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the polite salesmen of oil burners came along and did a land office
business.
During the depression, I spent several months in the
anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania, studying conditions which
all but destroyed the coal industry. Among several very significant
discoveries, was the fact that greed on the part of operators and
their employees was the chief cause of the loss of business for the
operators, and loss of jobs for the miners.
Through the pressure of a group of overzealous labor leaders,
representing the employees, and the greed for profits on the part of
the operators, the anthracite business suddenly dwindled. The coal
operators and their employees drove sharp bargains with one
another, adding the cost of the “bargaining” to the price of the coal,
until, finally, they discovered they had BUILT UP A WONDERFUL
BUSINESS FOR THE MANUFACTURERS OF OIL BURNING
OUTFITS AND THE PRODUCERS OF CRUDE OIL.
“The wages of sin is death!” Many have read this in the Bible,
but few have discovered its meaning. Now, and for several years, the
entire world has been listening BY FORCE, to a sermon which
might well be called “WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH, THAT SHALL
HE ALSO REAP.”
Nothing as widespread and effective as the depression could
possibly be “just a coincidence.” Behind the depression was a
CAUSE. Nothing ever happens without a CAUSE. In the main, the
cause of the depression is traceable directly to the worldwide habit
of trying to REAP without SOWING.
This should not be mistaken to mean that the depression
represents a crop which the world is being FORCED to reap without
having SOWN. The trouble is that the world sowed the wrong sort of
seed. Any farmer knows he cannot sow the seed of thistles, and
reap a harvest of grain. Beginning at the outbreak of the world war,
the people of the world began to sow the seed of service inadequate
in both quality and quantity. Nearly everyone was engaged in the
pastime of trying to GET WITHOUT GIVING.
These illustrations are brought to the attention of those who
have personal services to market, to show that we are where we are,
and what we are, because of our own conduct! If there is a principle
of cause and effect, which controls business, finance, and
transportation, this same principle controls individuals and
determines their economic status.
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WHAT IS YOUR “QQS” RATING?
The causes of success in marketing services EFFECTIVELY
and permanently, have been clearly described. Unless those causes
are studied, analyzed, understood and APPLIED, no man can
market his services effectively and permanently. Every person must
be his own salesman of personal services. The QUALITY and the
QUANTITY of service rendered, and the SPIRIT in which it is
rendered, determine to a large extent, the price, and the duration of
employment. To market Personal services effectively, (which means
a permanent market, at a satisfactory price, under pleasant con-
ditions), one must adopt and follow the “QQS” formula which
means that QUALITY, plus QUANTITY, plus the proper SPIRIT of
cooperation, equals perfect salesmanship of service. Remember the
“QQS” formula, but do more-APPLY IT AS A HABIT!
Let us analyze the formula to make sure we understand
exactly what it means.
1. QUALITY of service shall be construed to mean the
performance of every detail, in connection with your position, in
the most efficient manner possible, with the object of greater
efficiency always in mind.
2. QUANTITY of service shall be understood to mean the
HABIT of rendering all the service of which you are capable, at all
times, with the purpose of increasing the amount of service ren-
dered as greater skill is developed through practice and
experience. Emphasis is again placed on the word HABIT.
3. SPIRIT of service shall be construed to mean the HABIT of
agreeable, harmonious conduct which will induce cooperation
from associates and fellow employees.
Adequacy of QUALITY and QUANTITY of service is not
sufficient to maintain a permanent market for your services. The
conduct, or the SPIRIT in which you deliver service, is a strong
determining factor in connection with both the price you receive,
and the duration of employment.
Andrew Carnegie stressed this point more than others in
connection with his description of the factors which lead to success
in the marketing of personal services. He emphasized again, and
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again, the necessity for HARMONIOUS CONDUCT. He stressed the
fact that he would not retain any man, no matter how great a
QUANTITY, or how efficient the QUALITY of his work, unless he
worked in a spirit of HARMONY. Mr. Carnegie insisted upon men
being AGREEABLE.
To prove that he placed a high value upon this quality, he
permitted many men who conformed to his standards to become
very wealthy. Those who did not conform, had to make room for
others.
The importance of a pleasing personality has been stressed,
because it is a factor which enables one to render service in the
proper SPIRIT. If one has a personality which PLEASES, and
renders service in a spirit of HARMONY, these assets often make up
for deficiencies in both the QUALITY, and the QUANTITY of service
one renders. Nothing, however, can be SUCCESSFULLY
SUBSTITUTED FOR PLEASING CONDUCT.
THE CAPITAL VALUE OF YOUR SERVICES
The person whose income is derived entirely from the sale of
personal services is no less a merchant than the man who sells
commodities, and it might well be added, such a person is subject
to EXACTLY THE SAME RULES of conduct as the merchant who
sells merchandise.
This has been emphasized, because the majority of people who
live by the sale of personal services make the mistake of considering
themselves free from the rules of conduct, and the responsibilities
attached to those who are engaged in marketing commodities.
The new way of marketing services has practically forced both
employer and. employee into partnership alliances, through which
both take into consideration the rights of the third party, THE
PUBLIC THEY SERVE.
The day of the “go-getter” has passed. He has been supplanted
by the “go-giver.” High-pressure methods in business finally blew
the lid off. There will never be the need to put the lid back on, be-
cause, in the future, business will be conducted by methods that
will require no pressure.
The actual capital value of your brains may be determined by
the amount of income you can produce (by marketing your
services). A fair estimate of the capital value of your services may be
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made by multiplying your annual income by sixteen and two-thirds,
as it is reasonable to estimate that your annual income represents
six percent of your capital value. Money rents for 6% per annum.
