فصل 10

Chapter 10

GET THE ACTION HABIT

HERE’S SOMETHING LEADERS IN every field agree on: There is a shortage of top-flight, expertly qualified persons to fill key positions. There really is, as the saying goes, plenty of room at the top. As one executive explained, there are many almost-qualified people, but there is one success ingredient often missing: that is the ability to get things done, to get results.

Every big job—whether it be operating a business, high-level selling, in science, the military, or the government—requires a person who thinks action. Principal executives, looking for a key person, demand answers to questions like “Will she do the job?” “Will he do flow through?” “Is she a self-starter?” “Can he get results, or is he just a talker?” All these questions have one aim: to find out if the fellow is a man of action.

Excellent ideas are not enough. An only fair idea acted upon, and developed, is 100 percent better than a terrific idea that dies because it isn’t followed up.

The great self-made merchant John Wanamaker often said, “Nothing comes merely by thinking about it.” Think of it. Everything we have in this world, from satellites to skyscrapers to baby food, is just an idea acted upon.

As you study people—both the successful and the just average—you find they fall into two classes. The successful are active; we’ll call them activationists. The just average, the mediocre, the unsuccessful are passive. We’ll call them passivationists.

We can discover a success principle by studying both groups. Mrs. Activationist is a doer. She takes action, gets things done, follows through on ideas and plans. Mr. Passivationist is a “don’ter.” He postpones doing things until he has proved he shouldn’t or can’t do them or until it’s too late.

The difference between Mrs. Activationist and Mr. Passivationist shows through in countless little ways. Mrs. Activationist plans a vacation. She takes it. Mr. Passivationist plans a vacation. But he postpones it until “next” year. Mrs. A. decides she should attend church regularly. She does. Mr. P thinks it’s a good idea to go to church regularly too, but he finds ways to postpone acquiring this new habit. Mrs. A. feels that she should drop a note to someone she knows to congratulate him on some achievement. She writes the note. Under the same circumstances, Mr. P. finds a good reason to put off writing the note and it never gets written.

The difference shows up in big things too. Mrs. A. wants to go into business for herself. She does. Mr. P. also wants to go into business for himself, but he discovers just in the nick of time a “good” reason why he had better not. Mrs. A., age forty, decides she wants to take up a new line of work. She does. The same idea occurs to Mr. P., but he debates himself out of doing anything about it.

The difference between Messrs. Activationist and Passivationist shows through in all forms of behavior. Mrs. A. gets the things done she wants done, and as by-products she gains confidence, a feeling of inner security, self-reliance, and more income. Mr. P. doesn’t get the things done he wants done because he won’t act. As by-products he loses confidence in himself, destroys his self-reliance, lives in mediocrity.

Mrs. Activationist does. Mr. Passivationist is going to do but doesn’t.

Everyone wants to be an activationist. So let’s get the action habit.

A lot of passivationists got that way because they insisted on waiting until everything was 100 percent favorable before they took action. Perfection is highly desirable. But nothing man-made or man-designed is, or can be, absolutely perfect. So to wait for the perfect set of conditions is to wait forever.

Below are three case histories that show how three persons reacted to “conditions.” CASE NO. 1: WHY G. N. HASN’T MARRIED

Mr. G. N. is now in his late thirties, is well educated, works as an accountant, and lives alone in Chicago. G. N.’s big desire is to get married. He wants love, companionship, a home, children, the works. G. N. has been close to marriage; once he was only one day away. But each time he has been near marriage, he discovers something ‘wrong’ with the woman he’s about to marry. (“Just in time, before I made an awful mistake.”) One instance stands out: Two years ago, G. N. thought he finally had met just the right woman. She was attractive, pleasant, intelligent. But G. N. had to be absolutely sure that marriage was the right thing. As they were discussing marriage plans one evening, the future Mrs. G. N. made a few remarks that bothered G. N. So, to make certain he was marrying the right woman, G. N. drew up a four-page document of stipulations she was to agree to before they got married. The document, neatly typed and looking very legal, covered every segment of living G. N. could think of. There was one section on religion: what church they would go to, how often they would attend, how much they would donate. Another section covered children: how many and when.

