Chapter
Nine ~
HOW TO MOTIVATE YOURSELF ~
Pilot No. 9
What is motivation?
Motivation is that which induces action or determines choice?
It is that which provides a motive. A motive is the "inner
urge" only within the individual which incites him to action,
such as an idea, emotion, desire, or impulse.
It is the hope or other force which starts an action in an
attempt to produce specific results.
Motivating yourself and others. When you know principles that
can motivate you, you will then know principles that can
motivate others. Conversely, when you know principles that can
motivate others, you will then know principles that can
motivate you.
How to motivate yourself is the purpose of this chapter. How
to motivate others is the purpose of Chapter Ten. How to
motivate yourself and others with a positive mental attitude
is the purpose of Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude.
In essence, this is a book on motivation.
Our purpose in illustrating specific experiences of the
success and failures of others is to motivate you to desirable
action.
Now, therefore, to motivate yourself, try to understand
principles that motivate others to motivate others, try to
understand principles that motivate you.
Motivate yourself with PMA and you direct your thoughts,
control your emotions, and ordain your destiny.
Motivate yourself and others with the magic ingredient. What
is the magic ingredient?
One man, in particular, found it. Here is his story.
Some years ago, this man, a successful cosmetic manufacturer,
retired at the age of sixty-five. Each year thereafter his
friends gave him a birthday party, and on each occasion they
asked him to disclose his formula. Year after year he
pleasantly refused; however, on his seventy-fifth birthday his
friends, half jokingly and half seriously, once again asked if
he would disclose the secret.102
PAGE. 103
"You have been so wonderful to me over the years that I now
will tell you," he said. "You see, in addition to the formulas
used by other cosmeticians, I added the magic ingredient."
'What is the magic ingredient?" he was asked.
"I never promised a woman that my cosmetics would make her
beautiful, but I always gave her hope."
Hope is the magic ingredient!
Hope is a desire with the expectation of obtaining what is
desired and belief that it is obtainable. A person consciously
reacts to that which to him is desirable, believable, and
attainable.
And he also subconsciously reacts to the inner urge that
induces action when environmental suggestion, self-suggestion,
or autosuggestion cause the release of the powers of his
subconscious mind. His response to suggestion may develop
obedience that is direct, neutral, or in reverse action to a
specific symbol. In other words, there may be various types
and degrees of motivating factors.
Every result has a given cause. Your every act is the result
of a given cause your motives.
Hope, for example, motivated the cosmetic manufacturer to
build a profitable business. Hope also motivated women to buy
his cosmetics. Hope will motivate you, too.
The ten basic motives which inspire all human action. Every
thought you think, every act in which you voluntarily engage,
can . be traced back to some definite motive or combination of
motives. There are ten basic motives which inspire all
thoughts, all voluntary actions. No one ever does anything
without having been motivated to do it.
When it comes to learning how to motivate yourself for any
given purpose, or how to motivate others, you should have a
clear understanding of these ten basic motives. Here they are:
1. The desire for SELF-PRESERVATION.
2. The emotion of LOVE.
3. The emotion of FEAR.
4. The emotion of SEX.
5. The desire for LIFE AFTER DEATH.
6. The desire for FREEDOM OF BODY AND MIND.
7. The emotion of ANGER.
8. The emotion of HATE.
9. The desire for RECOGNITION and SELF-EXPRESSION.
10. The desire for MATERIAL GAIN.
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As you have been reading this chapter, perhaps you felt that
it contains food for thought. A good sandwich contains
nine-tenths bread and one-tenth meat. Unlike a sandwich, this
chapter is nine-tenths meat. That is the way the authors
planned it. We hope you will chew and digest it carefully.
Are negative emotions good? As you read Success Through a
Positive Mental Attitude you clearly see that negative
emotions, feelings, and thoughts are harmful to the
individual. But are there times when these are good?
Yes, negative emotions, feelings, thoughts and attitudes are
good at the proper time and under the right circumstances.
For that which is good for the species of man is good for the
individual. It is clear that in the process of evolution,
negative thoughts, feelings, emotions, and attitudes protected
the individual. In fact, these negatives prevented the species
of man from becoming extinct. And these negatives in a person,
like the negative forces of a bar magnet, effectively repelled
the forces of the negative powers of others. This has been.
And because it is a universal law, it will continue to be.
Now culture, refinement, and civilization, like man himself,
have also evolved from a primitive state. And the more
cultured, refined, and civilized a society or environment may
be, the less need there is for the individual to use these
negatives. But in a negative, antagonistic environment, a
person with common sense will use these negative forces with
PMA to oppose the evil with which he is faced.
And because you live in a country with laws designed to bring
the greatest good to the greatest number; because the rights
of the individual are protected; because you are in a society
and environment of culture, refinement, and the highest form
of civilization: those negative thoughts, feelings, emotions,
and passions which lie dormant within you from your hereditary
past are not now necessary to solve the problems which
primitive man could not otherwise have solved. For he was a
law unto himself. And the law of the individual has become
subservient to the law of society for his benefit.
