Success Cannot be Copied
Many ambitious people, who recognize their duty to succeed but do not know how to go about it, make a common mistake in thinking. They believe the secret of certain success can be learned from examples; that success can be copied. So men who have succeeded conspicuously are often asked to state and explain their rules, for the benefit of other men who regard them as oracles.
Other Men's Formulas
Doubtless you have read much about Marshall Field, J. Pierpont Morgan, Charles M. Schwab, and similar outstanding business men. You have studied their principles of success. You have tried to practice their methods. But somehow the most careful following of their directions has not made you a multi-millionaire, nor can you see riches as a prospect. Naturally you are both disappointed and puzzled. Perhaps you have tested faithfully for years various formulas of success extracted from the advice of successful men. Yet you have failed, or have achieved only partial and unsatisfying success. You have been unable to solve the problem that you once felt so sure could be worked out by the rules you mastered.
Maybe you have become discouraged and have given up, in disgust, your ambition for achievement. Very likely you have said to yourself, "Success is so much a matter of luck and circumstances, there's no way to make sure of it. I've done everything that Marshall Field, J. Pierpont Morgan, and Charles M. Schwab have counseled; but I'm still plugging along on an ordinary salary. Rules for certain success are bunk. Luck has to break right for a man."
Unquestionably good luck has brought success to some men who would have failed without its aid. It is equally beyond doubt that bad luck has prevented other men from achieving their ambitions. Of course such successes and failures do not fall within any rules. They are altogether exceptional, and neither prove nor disprove general principles.
Eliminating the factor of luck, good or bad, the success of any normal, deserving man can be made certain to the extent of his individual capacity. Some men have different or bigger capacities than others; hence not all successes will be of the same kind, or alike in extent. But any normal, deserving man can assure himself as great a success as he is fitted to achieve. It is necessary, however, that he do more than develop his utmost capability. He must learn to employ skillful salesmanship, in order to market his "goods of sale," or personal qualifications, most profitably.
Sales Skill Necessary
Each of us has to make his own pattern of success. "The individual should develop his individuality," instead of attempting to imitate anybody else. It is even more necessary for him to use most effectively all the natural powers he builds up.