Samples:

The Professor Turned Insurance Salesman
My High School Football Coach
George Dantzig

 
The Professor Turned Insurance Salesman

Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't,
you are probably right.
Henry Ford, 1863 - 1947

W. Clement Stone was a contemporary of Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich. They were friends and business associates and actually co-authored a book.

This story is about an incident involving W. Clement Stone. Mr. Stone built one of the largest and most successful insurance companies in the country.

Mr. Stone's home was adjacent to a university. One of the professors at the university decided he was not making enough money as a professor and had heard of the large earnings available to those in the insurance business. So this professor decided to quit his job and take up selling insurance.

He went to see Mr. Stone and explained that he had quit his job and joined the ranks of the insurance sales force. He then told Mr. Stone the reason for his visit was to get some leads so he would get off on the right foot. Mr. Stone told him he would be happy to help and could provide at least ten leads if he would come back the next morning.

The next morning at ten, the professor turned insurance salesman showed up. Mr. Stone had prepared ten lead cards with a person's name, address and phone number. The new salesman asked Mr. Stone if it would be okay to mention Mr. Stone's name when calling on the prospects. Mr. Stone assured him that was perfectly fine.

At the end of the week, the new salesman dropped by Mr. Stone's office to report on his progress. He had done remarkably well, having sold the majority of the leads a policy, and he was still talking to a couple of the prospects. Then the new salesman asked Mr. Stone if he could furnish any more leads.

Mr. Stone was extremely busy at the moment, but handed him the phone book. "You can get all the leads you need right in here."

Well, that week the salesman did horrible - not a single sale. So he visited Mr. Stone and asked for some more good leads. "I don't want leads out of the phone book. I want some good leads like the ones you gave me the first week."

Mr. Stone replied, "But that is exactly where I got those leads."

At first, the new salesman did not believe him. But eventually Mr. Stone convinced him that was exactly where he had gotten the leads.

You see, our attitude has a major impact on whether we succeed or not. The first week, the salesman was confident because he thought Mr. Stone had given him the names of personal acquaintances. The second week, he was simply making cold calls. But the lists were from the same source - the phone book. The only difference was the attitude of the salesman. And attitude makes a huge difference.

No matter what task you undertake, your attitude has a major impact on the results. In fact, this truth goes beyond sales or tasks and applies to life in general. If you approach life with a negative attitude, you are not going to be happy with the results.

The core belief of all religions and self-improvement courses is that man is responsible for his own destiny. The place to begin is with belief in yourself.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Proverbs 23:7

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All text copyright © John Chancellor, 2007. All images copyright © Cheryl A. Chancellor, 2007. Site design and coding by Copper Moon Creative.