In detail, G. N. outlined the kind of friends they would have, his future wife’s employment status, where they would live, how their income would be spent. To finish the document, G. N. devoted half a page to listing specific habits the woman must break or must acquire. This covered such habits as smoking, drinking, makeup, entertainment, and so on.

When G. N.’s prospective bride reviewed his ultimatum, she did what you would expect. She rightly sent it back with a note saying, “The usual marriage clause, ‘for better or for worse,’ is good enough for everyone else and it’s good enough for me. The whole thing is off.” As G. N. was relating his experience to me, he said worriedly, “Now, what was so wrong in writing out this agreement? After all, marriage is a big step. You can’t be too careful.” But G. N. was wrong. You can be too careful, too cautious, not only in planning a marriage but in planning anything in the world where things get done. The standards can be too high. G. N.’s approach to marriage was very much like his approach to his work, his savings, his friendships, everything else.

The test of a successful person is not an ability to eliminate all problems before they arise, but to meet and work out difficulties when they do arise. We must be willing to make an intelligent compromise with perfection lest we wait forever before taking action. It’s still good advice to cross bridges as we come to them.

CASE NO. 2: WHY J. M. LIVES IN A NEW HOME

In every big decision, the mind battles with itself—to act or not to act, to do or not to do. Here’s how one young fellow elected to act and reaped big rewards.

J. M.’s situation is similar to that of a million other young men. He is in his twenties, has a wife and child, and still has only a modest income.

Mr. and Mrs. J. M. lived in a small apartment. Both wanted a new home. They wanted the advantage of more space, cleaner surroundings, a place for the youngster to play, and a chance to build up equity in their own property.

But there was a hitch to buying a new home—the down payment. One day as J. M. was writing next month’s rent check he became very disgusted with himself. He observed that the rent payment was as much as monthly payments on a new home.

J. M. called his wife and said, “How would you like to buy a new home next week?” “What’s got into you?” she asked. “Why make jokes? You know we can’t. We haven’t even got the money for the down payment.” But J. M. was determined. “There are hundreds of thousands of couples like us who are going to buy a new home ‘someday,’ but only about half of them ever do. Something always comes up to stop them. We’re going to buy a home. I don’t know yet how we’ll raise the down payment, but we will.” Well, the next week they found a house they both liked, quite unpretentious but nice, for $1,200 down. Now the obstacle was to find a way to raise $1,200. J. M. knew he couldn’t borrow it through the usual channels, for this would encumber his credit so that he couldn’t get a mortgage for the sale price.

Where there’s a will there’s always a way. Suddenly, J. M. got a brainstorm: Why not contact the builder and work out a private loan arrangement for $1,200? This J. M. did. At first, the builder was cold to the idea, but J. M. persisted. Finally, it was agreed. The builder would, in effect, advance J. M. the $1,200, to be repaid at $100 a month plus interest.

Now all J. M. had to do was to “find” $100 a month. Mr. and Mrs. J. M. sharpened their pencils and figured out a way to cut expenditures $25 a month. But that still left $75, which J. M. would have to raise each month.

Then J. M. got another idea. The next morning he went in to see his boss. He explained to his employer what he was doing. His boss was glad to learn that J. M. was going to buy a new home.

Then J. M. said, “Look, Mr. T, to work this deal out, I’ve got to earn at least $75 more each month. Now, I know,” J. M. continued, “you’ll give me a raise when you feel that I deserve it. What I want now is just a chance to earn more money. There are some things around here that could best be done on weekends. Will you make it possible for me to work then?” The employer was impressed with J. M.’s sincerity and ambition. He proposed a way for J. M. to work ten extra hours each weekend, and Mr. and Mrs. J. M. moved into their new home.

1. The resolution to take action ignited J. M.’s mind to think of ways to accomplish his goal.

2. J. M. gained tremendously in new confidence. It will be much easier for him to take action in other major situations.

3. J. M. provided his wife and child the living standard they deserved. Had he waited, postponed buying the house until conditions were perfect, there is a real possibility they never would have owned a home of their own.

