Lesson Seven - Enthusiasm / Start the Burning Fire Within You

Page - 1.., 2.., 3.., Continue > 4...

​

​

​

The human mind is a marvelous piece of machinery!

 

One of its outstanding characteristics is noticed in the fact that all impressions which reach it, either through outside suggestion or Auto-suggestion, are recorded together in groups which harmonize in nature.

 

The negative impressions are stored away, all in one portion of the brain, while the positive impressions are stored in another portion. When one of these impressions (or past experiences) is called into the conscious mind, through the principle of memory, there is a tendency to recall with it all others of a similar nature, just as the raising of one link of a chain brings up other links with it.

 

For example, anything that causes a feeling of doubt to arise in a person's mind is sufficient to call forth all of his experiences which caused him to become doubtful.

 

If a man is asked by a stranger to cash a check, immediately he remembers having cashed checks that were not good, or of having heard of others who did so. Through the law of association all similar emotions, experiences and sense impressions that reach the mind are filed away together, so that the recalling of one has a tendency to bring back to memory all the others.

 

To arouse a feeling of distrust in a person's mind has a tendency to bring to the surface every doubt building experience that person ever had. For this reason successful salesmen endeavor to keep away from the discussion of subjects that may arouse the buyer's "chain of doubt impressions" which he has stored away by reason of previous experiences.

 

The successful salesman quickly learns that "knocking" a competitor or a competing article may result in bringing to the buyer's mind certain negative emotions growing out of previous experiences which may make it impossible for the salesman to "neutralize" the buyer's mind.

 

This principle applies to and controls every sense impression

that is lodged in the human mind.

 

Take the feeling of fear, for example; the moment we permit a single emotion that is related to fear to reach the conscious mind, it calls with it all of its unsavory relations.

 

A feeling of courage cannot claim the attention of the conscious mind while a feeling of fear is there. One or the other must dominate. They make poor room-mates because they do not harmonize in nature. Like attracts like. Every thought held in the conscious mind has a tendency to draw to it other thoughts of a similar nature. You see, therefore, that these feelings, thoughts and emotions growing out of past experiences, which claim the attention of the conscious mind, are backed by a regular army of supporting soldiers of a similar nature, that stand ready to aid them in their work.

 

Deliberately place in your own mind, through the principle of Auto-suggestion, the ambition to succeed through the aid of a definite chief aim, and notice how quickly all of your latent or undeveloped ability in the nature of past experiences will become stimulated and aroused to action in your behalf.

 

Plant in a boy's mind, through the principle of suggestion, the ambition to become a successful lawyer or doctor or engineer or business man or financier, and if you plant that suggestion deeply enough, and keep it there, by repetition, it will begin to move that boy toward the achievement of the object of that ambition.

 

If you would plant a suggestion "deeply," mix it generously with enthusiasm; for enthusiasm is the fertilizer that will insure its rapid growth as well as its permanency.

 

When that kind-hearted old gentleman planted in my mind the suggestion that I was a "bright boy" and that I could make my mark in the world if I would educate myself, it was not so much what he said, as it was the way in which he said it that made such a deep and lasting impression on my mind.

 

It was the way in which he gripped my shoulders and the look of confidence in his eyes that drove his suggestion so deeply into my subconscious mind that it never gave me any peace until I commenced taking the steps that led to the fulfillment of the suggestion.

 

This is a point that I would stress with all the power at my command.

It is not so much what you say - as it is the TONE and MANNER in which you say it

that makes a lasting impression.

 

It naturally follows, therefore, that sincerity of purpose, honesty and earnestness must be placed back of all that one says if one would make a lasting and favorable impression.

 

Whatever you successfully sell to others you must first sell to yourself!

 

Not long ago I was approached by an agent of the government of Mexico who sought my services as a writer of propaganda for the administration in charge at that time.

 

His approach was about as follows: "Whereas, Señor has a reputation as an exponent of the Golden Rule philosophy; and whereas, Señor is known throughout the United States as an independent who is not allied with any political faction, now, therefore, would Señor be gracious enough to come to Mexico, study the economic and political, affairs of that country, then return to the United States and write a series of articles to appear in the newspapers, recommending to the people of America the immediate recognition of Mexico by the government of the United States, etc."

