Hard Times (76 page)

 

 

Seven bucks a week, honey. So this landlady says, “My, my, my, you should be ashamed of yourself.” I said, “I’m not ashamed. I done enough work for that woman. I have to wake her up every time it come time for her to pay me, she go to sleep. If that woman had died, her husband woulda said he didn’t owe me. I don’t like anybody sleepin’ on my money.” And I said, “And where would you be without Rosalie?” Rosalie used to do all her slave work. That shut ’er up.

 

 

I had it all figured out, don’t think I haven’t thought of every bit of it. I could see them big pot-gut doctors and their wives with all their fancy dresses and all, comin’ into her house, and sittin’ up there with her eyes full of tears… .

If you was stupid enough to let ‘em get away with it, they’ll give you an extra dollar or two. And she figure on some of these people givin’ you a little tip—and that was gonna be your pay. You got your tongue hangin’ out… .

That was my awakenin’. I felt good. I think all Negroes have this feelin’, when they feel secure enough they can hold up their heads like mens and womens. It’s like that old sayin’: as long as you got your hand in the lion’s mouth, you have to be easy till you get it out. Well, I got my hand out… .

“
The attainment of one goal should be the springboard to another higher and more noble effort.” Signed—W. A. Ward. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.” Signed—Helen Keller. “Smile, be happy, keep smiling.”

Behind a huge desk, sits the ebullient president. He has a pencil-thin mustache
(
“in those days, movie stars, Ronald Colman, John Gilbert and others did it”
)
; he wears a wide bow tie
(
“it’s an indication of an extrovert, someone with a high energy level, someone who has drive, who gets things done”
)
; he smokes long, thick Cuban cigars
(
“when we had our Castro troubles, I bought up the equivalent of three warehouses”
)
. He offers me a couple. “When you take the label off, you’ll see it’s ’59.” His laugh is unique; it has a five-note rise. He happily concedes these phenomena are carefully planned. It’s a matter of image.

MANY OF US learned in the Depression how to turn a disadvantage into an advantage. First of all, we have what is known as PMA, positive mental attitude. It’s based on the premise that God is always a good God, that with every adversity there’s a seed of greater benefit.

During the Depression, there were tremendous advantages to a sales manager. A man was willing to accept any kind of job. All I needed to do was to take a man out and show him how to make twenty, thirty, forty dollars a day, and I had a salesman. We—I use the editorial we—know how to make supermen out of ordinary men.

Rrrrrright!

(
He presents me with several books:
Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude, The Success System That Never Fails
and
Think and Grow Rich.
He refers to the last: “That’s the greatest book that came out of the Depression. In 1937. By Napoleon Hill. That book motivated more people to success than any book you can buy by a living author.”)

 

Actually, in the Depression years, many men who were successful in the Twenties became has-beens. They had a negative mental attitude. They were men making $30,000 a year and didn’t have the courage to start at the bottom and work up. Others realized opportunities were unlimited, if they were willing to think and willing to pay the price. A person doesn’t have to be poor. Anyone in the United States could acquire great wealth today.

I said to myself: Why shouldn’t I earn in a day what others earn in a week? Why shouldn’t I earn in a week, what others earn in a month? Why shouldn’t I earn in a month, what others earn in a year? How can I do it? The answer was simple. Work scientifically.

First of all, I’d always thank God for my blessings. Then I’d use a very simple prayer: Please, God, help me sell. Please, God, help me sell. Please, God, help me sell. Please, God, help me sell. Please, God, help me sell. This did many things, the mystic power of prayer. It got me keyed up. I threw all the energy I had into it. Immediately afterward, I’d unwind and relax.

 

 

I don’t believe in sadness. I believe if you have a problem, that’s good. When I’d have a poor day, I would try to figure out what’s wrong with me. Maybe I needed more rest or go see a movie. The next day would be a rrrecoooord day!

When the Depression hit, I had over a thousand licensed salesmen in the United States. I soon found out they weren’t selling. So I traveled the country and wound up with 235. I trained these men. And we sold more insurance than in the boom days when we had a thousand men.

 

Here, he discusses the self-motivator: self commands, affirmation. “You say fifty or a hundred times in the morning, fifty or a hundred times at night, for, say, ten days, until it affects the self-conscious mind: ‘Success is achieved by those who try
.
’ Or, ‘Where there’s nothing to lose by trying and a great deal to gain, by all means try.’ Or, ‘Do it now.’ Or, ‘Do the right thing because it is right.’ ”

 

My man’d go into a place, he might be nervous. So we’d have him talk loudly, talk rapidly, emphasize certain words, hesitate where there’s a period or a comma, a smile in his voice, and when he talked for a long time, he’d use modulation. It worked a hundred times out of a hundred.

In the Thirties, I sold accident insurance. Cold canvass. Unannounced, I’d call on banks, stores, offices, during business hours. And sell the manager and get permission to sell in the establishment.

First of all, you’d need a good introduction, so they’ll listen. I’ve used one continuously since, because it works: “I believe this will interest you also.”
You
is a very important word. At that point, if I’d hesitate, he might say, “What have you got?” “Well, since you asked me, I’ll tell ya.” Ordinarily, I wouldn’t wait. I just go in about the time the prospect gets a little nervous and wants to get away. I’d release tension by using humor.

