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!
