himself' in many ways these days.
The increasing cost of living makes it unlikely that any of
us will be "rich in a year" but, as we try to meet the mount-
ing bills, all of us may be tempted to try to "make a killing"
in order to ease the pressure.
When we are facing such a temptation, we must guard
doubly to avoid foolish and costly mistakes. We mustn't let
the problem of debts and ever-higher taxes upset our judg-
ment.
One Good Rule to Follow
A good rule to follow is this: If I had plenty of money,
would I still make this deal?
Usually you will lose if you take too big a gamble. The odds
are against you or the gamble wouldn't promise such a big
reward.
Isn't it better to make a little progress surely, than to risk
a great deal in the hope of gaining even more ?
Next time you sit down with your checkbook to pay a
month's bills and you begin to wonder whether there isn't
some way you can add to your bank account overnight, re-
member this old proverb. And, remember, too, most of us
are in the same boat and that if we all work hard enough
day-by-day we'll still reach shore safely.
Four Steps to Make Success Work Even Faster
You'll speed up the time it takes for my formula to "take"
on you if you understand people around you. In this way you
can work this formula on them better and more effectively.
To help you take the hit and miss, guess and gamble, out
of understanding people, try these four steps:
1. Win the confidence of the people you meet. Being a
good listener until you know the other fellow's interests is
the most important step in winning confidence.
2. Try to find a common ground where your interests are
the same as his.
3. Don't forget your friends. It's as important to keep in
touch with a friend as it is to make a friend in the first place.
4. Forgive and forget. Life is not smooth. The best of
friends will not always agree. You be the one to say, "Oh,
well, let's forget it!"
Secondary Rules to Win People
These four points are the main ones, but these secondary
qualities are important too.
Be patient and be fair. Keep your promises and be con-
sistent, and be available to people. A snooty person can
have no real friends.
There's one further quality I very much recommend. It's
so important that we begin and end every Wheeler class in
sales training, public speaking or human relations with the
practice of it.
In these classes, all of us stand and shout, "Boy, am I en-
thusiastic!"
As our most important success secret for the day, let's say
it this way: Be Enthusiastic!
Ten Things to Speed Up Success
Many of us are afraid to give more than usual attention to
people because we fear they will misunderstand.
But the habit of doing the extra-pleasant thing can be
acquired if we try.
The secret of a growing personality and even of happiness
is to be found in our own minds. All we have to do is make
up our mind to improve our habits. And then we can do it.
It's that simple.
Want to remember names? You can do it. All you need to
do is to practice.
Want to learn how to remember birthdays ? Just practice it.
Want to learn how to smile? That's really easy. Just prac-
ticeand watch yourself in the mirror.
In addition to practice, you need only one thing to help you
acquire a truly exceptional personality,
YouVe got to be honest "with yourself!
The things you say and do must help and please others
even when you have to sacrifice your own desires in the act.
Don't put your new personality on a cash-register basis or it
will wear off instead of pay off .
Here are ten things to do that will make your life better:
Go out and perform one kind act. And do it ten times.
Success Drip by Drip
Take it easy!
Too many people try to accomplish too much, too soon.
One of the finest success stories I know illustrates the wis-
dom of careful planning and a slow but certain advance.
About 25 years ago a young man whose friends call him
C Wink" learned how to fly. At that time he had barely
enough money to get along but this young man did have fore-
sight.
In the early days of aviation, he "flew for his supper," carry-
ing passengers and mail. Later he sold airplanes. Then he
bought his own planes for resale after he had repaired them.
Finally he built this business into a fine private airport near
St. Charles, Mo.
Next he headed up a small airline, and helped to sell it to
one of the larger lines.
When World War II came along he volunteered and with-
in a few months was one of our first night-fighter experts,
serving in both the Pacific and European theaters.
After the war he returned to his private airport business,
then went into public relations as a consultant on aviation
matters.
Today W. W. Kratz - still "Wink" to his associates - is an
official of the Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City,
Calif., helping to build and to fly some of the aircraft we*!! be
reading about and flying in during the years to come.
His success secret?
Perhaps it is in remembering that the drip, drip, drip of the
rain always wears away even the hardest stone in time.
The Success Story of Charles R. O'Neill
Charles R. O'Neal came to America from Ireland in 1912,
He brought his wife, two children and $92 all of the money
borrowed. On the fourth day after he went to work in a mid-
west department store, Charles O'Neill was sent for by the
president of the firm employing him. He had broken the
sales record of his store.
Ten years later he had his own company, selling direct to
the consumer a full line of linens.
Today his company is worth over a quarter of a million
dollars and is one of the largest of its type in the country.
Charles O'Neill did it because he was a good salesman
and I asked him recently to jot down for me the simple suc-
cess secrets that he felt were responsible for the growth and
prosperity of his business.
This is what he wrote me:
"First, sell something you believe in enough to sell on com-
missionand convince your customer the item is as good as
you think it is.