CASE NO. 3: C. D. WANTED TO START HIS OWN BUSINESS, BUT …

Mr. C. D. represents another case of what happens to big ideas when one waits until conditions are perfect before taking action on those ideas.

Shortly after World War II, C. D. got a job with the Customs Division of the U.S. Post Office Department. He liked his work, but after five years he became dissatisfied with the confinement, regular hours, low pay, and the seniority system with its relatively narrow chances for advancement, Then he got an idea. He had learned a great deal about what it takes to be a successful importer. Why not set himself up in the business of importing low-cost gift items and toys? C. D. knew many successful importers who didn’t have his knowledge of the ins and outs of this business.

It’s been ten years now since C. D. decided he wanted to go into business for himself. But today, he’s still working for the Customs Office.

Why? Well, every time C. D. was just about ready to cut loose on his own, something happened that stopped him from taking action. Lack of money, economic recession, new baby, need for temporary security, trade restrictions, and more excuses all served as reasons for waiting, for postponing.

The real truth is that C. D. let himself develop into a passivationist. He wanted conditions to be perfect before he took action. Since conditions were never perfect, C. D. never took action.

Here are two things to do to help you avoid the costly mistake of waiting until conditions are perfect before you act.

1. Expect future obstacles and difficulties. Every venture presents risks, problems, and uncertainties. Let’s suppose you wanted to drive your car from Chicago to Los Angeles, but you insisted on waiting until you had absolute assurance that there would be no detours, no motor trouble, no bad weather, no drunken drivers, no risk of any kind. When would you start? Never! In planning your trip to Los Angeles it makes sense to map your route, check your car, in other ways to eliminate as much risk as possible before you start. But you can’t eliminate all risks.

2. Meet problems and obstacles as they arise. The test of a successful person is not the ability to eliminate all problems before he takes action, but rather the ability to find solutions to difficulties when he encounters them. In business, marriage, or in any activity, cross bridges when you come to them.

We can’t buy an insurance policy against all problems.

Make up your mind to do something about your ideas. Five or six years ago a very capable professor told me of his plans for writing a book, a biography of a controversial personality of a few decades ago. His ideas were more than interesting; they were alive, fascinating. The professor knew what he wanted to say, and he had the skill and energy to say it. The project was destined to reward him with much inner satisfaction, prestige, and money.

Last spring I saw my friend again, and I innocently asked him whether the book was about finished. (This was a blunder; it opened up an old wound.) No, he hadn’t written the book. He struggled with himself for a moment as if he were debating with himself whether to explain why. Finally he explained that he had been too busy, he had more “responsibilities” and just couldn’t get to it.

In reality, what the professor had done was to bury the idea deep in his mental graveyard. He let his mind grow negative thoughts. He visualized the tremendous work and sacrifices that would be involved. He saw all sorts of reasons why the project would fail.

Ideas are important. Let’s make no mistake about that. We must have ideas to create and improve anything. Success shuns the man who lacks ideas.

But let’s make no mistakes about this point either. Ideas in themselves are not enough. That idea for getting more business, for simplifying work procedures, is of value only when it is acted upon.

Every day thousands of people bury good ideas because they are afraid to act on them.

And afterward, the ghosts of those ideas come back to haunt them.

Put these two thoughts deep in your mind. First, give your ideas value by acting on them. Regardless of how good the idea, unless you do something with it, you gain nothing.

Second, act on your ideas and gain mind tranquillity. Someone once said that the saddest word of tongue or pen are these: it might have been. Every day you hear someone saying something like “Had I gone into business seven years ago, I’d sure be sitting pretty now.” Or “I had a hunch it would work out like that. I wish I had done something about it.” A good idea if not acted upon produces terrible psychological pain. But a good idea acted upon brings enormous mental satisfaction.

Got a good idea? Then do something about it,

Use action to cure fear and gain confidence. Here’s something to remember. Action feeds and strengthens confidence; inaction in all forms feeds fear. To fight fear, act. To increase fear—wait, put off, postpone.