 

For this service, I was offered more money than I shall, perhaps, ever possess during my entire life; but I refused the commission, and for a reason that will fail to impress anyone except those who understand the principle which makes it necessary for all who would influence others to remain on good terms with their own conscience.

 

I could not write convincingly of Mexico's cause for the reason that I did not believe in that cause; therefore, I could not have mixed sufficient enthusiasm with my writing to have made it effective, even though I had been willing to prostitute my talent and dip my pen into ink that I knew to be muddy.

 

I will not endeavor further to explain my philosophy on this incident for the reason that those who are far enough advanced in the study of Autosuggestion will not need further explanation, while those who are not far enough advanced would not and could not understand.

 

No man can afford to express, through words or acts, that which is not in harmony with his own belief, and if he does so he must pay by the loss of his ability to influence others.

 

Please read, aloud, the foregoing paragraph! It is worth emphasizing by repetition, for lack of observation of the principle upon which it is based constitutes the rocks and reefs upon which many a man's definite chief aim dashes itself to pieces.

 

I do not believe that I can afford to try to deceive anyone, about anything, but I know that I cannot afford to try to deceive myself. To do so would destroy the power of my pen and render my words ineffective. It is only when I write with the fire of enthusiasm burning in my heart that my writing impresses others favorably; and it is only when I speak from a heart that is bursting with belief in my message, that I can move my audience to accept that message. 

 

I would also have you read, aloud, the foregoing paragraph. Yes, I would have you commit it to memory. Even more than this, I would have you write it out and place it where it may serve as a daily reminder of a principle, nay, a law as immutable as the law of gravitation, without which you can never become a power in your chosen life-work.

 

There have been times, and many of them, when it appeared that if I stood by this principle it would mean starvation! There have been times when my closest friends and business advisers have strongly urged me to shade my philosophy for the sake of gaining a needed advantage here and there, but somehow I have managed to cling to it, mainly, I suppose, for the reason that I have preferred peace and harmony in my own heart to the material gain that I might have had by a forced compromise with my conscience.

 

Strange as it may seem, my deliberations and conclusions on this subject of refusing to strangle my own conscience have seldom been based upon what is commonly called "honesty."

 

That which I have done in the matter of refraining from writing or speaking anything that I did not believe has been solely a question of honor between my conscience and myself. I have tried to express that which my heart dictated because I have aimed to give my words "flesh."

 

It might be said that my motive was based more upon self-interest than it was on a desire to be fair with others, although I have never desired to be unfair with others, so far as I am able to analyze myself.

 

No man can become a master salesman if he compromises with falsehood. Murder will out, and even though no one ever catches him red-handed in expressing that which he does not believe, his words will fail in the accomplishment of their purpose because he cannot give them "flesh," if they do not come from his heart, and if they are not mixed with genuine, unadulterated enthusiasm.

 

I would also have you read, aloud, the foregoing paragraph, for it embraces a great law that you must understand and apply before you can become a person of influence in any undertaking.

 

In making these requests, for the sake of emphasis, I am not trying to take undue liberties with you. I am giving you full credit for being an adult, a thinker,: an intelligent person, yet I know how likely you are to skip over these vital laws without being sufficiently impressed by them to make them a part of your own workaday philosophy.

 

I know your weakness because I know my own. It has required the better part of twenty-five years of ups and downs - mostly downs - to impress these basic truths upon my own mind so` that they influenced me. I have tried both them and their opposites; therefore, I can speak, not as one who merely believes in their soundness, but as one who knows.

 

And what do I mean by "these truths"?

 

So that you cannot possibly misunderstand my meaning, and so that these words of warning cannot possibly convey an abstract meaning, I will state that by "these truths" I mean this: You cannot afford to suggest to another person, by word of mouth or by an act of yours, that which you do not believe. Surely that is plain enough.

 

And, the reason you cannot afford to do so, is this: If you compromise with your own conscience, it will not be long before you will have no conscience; for your conscience will fail to guide you, just as an alarm clock will fail to awaken you if you do not heed it.

 

Surely, that is plain enough, also. And how do I happen to be an authority on this vital subject, do you ask? I am an authority because I have experimented with the principle until I know how it works! "But," you may ask, "how do I know that you are telling the truth?" The answer is that you will know only by experimenting for yourself, and by observing others who faithfully apply this principle and those who do not apply it.