"Second, win the customer's confidence by treating him or
her as you'd like to be treated.
"Third, sell what the customer needs first, then show him
or her something they might want.
"Fourth, spend most of your time selling, not travelling.
"Fifth, don't buy anything you can't sell at least for cost
(if worst comes to worst).
"Sixth, extend credit most people are honest. (In 29 years
the O'Neill Linen Damask Co. has had less than l / 2 of i per
cent bad debt.")
Don't you agree O'Neill's success platform is a good one
for all of us?
You've Been "Conditioned" Enough
I think by now you've been conditioned enough to be
ready for the Master Formula of them all.
You've seen that luck doesn't count with my 1,000 success
stories; nor education, climate, or age.
These 1,000 men and women who have become a success,
just in recent years, millionaires in happiness, health and
money, had a definite pattern they followed.
What is this pattern ?
While each man tells you "side-line" rules, such as Charlie
R. O'Neill, when you finally analyze their basic rules and
secrets, they are all alike.
Success is no mystery.
Success is not "different" in everybody's case.
Success has a definite pattern as definite as math, as the
path of a disease.
What is that path ? That pattern ?
I think you are ready now to get it.
Success Is Not a Patented Formula
BECOME A SUCCESS?
^Mr HEN you GIVE me the formula you are preparing me for,
how soon can I expect it to work ?," you ask me.
Again I go to the Spanish for an answer:
"He who wants to grow rich in a year will be hanged in
a month!'
This old Spanish proverb reminds me that a person can
"hang himself' in many ways these days.
The increasing cost of living makes it unlikely that any of
us will be "rich in a year" but, as we try to meet the mount-
ing bills, all of us may be tempted to try to "make a killing"
in order to ease the pressure.
When we are facing such a temptation, we must guard
doubly to avoid foolish and costly mistakes. We mustn't let
the problem of debts and ever-higher taxes upset our judg-
ment.
One Good Rule to Follow
A good rule to follow is this: If I had plenty of money,
would I still make this deal?
Usually you will lose if you take too big a gamble. The odds
are against you or the gamble wouldn't promise such a big
reward.
Isn't it better to make a little progress surely, than to risk
a great deal in the hope of gaining even more ?
Next time you sit down with your checkbook to pay a
month's bills and you begin to wonder whether there isn't
some way you can add to your bank account overnight, re-
member this old proverb. And, remember, too, most of us
are in the same boat and that if we all work hard enough
day-by-day we'll still reach shore safely.
Four Steps to Make Success Work Even Faster
You'll speed up the time it takes for my formula to "take"
on you if you understand people around you. In this way you
can work this formula on them better and more effectively.
To help you take the hit and miss, guess and gamble, out
of understanding people, try these four steps:
1. Win the confidence of the people you meet. Being a
good listener until you know the other fellow's interests is
the most important step in winning confidence.
2. Try to find a common ground where your interests are
the same as his.
3. Don't forget your friends. It's as important to keep in
touch with a friend as it is to make a friend in the first place.
4. Forgive and forget. Life is not smooth. The best of
friends will not always agree. You be the one to say, "Oh,
well, let's forget it!"
Secondary Rules to Win People
These four points are the main ones, but these secondary
qualities are important too.
Be patient and be fair. Keep your promises and be con-
sistent, and be available to people. A snooty person can
have no real friends.
There's one further quality I very much recommend. It's
so important that we begin and end every Wheeler class in
sales training, public speaking or human relations with the
practice of it.
In these classes, all of us stand and shout, "Boy, am I en-
thusiastic!"
As our most important success secret for the day, let's say
it this way: Be Enthusiastic!
Ten Things to Speed Up Success
Many of us are afraid to give more than usual attention to
people because we fear they will misunderstand.
But the habit of doing the extra-pleasant thing can be
acquired if we try.
The secret of a growing personality and even of happiness
is to be found in our own minds. All we have to do is make
up our mind to improve our habits. And then we can do it.
It's that simple.
Want to remember names? You can do it. All you need to
do is to practice.
Want to learn how to remember birthdays ? Just practice it.
Want to learn how to smile? That's really easy. Just prac-
ticeand watch yourself in the mirror.
In addition to practice, you need only one thing to help you
acquire a truly exceptional personality,
YouVe got to be honest "with yourself!
The things you say and do must help and please others
even when you have to sacrifice your own desires in the act.
Don't put your new personality on a cash-register basis or it
will wear off instead of pay off .
Here are ten things to do that will make your life better:
Go out and perform one kind act. And do it ten times.
Success Drip by Drip
Take it easy!
Too many people try to accomplish too much, too soon.
One of the finest success stories I know illustrates the wis-
dom of careful planning and a slow but certain advance.
About 25 years ago a young man whose friends call him
C Wink" learned how to fly. At that time he had barely
enough money to get along but this young man did have fore-
sight.