Once I heard a young paratrooper instructor explain, “The jump really isn’t so bad. It’s the waiting to jump that gets a fellow. On the trip to the jump site I always try to make the time pass quickly for the men. It’s happened more than once that a trainee thought too much about what may happen and panicked. If we can’t get him to jump the next trip, he’s through as a paratrooper. Instead of gaining confidence, the longer he postpones the jump, the more scared he gets.” Waiting even makes the experts nervous. Time magazine reported that Edward R. Murrow, the nation’s top newscaster, perspires and is on edge just before he telecasts. But once he’s in action, fear disappears. Many veteran actors experience the same sensation. They agree that the only cure for stage fright is action. Getting right out there before the audience is the cure for dread, worry, fear.

Action cures fear. One evening we were visiting in a friend’s home when their five-year-old boy, who had been put to bed thirty minutes before, cried out. The youngster had been over-stimulated by a science fiction film and was afraid the little green monsters were going to enter his room and kidnap him. I was intrigued by the way the boy’s father relieved the lad’s worry. He didn’t say, “Don’t worry, son, nothing is going to get you. Go back to sleep.” Instead he took positive action. He made quite a show for the boy by inspecting the windows to be sure they were tight. Then he picked up one of the boy’s plastic guns and put it on a table beside his bed and said, “Billy, here’s a gun for you just in case.” The little fellow had a look of complete relief. Four minutes later he was fast asleep.

Many physicians give neutral, harmless “medication” to people who insist they’ve got to have something to make them sleep. To lots of folks the act of swallowing a pill, even though (unknown to them) the pill has no medication, makes them feel better.

It’s perfectly natural to experience fear in one of many forms. But the usual methods of combating it simply don’t work. I’ve been with many salesmen who tried to cure fear, which creeps up on even the most experienced of them at times, by going around the block a few times or drinking extra coffee. But these things don’t get results. The way to combat that kind of fear—yes, any kind of fear—yes, any kind of fear—is action.

Dread making a certain phone call? Make it, and dread disappears. Put it off, and it will get harder and harder to make.

Dread going to a doctor for a checkup? Go, and your worry vanishes. Chances are nothing serious is wrong with you, and if there is, you know where you stand. Put off that checkup, and you feed your fear until it may grow so strong that you actually are sick.

Dread discussing a problem with your superior? Discuss it, and discover how those worries are conquered.

Build confidence. Destroy fear through action,

START YOUR MENTAL ENGINE—MECHANICALLY

An aspiring young writer who wasn’t experiencing success made this confession: “My trouble is, whole days and weeks pass that I can’t get a thing written.

“You see,” he remarked, “writing is creative. You’ve got to be inspired. Your spirit must move you.” True, writing is creative, but here’s how another creative man, also a writer, explained his “secret” for producing quantities of successful material.

“I use a ‘mind force’ technique,” he began. “I’ve got deadlines to meet, and I can’t wait for my spirit to move me. I’ve got to move my spirit. Here’s how my method works. I make myself sit down at my desk. Then I pick up a pencil and go through mechanical motions of writing. I put down anything, I doodle. I get my fingers and arm in motion, and sooner or later, without my being conscious of it, my mind gets on the right track.

“Sometimes, of course, I get ideas out of the blue when I’m not trying to write,” he went on, “but these are just bonuses. Most of the good ideas come from just getting to work.” Action must precede action. That’s a law of nature. Nothing starts itself, not even the dozens of mechanical gadgets we use daily.

Your home is heated automatically, but you must select (take action) the temperature you want. Your car shifts gears automatically only after you have set the right lever. The same principle applies to mind action, You get your mind in gear to make it produce for you.

A young branch sales manager for a door-to-door sales organization explained how he trained his sales force the “mechanical way” to start each day earlier and more successfully.

“There’s a tremendous resistance to the door-to-door salesman, as anyone who has ever sold house to house knows,” he commented. “And it’s hard, even for the veteran salesman, to make that first call in the morning. He knows the odds are pretty good that he’ll get some pretty rough treatment before the day is over. So it’s natural for him to put off getting started in the morning. He’ll drink a couple of extra cups of coffee, maybe cruise around the neighborhood awhile or do a dozen little things to postpone that first call.