 

If my evidence needs backing, then consult any man whom you know to be a person who has "tried to get by" without observing this principle, and if he will not or cannot give you the truth you can get it, nevertheless, by analyzing the man.

 

There is but one thing in the world

that gives a man real and enduring power,

and that is character!

 

Reputation, bear in mind, is not character. Reputation is that which people are believed to be; character is that which people are!

 

If you would be a person of great influence, then be a person of real character. Character is the philosopher's lode-stone through which all who have it may turn the base metals of their life into pure gold. Without character you have nothing; you are nothing; and you can be nothing, except a pile of flesh and bone and hair, worth perhaps twenty-five dollars.

 

Character is something that you cannot beg or steal or buy. You can get it only by building it; and you can build it by your own thoughts and deeds, and in no other way.

 

Through the aid of Auto-suggestion,

any person can build a sound character,

no matter what his past has been.

 

As a fitting close for this lesson, I wish to emphasize the fact that all who have character have enthusiasm and personality sufficient to draw to them others who have character.

 

You will now be instructed as to how you shall proceed in developing enthusiasm, in the event that you do not already possess this rare quality.

 

The instructions will be simple, but you will be unfortunate if you discount their value on that account.

1. First: Complete the remaining lessons of this course, because other important instructions which are to be co-ordinated with this one will be found in subsequent lessons.

2. Second: If you have not already done so, write out your definite chief aim in clear, simple language, and follow this by writing out the plan through which you intend to transform your aim into reality.

3. Third: Read over the description of your definite chief aim each night, just before retiring, and as you read, see yourself (in your imagination) in full possession of the object of your aim. Do this with full faith in your ability to transform your definite chief aim into reality. Read aloud, with all the enthusiasm at your command, emphasizing every word. Repeat this reading until the small still voice within you tells you that your purpose will be realized.

 

Sometimes you will feel the effects of this voice from within the first time you read your definite chief aim; while at other times, you may have to read it a dozen or fifty times before the assurance comes, but do not stop until you feel it.

 

If you prefer to do so you may read your definite chief aim as a prayer.

 

The remainder of this lesson is for the person who has not yet learned the power of faith and who knows little or nothing of the principle of Auto-suggestion.

 

To all who are in this class, I would recommend the reading of the seventh and eighth verses of the seventh chapter, and the twentieth verse of the seventeenth chapter of St. Matthew.

 

One of the greatest powers for good, upon the face of this earth, is faith. To this marvelous power may be traced miracles of the most astounding nature. It offers peace on earth to all who embrace it.

 

Faith involves a principle that is so far-reaching in its effect that no man can say what are its limitations, or if it has limitations.

 

Write into the description of your definite chief aim a statement of the qualities that you intend to develop in yourself, and the station in life that you intend to attain, and have faith, as you read this description each night, that you can transform this purpose into reality.

 

Surely, you cannot miss the suggestion contained in this lesson.

 

To become successful you must be a person of action.

Merely to "know" is not sufficient. It is necessary both to know and do.

 

Enthusiasm is the mainspring of the mind which urges one to put knowledge into action.

 

Billy Sunday was the most successful evangelist this country has ever known. For the purpose of studying his technique and checking up on his psychological methods the author of this course went through three campaigns with Reverend Sunday.

 

His success is based very largely upon one word - ENTHUSIASM!

 

By making effective use of the law of suggestion, Billy Sunday conveys his own spirit of enthusiasm to the minds of his followers and they become influenced by it.

 

He sells his sermons by the use of exactly the same sort of strategy employed by many Master Salesmen. Enthusiasm is as essential to a salesman as water is to a duck!

 

All successful sales managers understand the psychology of enthusiasm and make use of it, in various ways, as a practical means of helping their men produce more sales.

 

Practically all sales organizations have meetings at stated times, for the purpose of revitalizing the minds of all members of the sales force, and injecting the spirit of enthusiasm, which can be best done en masse, through group psychology.

 

Sales meetings might properly be called "revival" meetings, because their purpose is to revive interest and arouse enthusiasm which will enable the salesman to take up the fight with renewed ambition and energy.

 

During his administration as Sales Manager of the National Cash Register Company Hugh Chalmers (who later became famous in the motor car industry) faced a most embarrassing situation which threatened to wipe out his position as well as that of thousands of salesmen under his direction.