If you don’t see anything funny about your standard joke, you’d laugh at yourself for telling it. (Laughs in a five-note ascending scale.) Right! I’d say, “If you’re hurt—we even pay if your feelings are hurt, how’s that?” (Laughs.)

Of course, I used the directional force of the eyes and my fountain pen, so the individual looked at what I’m pointing to. Thus, he concentrates through the sense of sight and the sense of hearing. If you had an objection, it wouldn’t occur to you in that short span of time. You have a nervous system, I know how to tap it.

You’d have to have an effective close. If you wanted the person to say yes, you’d ask an affirmative question: “You see what I mean?” Now you just shook your head yes, whether you understood me or not. Why? Because I made it easy for you. If I want a no, it’s very easy. Make a negative statement. Now you don’t have accident insurance, do you? Be frank….

 

 

You see? I made it easy for you to say no. That eliminated a lot of argument. So it was a matter of a one-two-three sale. I made 122 sales in one day in the Depression. Since then, we’ve had men who’ve done much better. If I wanted to sell you an accident insurance policy, it would never occur to me that you wouldn’t buy. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t.

 

 

The reason I’d call on the head of a company, you find a man who has worked his way up from the bottom is much more generous than one who hasn’t. What I really wanted was his permission, and I made it easy for him to give it to me. If he didn’t take the policy, I’d say: (enthusiastically) “Well, thanks just the same. I’ll see you again next year!” Then, as I would leave, I’d say, “Oh, by the way, would it be all right to see the others? If they’re not too busy, I’ll show it to them. If they want it, all right. If not, all right.” I’d be on my way out and the answer would always be yes. Because it’s a reflex action.

I would certainly not be in the sight of the president too frequently. I’d
go from department to department. If it were an office, I’d go from desk to desk.

 

 

I wouldn’t even tell ’em my name. Every man, every woman, every child needs protection. In a Depression, they need it more than any other time. If a person had enough money for a ton of coal, it was more advantageous for him to have a half a ton of coal and my policy than just a ton of coal without the policy. The system worked.

I was a student of the human mind and would get keyed up. If I wanted to sell you an accident insurance policy, you’re sold. Give me one of your liabilities, and I’ll turn it into an asset.

 

 

The first thing to do is pray for guidance. Then engage in thinking time. You condition your mind to determine what you want. Figure out the logical way to achieve it. Don’t worry about the thousand reasons you shouldn’t achieve it. All you need is one good reason why you should. If you had PMA, a positive mental attitude, you’d do more than that for which you are paid, so the firm couldn’t afford to let you go. Instead they’d push you up. This is in the Depression, right?

 

 

The response is so simple: “That’s exactly why you need it.” I’d close in on you. If you didn’t have money, that wouldn’t bother me. I’d say, “You can go next door and borrow it.” And if you wanted it badly enough, you would. Why not?

As a student of the human mind, what you’d do is push the right buttons. If someone would say, “I don’t believe in insurance,” you’d go along with them: “I’ll be truthful with you, I don’t think you’ll have an accident. If I did, in fairness to my company, I wouldn’t sell you a policy.” You’d hesitate. Then he’d say, “You can’t tell.” I’d say, “You’re right.” And I’d show him the policy and sell ’im.

 

 

Rrrright! Because of mental attitude, the power every human being possesses—the human mind.

In those days, it was very easy to do what others were afraid to do. There might be ten salesmen ahead of me and ten salesmen behind me and
it was very interesting. They might be trying to sell insurance. But with my PMA, I sold. Whether they sold or not, I never took the time to find out.

 

MY OLD MAN in 1928 had a million dollars in cash. Between the market, the races and the numbers racket, he lost everything. Going to the horses, sitting in a box for almost four years, with the touts who were supposed to pick the winners for him … he went through a million. In ’31, my old man gave me $5: “Here, take care of the house.”

It took me twenty years to figure out what happened. I always figured there was some kind of logic I didn’t understand. Maybe it was some kind of lack in me. ’Cause I was brought up in a middle-class family: all the privileges, the house with the servant—all of a sudden, one day it’s all gone. Now I had to find out who the hell I was.

Here I am being thrown into some kind of goddam pot and I had to learn how to live. Really, without Horatio Alger I wouldn’t have made it. I really believed there was room for you in this society, that there was work, that you could overcome adversity.

One day I started out looking for a job. Within three hours, I found one as a shipping clerk. $10 a week, of which I gave six home. I became a good shipping clerk. I worked alone. My world was the four walls of the shipping room.

I had no illusion about getting an education. I didn’t have the drive, didn’t know what I wanted to be. I began to feel I was peripheral. I didn’t fit into a world where people spent four years in a institution and came out with a guaranteed job or point of view. Or became a doctor or dentist.

I used to ride the New York subways and look at the chalk board at employment agencies. In the street, there’d be hundreds of men looking at these boards. I did chance jobs.

One day on the subway, I picked up a paper and it said: “Experienced Florist Wanted.” The date on the paper was the day before, but I figured the hell with it, I’ll try.