“I train each new man this way. I explain to him that the only way to start is to start. Don’t deliberate. Don’t postpone getting started. Do this: Just park your car. Get your sample case. Walk to the door. Ring the bell. Smile. Say ‘Good morning,’ and make your presentation, all mechanically, without a lot of conscious thought. Start making calls this way and you break the ice. By the second or third call, your mind is sharp and your presentations become effective.” A humorist once said the most difficult problem in life was getting out of a warm bed into a cold room. And he had a point. The longer you lie there and think how unpleasant it will be to get up, the more difficult it becomes. Even in such a simple operation as this, mechanical action, just throwing off the covers and putting your feet on the floor, defeats dread.

The point is clear. People who get things done in this world don’t wait for the spirit to move them; they move the spirit.

Try these two exercises:

1. Use the mechanical way to accomplish simple but sometimes unpleasant business and household chores. Rather than think about the unpleasant features of the task, jump right in and get going without a lot of deliberation.

Perhaps the most unpleasant household task to most people is washing dishes. My mother is no exception. But she has mastered a mechanical approach to dispensing with this task quickly, so she can return to things she likes to do.

As she leaves the table, she always mechanically picks up several dishes and, without thinking about the task ahead, just gets started. In just a few minutes she is through. Doesn’t this beat stacking dishes and dreading the unpleasant inevitable?

Do this today: Pick the one thing you like to do least. Then, without letting yourself deliberate on or dread the task, do it. That’s the most efficient way to handle chores: 2. Next, use the mechanical way to create ideas, map out plans, solve problems, and do other work that requires top mental performance. Rather than wait for the spirit to move you, sit down and move your spirit.

Here’s a special technique guaranteed to help you: Use a pencil and paper. A simple pencil is the greatest concentration tool money can buy. If I had to choose between an ultrafancy, deeply carpeted, beautifully decorated, soundproof office and a pencil and paper, I’d choose the pencil and paper every time. With a pencil and paper you can tie your mind to a problem.

When you write a thought on paper, your full attention is automatically focused on that thought. That’s because the mind is not designed to think one thought and write another at the same time. And when you write on paper, you “write” on your mind, too. Tests prove conclusively that you remember something much longer and much more exactly if you write the thought on paper.

And once you master the pencil-and-paper technique for concentration, you can think in noisy or other distracting situations. When you want to think, start writing or doodling or diagramming. It’s an excellent way to move your spirit.

Now is the magic word of success. Tomorrow, next week, later, sometime, someday often as not are synonyms for the failure word, never. Lots of good dreams never come true because we say, “I’ll start someday,” when we should say, “I’ll start now, right now.” Take one example, saving money. Just about everybody agrees that saving money is a good idea. But just because it’s a good idea doesn’t mean many folks follow an organized savings and investment program. Many people have intentions to save, but only relatively few act on these intentions.

Here’s how one young couple got into gear with a regular wealth accumulation program. Bill’s take-home income was $1,000 a month, but he and his wife, Janet, spent $1,000 each month too. Both wanted to save, but there were always reasons why they felt they couldn’t begin, For years they had promised themselves, “We’ll start when we get a raise,” “When we’ve caught up with our installments,” “When we’re over the hump,” “next month,” “next year.” Finally Janet got disgusted with their failure to save. She said to Bill, “Look, do we want to save or don’t we?” He replied, “Of course we do, but you know as well as I we can’t put aside anything now.” But for once Janet was in a do-or-die mood. “We’ve been telling ourselves for years we’re going to start a savings program. We don’t save because we think we can’t. Now let’s start thinking we can. I saw an ad today that shows if we’d save just $100 a month, in fifteen years, we’d have $18,000 plus $6,600 accumulated interest. The ad also said it’s easier to spend what’s left over after savings than it is to save what’s left over after spending. If you’re game, let’s start with 10 percent of your pay and let’s save off the top. We may eat crackers and milk before the month’s up, but if we have to, we will.” Bill and Janet were cramped for a few months, but soon they were adjusted to their new budget. Now they feel it’s just as much fun to “spend” money on savings as it is to spend it on something else.