In the early days of aviation, he "flew for his supper," carry-
ing passengers and mail. Later he sold airplanes. Then he
bought his own planes for resale after he had repaired them.
Finally he built this business into a fine private airport near
St. Charles, Mo.
Next he headed up a small airline, and helped to sell it to
one of the larger lines.
When World War II came along he volunteered and with-
in a few months was one of our first night-fighter experts,
serving in both the Pacific and European theaters.
After the war he returned to his private airport business,
then went into public relations as a consultant on aviation
matters.
Today W. W. Kratz - still "Wink" to his associates - is an
official of the Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City,
Calif., helping to build and to fly some of the aircraft we*!! be
reading about and flying in during the years to come.
His success secret?
Perhaps it is in remembering that the drip, drip, drip of the
rain always wears away even the hardest stone in time.
The Success Story of Charles R. O'Neill
Charles R. O'Neal came to America from Ireland in 1912,
He brought his wife, two children and $92 all of the money
borrowed. On the fourth day after he went to work in a mid-
west department store, Charles O'Neill was sent for by the
president of the firm employing him. He had broken the
sales record of his store.
Ten years later he had his own company, selling direct to
the consumer a full line of linens.
Today his company is worth over a quarter of a million
dollars and is one of the largest of its type in the country.
Charles O'Neill did it because he was a good salesman
and I asked him recently to jot down for me the simple suc-
cess secrets that he felt were responsible for the growth and
prosperity of his business.
This is what he wrote me:
"First, sell something you believe in enough to sell on com-
missionand convince your customer the item is as good as
you think it is.
"Second, win the customer's confidence by treating him or
her as you'd like to be treated.
"Third, sell what the customer needs first, then show him
or her something they might want.
"Fourth, spend most of your time selling, not travelling.
"Fifth, don't buy anything you can't sell at least for cost
(if worst comes to worst).
"Sixth, extend credit most people are honest. (In 29 years
the O'Neill Linen Damask Co. has had less than l / 2 of i per
cent bad debt.")
Don't you agree O'Neill's success platform is a good one
for all of us?
You've Been "Conditioned" Enough
I think by now you've been conditioned enough to be
ready for the Master Formula of them all.
You've seen that luck doesn't count with my 1,000 success
stories; nor education, climate, or age.
These 1,000 men and women who have become a success,
just in recent years, millionaires in happiness, health and
money, had a definite pattern they followed.
What is this pattern ?
While each man tells you "side-line" rules, such as Charlie
R. O'Neill, when you finally analyze their basic rules and
secrets, they are all alike.
Success is no mystery.
Success is not "different" in everybody's case.
Success has a definite pattern as definite as math, as the
path of a disease.
What is that path ? That pattern ?
I think you are ready now to get it.
Success Is Not a Patented Formula
PART II
The Master Formula
for
Making Your Daydreams Come True
1. Decide what you want. If you don't know what you
want, you certainly can't get it. That is only natural. So
decide on what you want: a million dollars, health, fun,
clothes, a successful marriage.
2. Put it on paper. You must see with your real eyes what
your "mind's eye** has visualized. In so doing, you im-
press upon your brain the daydream you want and this
makes it come true f aster.
3. Know where to start. Don't put the cart before the horse.
Put your daydreams into logical sequence proper order.
Don't leap frog up the ladder. Go step by step.
4. Set it in motion. A dream that lacks motion is never
activated, so get the dream moving. It begins to take
form with motion. You may make mistakes but you
are moving forward as you do.
5. Don't settle for less. Once the hoop is moving it only
takes gentle taps to keep it moving forward. "Good
enough" is not true success. Don't undersell your day-
dream. Make it pay off in full. And somehow it will.
6. Recognize its arrival. Once the dream is realized then
relax to enjoy it to its fullest. Don't curb ambition but
do curb greediness. Learn that what you have today was
your Castle in Spain only yesterday.
for
Making Your Daydreams Come True
1. Decide what you want. If you don't know what you
want, you certainly can't get it. That is only natural. So
decide on what you want: a million dollars, health, fun,
clothes, a successful marriage.
2. Put it on paper. You must see with your real eyes what
your "mind's eye** has visualized. In so doing, you im-
press upon your brain the daydream you want and this
makes it come true f aster.
3. Know where to start. Don't put the cart before the horse.
Put your daydreams into logical sequence proper order.
Don't leap frog up the ladder. Go step by step.
4. Set it in motion. A dream that lacks motion is never
activated, so get the dream moving. It begins to take
form with motion. You may make mistakes but you
are moving forward as you do.
5. Don't settle for less. Once the hoop is moving it only
takes gentle taps to keep it moving forward. "Good
enough" is not true success. Don't undersell your day-
dream. Make it pay off in full. And somehow it will.
6. Recognize its arrival. Once the dream is realized then
relax to enjoy it to its fullest. Don't curb ambition but
do curb greediness. Learn that what you have today was
your Castle in Spain only yesterday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)