Money is worth no more than brains. It is often worth much less.
Competent “brains,” if effectively marketed, represent a much
more desirable form of capital than that which is required to
conduct a business dealing in commodities, because “brains” are a
form of capital which cannot be permanently depreciated through
depressions, nor can this form of capital be stolen or spent.
Moreover, the money which is essential for the conduct of business
is as worthless as a sand dune, until it has been mixed with effi-
cient “brains.”
THE THIRTY MAJOR CAUSES OF FAILURE
HOW MANY OF THESE ARE HOLDING YOU BACK?
Life’s greatest tragedy consists of men and women who
earnestly try, and fail! The tragedy lies in the overwhelmingly large
majority of people who fail, as compared to the few who succeed.
I have had the privilege of analyzing several thousand men
and women, 98% of whom were classed as “failures.” There is
something radically wrong with a civilization, and a system of
education, which permit 98% of the people to go through life as
failures. But I did not write this book for the purpose of moralizing
on the rights and wrongs of the world; that would require a book a
hundred times the size of this one.
My analysis work proved that there are thirty major reasons
for failure, and thirteen major principles through which people
accumulate fortunes. In this chapter, a description of the thirty
major causes of failure will be given. As you go over the list, check
yourself by it, point by point, for the purpose of discovering how
many of these causes-of-failure stand between you and success.
1. UNFAVORABLE HEREDITARY BACKGROUND. There is
but little, if anything, which can be done for people who are born
with a deficiency in brain power. This philosophy offers but one
method of bridging this weakness—through the aid of the Master
Mind. Observe with profit, however, that this is the ONLY one of
the thirty causes of failure which may not be easily corrected by
any individual.
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2. LACK OF A WELL-DEFINED PURPOSE IN LIFE. There is
no hope of success for the person who does not have a central
purpose, or definite goal at which to aim. Ninety-eight out of
every hundred of those whom I have analyzed, had no such aim.
Perhaps this was the
3. LACK OF AMBITION TO AIM ABOVE MEDIOCRITY. We
offer no hope for the person who is so indifferent as not to want
to get ahead in life, and who is not willing to pay the price.
4. INSUFFICIENT EDUCATION. This is a handicap which
may be overcome with comparative ease. Experience has proven
that the best-educated people are often those who are known as
“self-made,” or self-educated. It takes more than a college degree
to make one a person of education. Any person who is educated
is one who has learned to get whatever he wants in life without
violating the rights of others. Education consists, not so much of
knowledge, but of knowledge effectively and persistently
APPLIED. Men are paid, not merely for what they know, but more
particularly for WHAT THEY DO WITH THAT WHICH THEY
KNOW.
5. LACK OF SELF-DISCIPLINE. Discipline comes through
self-control. This means that one must control all negative
qualities. Before you can control conditions, you must first con-
trol yourself. Self-mastery is the hardest job you will ever tackle.
If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. You may
see at one and the same time both your best friend and your
greatest enemy, by stepping in front of a mirror.
6. ILL HEALTH. No person may enjoy outstanding success
without good health. Many of the causes of ill health are subject
to mastery and control. These, in the main are:
a. Overeating of foods not conducive to health
b. Wrong habits of thought; giving expression to
negatives.
c. Wrong use of, and over indulgence in sex.
d. Lack of proper physical exercise
e. An inadequate supply of fresh air, due to improper
breathing.
7. UNFAVORABLE
ENVIRONMENTAL
INFLUENCES
DURING CHILDHOOD. “As the twig is bent, so shall the tree
grow.” Most people who have criminal tendencies acquire them
as the result of bad environment, and improper associates during
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childhood.
8. PROCRASTINATION. This is one of the most common
causes of failure. “Old Man Procrastination” stands within the
shadow of every human being, waiting his opportunity to spoil
one’s chances of success. Most of us go through life as failures,
because we are waiting for the “time to be right” to start doing
something worthwhile. Do not wait. The time will never be “just
right.” Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you
may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you
go along.
9. LACK OF PERSISTENCE. Most of us are good “starters”
but poor “finishers” of everything we begin. Moreover, people are
prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute
for PERSISTENCE. The person who makes PERSISTENCE his
watch-word, discovers that “Old Man Failure” finally becomes
tired, and makes his departure. Failure cannot cope with
PERSISTENCE.
10. NEGATIVE PERSONALITY. There is no hope of success
for the person who repels people through a negative personality.
Success comes through the application of POWER, and power is
attained through the cooperative efforts of other people. A
negative personality will not induce cooperation.
11. LACK OF CONTROLLED SEXUAL URGE. Sex energy is
the most powerful of all the stimuli which move people into
ACTION. Because it is the most powerful of the emotions, it must
be controlled, through transmutation, and converted into other
channels.
12. UNCONTROLLED DESIRE FOR “SOMETHING FOR
NOTHING.” The gambling instinct drives millions of people to
failure. Evidence of this may be found in a study of the Wall
Street crash of ‘29, during which millions of people tried to make
money by gambling on stock margins.
13. LACK OF A WELL DEFINED POWER OF DECISION.
Men who succeed reach decisions promptly, and change them, if
at all, very slowly. Men who fail, reach decisions, if at all, very
slowly, and change them frequently, and quickly. Indecision and
procrastination are twin brothers. Where one is found, the other
may usually be found also. Kill off this pair before they
completely “hog-tie” you to the treadmill of FAILURE.
14. ONE OR MORE OF THE SIX BASIC FEARS. These fears
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