Want to write a note to a friend? Do it now. Got an idea you think would help your business? Present it now. Live the advice of Benjamin Franklin: “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” Remember, thinking in terms of now gets things accomplished, But thinking in terms of someday or sometime usually means failure.

One day I stopped in to see an old business friend. She had just returned from a conference with several of her executives. The moment I looked at her, I could tell there was something she wanted to get off her chest. She had the look of a woman who had suffered real disappointment.

“You know,” she said, “I called that conference this morning because I wanted some help on a proposed policy change. But what kind of help did I get? I had six men in there, and only one of them had anything to contribute. Two others talked, but what they said was just an echo of what I had said. It was like talking with a bunch of vegetables. I confess it’s hard for me to find out what those fellows think.

“Really,” she went on, “you’d think those fellows would speak up and let me know what they think. After all, it directly affects each of them.” My friend didn’t get help in the conference. But had you roamed the hall after the meeting broke up, you’d have heard her junior associates making remarks like “I felt like saying…” “Why didn’t someone suggest …” “I don’t think…” “We ought to go ahead …” So often the vegetables, those who have nothing to say in the conference room, are full of talk after the meeting, when what they’ve got to say won’t make any difference. They’re suddenly full of life when it’s too late.

Business executives want comment. The fellow who hides his light under a bushel hurts himself.

Get the “speak up” habit. Each time you speak up, you strengthen yourself. Come forward with your constructive ideas.

We all know how many college students prepare their assignments. With fine intentions, Joe College sets aside a whole evening for some concentrated study Here is a general pattern of how, too often, the evening is spent.

Joe’s ready to begin studying at 7 P.M., but his dinner seems just a bit heavy, so he decides to get in a little TV. A little turns out to be an hour’s worth since the program was pretty good. At 8 P.M. he sits down at his desk but gets right back up because he just remembered he promised to call his girl. This shoots another forty minutes (he hadn’t talked to her all day). An incoming call takes another twenty minutes. On his way back to his desk Joe is drawn into a Ping-Pong game. Another hour gone. The Ping-Pong makes him feel sweaty, so he takes a shower. Next he needs a snack. The combined effect of the Ping-Pong and the shower have made him hungry.

And so the evening planned with good intentions drifts away. Finally, at 1 A.M., he opens the book, but he’s too sleepy to absorb the subject. Finally he surrenders completely. Next morning he tells the professor, “I hope you give me a break. I studied till 2 A.M., for this exam.” Joe College didn’t get into action because he spent too much time getting ready to get into action. And Joe College isn’t alone in being a victim of “overpreparedness.” Joe Salesman, Joe Executive, Joe Professional Worker, Josephine Housewife—they all often try to build strength and get ready with office chats, coffee breaks, sharpening pencils, reading, personal business, getting the desk cleared off, TV and dozens of other little escape devices.

But there’s a way to break this habit. Tell yourself, “I’m in condition right now to begin, I can’t gain a thing by putting it off. I’ll use the ‘get ready’ time and energy to get going instead.” “What we want more than anything else in our business,” an executive in a machine tool company said in an address to a group of sales executives, “is more people who get sound ideas and then push them through. There’s not one job in our production and marketing setup that can’t be done better, a lot better. I don’t want to infer that we’re not doing a good job now. We are. But like all progressive companies, we need new products, new markets, new and more efficient ways of doing things. We depend on people with initiative. They’re the ball carriers on our team.” Initiative is a special kind of action. It’s doing something worthwhile without being told to do it. The person with initiative has a standing invitation to join the high income brackets in every business and profession.

The director of marketing research in a medium-sized drug manufacturing firm told me how he got to be a director of marketing research. It’s a good lesson in the power of initiative.

“Five years ago I got an idea,” he told me. “I was working then as a sort of missionary salesman, calling on wholesalers. I discovered that one thing we lacked was facts about the consumers we wanted to buy our drug line. I talked about the need for market research to everyone here. At first I got only deaf ears because management couldn’t see the need for it.