 

The company was in financial difficulty. This fact had become known to the salesmen in the field and the effect of it was to cause them to lose their Enthusiasm.

 

Sales began to dwindle until finally the conditions became so alarming that a general meeting of the sales organization was called, to be held at the company's plant in Dayton, Ohio. Salesmen were called in from all over the country. Mr. Chalmers presided over the meeting. He began by calling on several of his best salesmen to get on their feet and tell what was wrong out in the field that orders had fallen off. One by one they got up, as called, and each man had a most terrible tale of grief to unfold: Business conditions were bad, money was scarce, people were holding off buying until after Presidential election, etc.

 

As the fifth man began to enumerate the difficulties which had kept him from making his usual quota of sales Mr. Chalmers jumped up on top of a table, held up his hands for silence, and said "STOP! I order this convention to come to a close for ten minutes while I get my shoes shined." Then turning to a small colored boy who sat near by he ordered the boy to bring his shoe-shine outfit and shine his shoes, right where he stood, on top of the table.

 

The salesmen in the audience were astounded! Some of them thought that Mr. Chalmers had suddenly lost his mind. They began to whisper among themselves.

 

Meanwhile, the little colored boy shined first one and then the other shoe, taking plenty of time and doing a first-class job. After the, job was finished Mr. Chalmers handed the boy a dime, then went ahead with his speech:

 

"I want each of you," said he, "to take a good look at this little colored boy. He has the concession for shoe-shining throughout our plant and offices. His predecessor was a white boy, considerably older than himself, and despite the fact that the company subsidized him with a salary of $5.00 a week he could not make a living in this plant, where thousands of people are employed."

 

"This little colored boy not only makes a good living, without any subsidy from the company, but he is actually saving money out of his earnings each week, working under the same conditions, in the same plant, for the same people."

 

"Now I wish to ask you a question: Whose fault was it that the white boy did not get more business? Was it his fault, or the fault of his buyers?"

 

In a mighty roar from the crowd the answer came back: "IT WAS THE BOY'S FAULT, OF COURSE!" "Just so," replied Chalmers, "and now I want to tell you this, that you are selling Cash Registers in the same territory, to the same people, with exactly the same business conditions that existed a year ago, yet you are not producing the business that you were then. Now whose fault is that? Is it yours, or the buyer's?"

 

And again the answer came back with a roar: "IT IS OUR FAULT, OF COURSE!" "I am glad that you are frank to acknowledge your faults," Chalmers continued, "and I now wish to tell you what your trouble is: You have heard rumors about this company being in financial trouble and that has killed off your enthusiasm so that you are not making the effort that you formerly made. If you will go back into your territories with a definite promise to send in five orders each during the next thirty days this company will no longer be in financial difficulty, for that additional business will see us clear. Will you do it?"

 

They said they would, and they did!

 

That incident has gone down in the history of the National Cash Register Company under the name of Hugh Chalmers' Million Dollar Shoe Shine, for it is said that this turned the tide in the company's affairs and was worth millions of dollars.

 

Enthusiasm knows no defeat! The Sales Manager who knows how to send out an army of enthusiastic salespeople may set his own price on his services, and what is more important even than this, he can increase the earning capacity of every person under his direction; thus, his enthusiasm benefits not only himself but perhaps hundreds of others.

 

Enthusiasm is never a matter of chance.

 

There are certain stimuli which produce enthusiasm, the most important of these being as follows:

• 1. Occupation in work which one loves best.

• 2. Environment where one comes in contact with others who are enthusiastic and optimistic.

• 3. Financial success.

• 4. Complete mastery and application, in one's daily work, of the Fifteen Laws of Success.

• 5. Good health.

• 6. Knowledge that one has served others in some helpful manner.

• 7. Good clothes, appropriate to the needs of one's occupation.

 

All of these seven sources of stimuli are self explanatory with the exception of the last.

 

The psychology of clothes is understood by very few people, and for this reason it will be here explained in detail.

 

Clothes constitute the most important part of the embellishment which every person must have in order to feel

• self-reliant,

• hopeful and

• enthusiastic.

 

​

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GOOD CLOTHES

 

When the good news came from the theater of war, on November the eleventh, 1918, my worldly possessions amounted to but little more than they did the day I came into the world.

