Thank Goodness It's Monday #362

UNLEASH THE POWER OF ENTHUSIASM

AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE 

Norman Vincent Peale -- is there a student of self improvement who doesn’t know that name?  (If you don’t know him, you better find out.)

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
(1898 - 1993)

His contributions to the canon are rooted in the idea of “Positive Thinking” – a concept and practice he developed, championed and seriously popularized in the post World War II era of the early 1950s. 

And today? He’s still relevant. Although his vocabulary and examples may sound a bit pre-Mad-Men dated, his ideas still work like gangbusters in the 21^st Century. 

Just one example: There’s widespread acknowledgement that the currently popular book and DVD The Secret is grounded in principles Peale espoused. 

Peale’s “job” for 50+ years was pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. 

And more. Much more. As a prolific writer and savvy business man he, with his wife Ruth Stafford Peale, extended his influence in many directions and nurtured friendships with such prominent business giants of his day as James Cash Penney, founder of J.C. Penney & Co., Thomas J. Watson, founder of IBM, Frank Gannett, founder of the newspaper chain, Branch Rickey, General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Richard Prentice-Ettinger, co-founder of the publishing giant Prentice-Hall, Inc.

And me. Sort of. 

My first “real job” in publishing was at P-H, the publisher of Peale’s books in their heyday. And one of my first non-trainee assignments centered on the creation and promotion of a high-dollar-value “Executive” edition of one of the seminal Peale works, Enthusiasm Makes The Difference. 

I unearthed my copyright 1968 Executive Edition ($25 plus postage and handling; not a small price back in the day) recently and am inspired enough by its reappearance in my life to share with you some penciled-on-yellow-legal-pad notes I had squirreled away there many decades ago. 

TGIM TAKEAWAY: These are my notes and thoughts, not necessarily NVP’s. They are a bit rough because they are simply notes. I’ll edit them a little for clarity and to align with TGIM style, but not too much. I hope you find them worth reviewing. 

Enthusiasm has many faces. 

Your degree of enthusiasm indicates your degree of liking for people, as well as the degree of liking of people for you.

Enthusiasm is deliberately manufactured until the time it becomes an integral part of your personality. It’s a stepped-up performance, designed not only to give you a lift but to compellingly and exhilaratingly step up the enthusiasm of everyone else.

So think Enthusiasm!  It shows! 

Use the following steps to generate enthusiasm:

·         Have a desire to do things. The world is filled with wonderful things and wonderful people. They are as bright or as cheery as you see them. Find a happy side to every event. See the bright and cheerful. Leave no room in your life for the dull and the gray.

·         Turn enthusiasm on even when you don’t feel like it. One of the amazing factors about enthusiasm is that, once you turn it on, it grows.  

·         Try “pretending” if you doubt. Pretend you’re happy about some occasion or event. Build it up. Show interest. Get going; quit stalling. Play it up to see how effective it is.

·         Have many interests. See the bright side of each. Get new interests. Make each new thing you do a challenge. Let the challenge be a catalyst that fires up your desire to achieve.  Feed this challenge with interest and watch enthusiasm take you to the bubbling point.

·         Widen your horizons. “New” is good for you. Find new studies, new travel, new faces and new friends to spread the extent of your personal verve. Return to your work inspired.

·         Do what you enjoy doing. Enthusiasm is blunted by dull associates and dull occupations if you see them as such. Enthusiasm is stepped up, however, when you have a change of pace. Renew the batteries of the charm by disassociating yourself with the routine and the dull.

·         Color everything you do or say. Consciously ignite your smile, your hello, your eyes, and invest your words with the drama of the technicolor approach. Create colorful descriptive imagery. Choose your words. To all words, add actions. Accompany a warm smile with an even warmer hand clasp. Make conversations sparkle, even when you are not feeling at your best. 

·         Know what you are and saying or doing. Be sure to have all the facts before you comment. Research the things that are important to you. The more you know about any particular subject – the more you are informed -- the more informative you can be. The more you can support your ideas, the more fascinating your opinion becomes. To develop the depth of your enthusiasm, know what you’re saying and doing at all times.

·         Spread praise lavishly.  People hunger for praise, so give it freely. Remember that praise is power and empowering. Indicate your appreciation. Be warm. Be kind. Be sincere. Spread compliments in all directions. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, make someone feel your enthusiasm through praise.

·         Look for good things in and about people.  Don’t stop at simply forming first impressions. These are often inadequate and – with justification – drain enthusiasm. Walk away from idle gossip.  Refuse to listen to negative talk about people with whom you have contact. Instead, deliberately turn the conversation to the person’s good points or to another subject altogether.

·         Find interests in common with others. Deftly and delicately probe those around you to determine the area of their interests. For another person to find something in common with you is for them to find you an interesting person. Between you is rapport in a common bond called enthusiasm.

·         Offer encouragement. Nothing makes others see you as an enthusiastic person better than your ability to encourage them. Listen to people. Aid them in their problems. Make them feel better because of your presence, your interest, and your encouragement.

·         Render personalized attention. In the enthusiastic approach there is nothing better than personalized attention. This attention must be defined. It must be a planned program of action. Talk and do in terms the other person understands. Give pleasure.  Organize your attention to please a client, a spouse, a patient, or an army. Do what you would do specifically for them.  Make them feel pleasure.  Make them know you care.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Enthusiasm Makes The Difference.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Sharing is caring. I hope I’ve done that enthusiastically. Now you go make a difference and do the same.

Geoff Steck   
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com