“I was pretty much obsessed with the idea of marketing research in our company, so I sort of took the bull by the horns. I asked and got permission to prepare a monthly report on ‘Facts of Drug Marketing.’ I collected information from every source I could find. I kept on with this, and pretty soon management, and the other salesmen, found themselves really interested in what I was doing. Just one year after I started crusading for research, I was relieved of my regular duties and asked to concentrate on developing my ideas.

“The rest,” he continued, “was just natural development. Now I’ve got two assistants, a secretary, and about three times the yearly income I had five years ago.” Here are two special exercises for developing the initiative habit:

1. Be a crusader. When you see something that you believe ought to be done, pick up the ball and run.

A new subdivision not far from where I live was about two-thirds built when expansion came almost to a standstill. A few families with a don’t-care attitude had moved in. This prompted several of the finest families in the area to sell their homes (at a loss) and move on. As so often happens, the do-care families caught the don’t-care attitude from their don’t-care neighbors—everyone, that is, except Harry L. Harry did care, and he decided to crusade for a fine neighborhood.

Harry began by calling together some friends. He pointed out that this subdivision had tremendous potential but that something must be done now or the area would soon be a strictly second-class neighborhood. Harry’s enthusiasm and initiative quickly won support. Soon there were clean-up-the-vacant-lots projects. Garden clubs were organized, a massive tree-planting project was started. A playground was built for the youngsters. A community swimming pool was constructed. The don’t-care families became eager supporters. The whole subdivision took on new life and new sparkle, and it’s really a pleasure now to drive through that community. It shows what a crusader can do.

Do you feel your business should develop a new department, make a new product, or in some other way expand? Well, then, crusade for it. Feel your church needs a new building? Crusade for it. Would you like your children’s school to have better equipment? Crusade and get it for them.

And you can bank on this: while crusades may start out as one-man crusades, if the idea behind the enterprise is good, soon you’ll have lots of support.

Be an activationist and crusade.

1. Be a volunteer. Each of us has been in situations in which we wanted to volunteer for some activity but didn’t. Why? Because of fear. Not fear that we couldn’t accomplish the task, but rather fear of what our associates would say. The fear of being laughed at, of being called an eager beaver, of being accused of bucking for a raise holds many people back.

It’s natural to want to belong, to be accepted, to have group approval. But ask yourself, “Which group do I want to have accept me: the group that laughs because it is secretly jealous or the group that is making progress by doing things?” The right choice is obvious.

The volunteer stands out. He receives special attention. Most important of all, he gives himself an opportunity to show he has special ability and ambition by volunteering.

By all means, volunteer for those special assignments.

Think about the leaders you know in business, the military, your community. Do they fit the description of activationist or would you say they are passivationists?

Ten times out of ten they’re activationists, people who do things. The fellow who stands on the sidelines, who holds off, who is passive, does not lead. But the doer, the fellow who thinks action, finds others want to follow him.

People place confidence in the fellow who acts. They naturally assume he knows what he is doing.

I’ve never heard anyone complimented and praised because “he doesn’t disturb anyone,” “he doesn’t take action,” or “he waits until he’s told what to do.” Have you?

GROW THE ACTION HABIT

Practice these key points:

1. Be an activationist. Be someone who does things. Be a doer, not a don’t-er.

2. Don’t wait until conditions are perfect. They never will be. Expect future obstacles and difficulties and solve them as they arise.

3. Remember, ideas alone won’t bring success. Ideas have value only when you act upon them.

4. Use action to cure fear and gain confidence. Do what you fear, and fear disappears. Just try it and see.

5. Start your mental engine mechanically Don’t wait for the spirit to move you. Take action, dig in, and you move the spirit.

6. Think in terms of now. Tomorrow, next week, later, and similar words often are synonymous with the failure word, never. Be an “I’m starting right now” kind of person.

7. Get down to business—pronto. Don’t waste time getting ready to act. Start acting instead.

8. Seize the initiative. Be a crusader. Pick up the ball and run. Be a volunteer. Show that you have the ability and ambition to do.

9. Get in gear and go!