 

The war had destroyed my business and made it necessary for me to make a new start!

 

My wardrobe consisted of three well worn business suits and two uniforms which I no longer needed.

 

Knowing all too well that the world forms its first and most lasting impressions of a man by the clothes he wears, I lost no time in visiting my tailor. Happily, my tailor had known me for many years, therefore he did not judge me entirely by the clothes I wore. If he had I would have been "sunk. "

 

With less than a dollar in change in my pocket, I picked out the cloth for three of the most expensive suits I ever owned, and ordered that they be made up for me at once.

 

The three suits came to $375.00! I shall never forget the remark made by the tailor as he took my measure. Glancing first at the three bolts of expensive cloth which I had selected, and then at me, he inquired: "Dollar-a-year man, eh?" 

 

"No," said I, "if I had been fortunate enough to get on the dollar-a-year payroll I might now have enough money to pay for these suits." The tailor looked at me with surprise. I don't think he got the joke.

 

One of the suits was a beautiful dark gray; one was a dark blue; the other was a light blue with a pin stripe. Fortunately I was in good standing with my tailor, therefore he did not ask when I was going to pay for those expensive suits. I knew that I could and would pay for them in due time, but could I have convinced him of that?

 

This was the thought which was running through my mind, with hope against hope that the question would not be brought up.

 

I then visited my haberdasher, from whom I purchased three less expensive suits and a complete supply of the best shirts, collars, ties, hosiery and underwear that he carried.

 

My bill at the haberdasher's amounted to a little over $300.00.

 

With an air of prosperity I nonchalantly signed the charge ticket and tossed it back to the salesman, with instructions to deliver my purchase the following morning. The feeling of renewed self-reliance and success had begun to come over me, even before I had attired myself in my newly purchased outfit.

 

I was out of the war and $675.00 in debt, all in less than twenty-four hours.

 

The following day, the first of the three suits ordered from the haberdasher was delivered. I put it on at once, stuffed a new silk handkerchief in the outside pocket of my coat, shoved the $50.00 I had borrowed on my ring down into my pants pocket, and walked down Michigan Boulevard, in Chicago, feeling as rich as Rockefeller.

 

Every article of clothing I wore, from my underwear out, was of the very best. That it was not paid for was nobody's business except mine and my tailor's and my haberdasher's.

 

Every morning I dressed myself in an entirely new outfit, and walked down the same street, at precisely the same hour. That hour "happened" to be the time when a certain wealthy publisher usually walked down, the same street, on his way to lunch.

 

I made it my business to speak to him each day, and occasionally I would stop for a minute's chat with him. After this daily meeting had been going on for about a week I met this publisher one day, but decided I would see if he would let me get by without speaking.

 

Watching him from under my eyelashes I looked straight ahead, and started to pass him when he stopped and motioned me over to the edge of the sidewalk, placed his hand on my shoulder, looked me over from head to foot, and said: "You look damned prosperous for a man who has just laid aside a uniform. Who makes your clothes?"

 

"Well," said I, "Wilkie & Sellery made this particular suit." He then wanted to know what sort of business I was engaged in.

 

That "airy" atmosphere of prosperity which I had been wearing, along with a new and different suit every day, had got the better of his curiosity. (I had hoped that it would.)

 

Flipping the ashes from my Havana perfecto, I said "Oh, I am preparing the copy for a new magazine that I am going to publish."

 

"A new magazine, eh?" he queried, "and what are you going to call it?"

 

"It is to be named Hill's Golden Rule." I said.

 

"Don't forget," said my publisher friend, "that I am in the business of printing and distributing magazines. Perhaps I can serve you, also."

 

That was the moment for which I had been waiting. I had that very moment, and almost the very spot of ground on which we stood, in mind when I was purchasing those new suits. But, is it necessary to remind you, that conversation never would have taken place had this publisher observed me walking down that street from day to day, with a "whipped-dog" look on my face, an un-pressed suit on my back and a look of poverty in my eyes.

 

An appearance of prosperity attracts attention always, with no exceptions whatsover. Moreover, a look of prosperity attracts "favorable attention," because the one dominating desire in every human heart is to be prosperous.

 

 

Lesson Seven - Enthusiasm / Start the Burning Fire Within You

Page - 1.., 2.., 3.., Continue > 4...