by Napoleon Hill
Available in 122 free installments
Owner:
The work didn't come to him naturally. But selling did. And he saw immediately that he would do well as a salesman. He liked his work. So Al conditioned his mind to do the best selling job in the world. He was terrific.
And having succeeded as a salesman, he set a goal in his climb up the ladder of success. It was: to go in business for himself. Now this goal fitted nicely with his personality, provided he was in sales.
Alfred C. Fuller did quit selling brushes for someone else. And he bad more fun than ever before. He manufactured his own brushes in the evening, then sold them the next day. And when his sales began to mount, he rented space in an old shed for eleven dollars a month and hired an assistant who made the brushes for him while he concentrated on sales. The end result from the boy who lost his first three jobs?
The Fuller Brush Company, with thousands of door-to-door salesmen and millions of dollars in annual income! You see, you are more apt to succeed if you do what comes naturally.
But there are greater motivating factors than losing a job, making money, or success in business. The desire for self-preservation is the strongest on the list.
Seven came through. Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker was one of the most successful and highly esteemed men in the United States.
Capt Eddie, as he was affectionately called, is a symbol of faith, integrity, the joy of hard work and common sense.
Those who met him, heard his lectures or read his book Seven Came Through are themselves inspired by the symbol he represents.
The airplane carrying Capt. Eddie and his crew fell into the Pacific. No trace of the wreckage or the men could be found the first week. Nor the second week. But the world was thrilled with the news that Capt. Eddie was saved on the 21st day.
Just picture Capt. Eddie and his crew on three rafts in the Pacific with nothing in sight but the sea and the sky. Picture these men these men, if you will, suffering from the shock of hitting the water when their plane crash landed, suffering from the heat of the burning sun, hungry, thirsty. Then picture the three rafts tied together each morning and evening, with each member of the crew bowing his head in prayer or listening intently as the 23rd Psalm or the verses from Matthew 6:31-34 were read: "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
Now, you have the picture, so let's hear directly from Capt. Eddie himself as he wrote in his book:
"As I have already stated, there was no time that I lost faith in our ultimate rescue, but the others did not seem to share this state of mind fully with me. My companions clearly began to think of what lay beyond death and to think of it in terms of their own lives.
"I say in all truth that at no time did I ever doubt we would be saved.
"I tried to impart my own philosophy to these men hoping to stimulate their desire to carry on. It was based upon the simple observation that the longer I have had to suffer under trying circumstances, the more certain I was to appreciate my deliverance. This is part of the wisdom that comes to older men."
Should you ask us how to motivate yourself, we would list the basic motives. They are repeated here!
First, the desire for self-preservation; then the emotion of: love, fear, sex. The desire for: life after death; and freedom of body and mind would follow. And after that, the emotion of: anger; and hate. Then the desire for recognition and self-expression. And last in the list of the ten basic motives would be the desire for material wealth.
In the following chapter you will see how any one of these, or a combination, motivates others.
PILOT NO. 9 Thoughts to Steer By
1. Motivation is that which induces action or determines choice. It is the hope or other force which starts an action in an attempt to produce specific results.
2. Motivate yourself with PMA. Remember: what the mind of man can conceive and believe the mind of man can achieve with PMA. Recognize the possibility of the improbable.
3. Hope is the magic ingredient in motivating yourself and others.
4. Negative emotions, feelings, thoughts, and attitudes are good at the proper time and under the right circumstances.
