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.
