By: Bernard Haldane

We have seen the importance of having been born. We have studied the benefits of careful self-examination and we have considered the advisa¬bility of getting the Hell out of a bad situation be¬fore the roof caves in. Now we approach a new factor in the strug¬gle for Failure or Success.

Thought.

Or, as it is sometimes called, Thinking. There are two kinds of thinking: Negative and Positive. The Negative Thinker is unsure of himself. He lacks confidence, he approaches problems with a faint heart. His is a defeatist attitude. Words like "no," "won't," "can't," and "I better not" recur fre¬quently in his conversation. Faced with a problem or a fight, the Nega¬tive Thinker takes a dismal, pessimistic position.

"It's no use," he whines, "I can't win."

The Positive Thinker, on the other hand, is optimistic, confident, unafraid. He states his atti¬tude in affirmative tones.

Instead of crying "I can't win" as the Negative Thinker does, he shouts ring-in gly, triumphantly:

"I am going to lose!" See the difference?

Bob and Sam were brothers. This in itself is not particularly significant, as many of the most suc¬cessful men of my acquaintance have had brothers.

When they were young men, Bob and Sam thought about becoming prize fighters. One day Bob, the elder of the pair, was matched against a man who outweighed him by 40 pounds.

"I can't get in the ring with that big gorilla," Bob whined. "He'll kill me." "That," answered Sam, "is Negative Think¬ing. You have the wrong attitude. Think Positively. Tell yourself you are immune to his punches. Tell yourself you can destroy this big gorilla with one blow. Say to yourself: 'I'm tougher than he is ... I'll murder the bum . . . I'll . . .'" "No good," interrupted Bob. "I'm not only a coward, but a liar. I wouldn't believe a word I tell myself."

"In that case," said cocky little Sam, "I'll fight that big gorilla myself." "He'll kill you too," Bob said.

He was right. The gorilla killed Sam.

Bob reproached himself a little, for in his own gruff way he had always been fond of his brother, but the incident taught him a lesson he was never to forget.

Today Bob is Vice-President of a big Detroit auto plant, in charge of the Suggestion Box. Last year alone he turned down 37,453 ideas and is con¬sidered an absolute genius at thinking up reasons why no employee's suggestion can possibly work. "That," answered Sam, "is Negative Thinking. You have the wrong attitude."

His name was Joe and may still be, as far as I know. Joe was a salesman. About ten years ago he was, by his own admission, an Utter Failure.

He had lost all his enthusiasm. He had be¬come irritable, nervous, ridden by tensions and in¬ner fears. He had confidence in neither himself nor his product, hydraulic cranes. Joe got to dread call¬ing on buyers. He spent most of his time at the movies instead of at work.

One of the most successful financiers of our time once said to me: "Any man who goes to the movies when he ought to be working ought to be working when he goes to the movies."

One night Joe sat in his hotel room, thinking of a blond actress he had seen that afternoon and comparing her with his latest model KY-3876-AA hydraulic crane. The crane was getting all the worst of it when Joe idly picked up a magazine the last guest had dropped in the wastebasket.

He turned the pages in haphazard fashion. As Fate would have it, he opened to page 36, an article of mine on Positive Thinking. Suddenly eight words in that article seemed to leap out at him off the paper as if printed in letters of fire!

"I am strong; I can remove all obstacles!"

The effect on Joe was like magic. He threw himself on the floor in an ecstatic burst of joy and did 31 straight push-ups. He leaped around the room, inhaling deeply and exhaling the same way. He felt new life pulsating through his veins. He was in a state of calm exaltation, yet supremely excited.

Joe sat up all that night, memorizing those eight inspiring words ... "I am strong; I can remove all obstacles."

When morning came, he felt as fresh as if he'd slept for weeks. He felt like a new man and when the new man ordered oatmeal for breakfast, he downed it eagerly, although he had always de¬spised the stuff.

". . . comparing her with his latest model KY-3876-AA hy¬draulic crane."

He could scarcely wait for the business day to begin, so that he could rush to the movies. Seated in the theater, he couldn't keep his mind on the film, for thoughts of business kept intruding.

At the finish he rushed out to a telephone and made ap¬pointments to call on six hydraulic crane buyers. Of those six customers, Joe sold at least one crane to every one! And this was only the beginning.

His sales zoomed; the money rolled in. He was ac¬claimed Hydraulic Crane Man of the Year by the industry and given a banquet. When asked the secret of his sudden success, Joe said, simply: "I owe it all to my magic formula, eight little words."

One day Joe was asked to call on the biggest customer in the game, a man 6 feet 11 inches tall. His company had promised him a huge bonus if he could land the order. Joe forced himself to remain calm as he entered the buyer's office. Silently his lips kept forming the words "I am strong; I can re¬move all obstacles." He walked into the buyer's pri¬vate office with light heart and supreme confidence.

But Joe didn't get the order.

It went to a salesman from a rival firm. Heartsick and chagrined, Joe met his com¬petitor a short time later in a nearby tavern. "How," he asked, as he sipped his Scotch, "did you manage to land that order, the largest in hydraulic crane history?"

"Easy," the other salesman said, with a rye smile, "I have an inspiring little formula, a slogan I call Positive Thinking. All I have to do is keep repeating eleven magic words."

"Eleven magic words?" Joe gasped. "What are they?"

"I'm not so strong" the other salesman said, "but I sure can sell hydraulic cranes!"