Now let's clarify these concepts. Let's take anger, hate, and
fear as examples.
PAGE. 105
Anger and hate. Righteous indignation against evil is a form
of anger and hate. The desire to protect one's nation when
attacked by an enemy, or the desire to protect the weak
against the criminal attack of the madman to save human life
is good. To kill to accomplish this, when necessary, is an
example of the worst form of all negative feelings and
emotions used to achieve a worthy purpose. In our society the
patriotism of a soldier or the fulfillment of duty by a police
officer are virtues.
Fear. With every new experience and in every new environment
nature protects you from potential danger by alerting you
through some shade of the emotion of fear. You can be assured
that the bravest individual will, in a new environment, at
first, experience an awareness that is a conscious or
subconscious feeling of timidity or fear. If he finds that the
fears are not beneficial to him, the person with PMA will
neutralize an undesirable negative emotion by substituting a
positive one.
What can you do about it? Man is the only member of the animal
kingdom who, through the functioning of his conscious mind,
can voluntarily control his emotions from within, rather than
be forced to do so by external influences.
And he alone can deliberately change habits of emotional
response. The more civilized, cultured and refined you are,
the more easily you can control your emotions and feelings if
you choose to do so.
Emotions are controlled through the combination of reason and
action. When fears are unwarranted, or harmful, they can and
should be neutralized.
How?
While your emotions are not always immediately subject to
reason, nonetheless they are subject to action. For you can
use reason to determine the needlessness of the negative
emotion and thus motivate yourself to action. You can
substitute fear with a positive feeling. How do you do this?
One effective means is through self-suggestion, in fact
self-command, with a one word symbol that incorporates what
you want to be. Thus, if you are afraid and want to be
courageous, say the word courageous with rapidity several
times. Follow this with action. If you want to be courageous,
act courageously.
How?
Use the self-starter Do It Now! And then get into action.
In this and the next chapter you will see how to control your
emotions and actions by using self-suggestion. In the
meantime:
PAGE. 106
Keep your mind on the things you do want and off the things
you don't want. A success formula that always succeeds when
applied. Are you
among the hundreds of thousands of persons throughout the
world who have read the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, or
among the tens of thousands who have read Frank Bettger's book
How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling? If
not, we recommend that you read both. These books contain a
formula that always succeeds when applied.
In his autobiography, Franklin indicates that he endeavored to
help Benjamin Franklin just as the most important living
person wants to help you. He wrote (language modernized):
"My intention being to acquire the habit of all these virtues,
I judged it would be well not to distract my attention by
attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on one of them at
a time; and when I should be master of that, then to proceed
to another, and soon, until I should have gone through the
thirteen, and, as the previous acquisition of some might
facilitate the acquisition of certain others, I arranged them
with that view. . . ."
The names of these virtues as Franklin listed them, together
with the precepts (self-motivators for self-suggestion) he
gave each one, are:
1. TEMPERANCE: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. SILENCE: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. ORDER: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. RESOLUTION: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. FRUGALITY: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, that is, waste nothing.
6. INDUSTRY: Lose no time; be always employed in some-thing useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. SINCERITY: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. JUSTICE: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. MODERATION: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. CLEANLINESS: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11. TRANQUILITY: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents, common or unavoidable.
12. CHASTITY: Rarely use venery but for health or off-spring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13. HUMILITY: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
Franklin wrote further: "Conceiving then
that, agreeably to the advice of Pythagoras in his Golden
Verses, daily examination would be necessary, I contrived the
following method for conducting that examination.
"I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of
the virtues. I ruled each page with red ink, so as to have
seven columns, one for each day of the week, marking each
column with a letter for the day. I crossed these columns with
thirteen red lines, marking the beginning of each line with
the first letter of one of the virtues, on which line, and in
its proper column, I might mark, by a little black spot, every
fault I found upon examination to have been committed
respecting that virtue upon that day."
Now it is as important to know how to use a formula as it is
to know the formula. Here's how to use your knowledge:
A FORMULA IN ACTION
1. Concentrate on one principle for an entire week, every day of the week. Respond by proper action every time an occasion arises.
2. And then, start the second week on the second principle or virtue. Let the first be taken over by your subconscious mind. Should an occasion arise when the employment of a previous principle flashes into your conscious mind, use the self-starter DO IT NOW! and then ACT! Continue to concentrate on one principle at a time each week and leave the others to be executed by the habits established in your subconscious as the occasion arises.
3. When the series is completed, start over again. Thus at the end of a year, you will have completed the entire cycle four times.
4. When you have acquired a desired characteristic, substitute a new principle for a new virtue, attitude, or activity that you may wish to develop.
Now you have just read the method Benjamin
Franklin used to help Benjamin Franklin. As Success Through a
Positive Mental Attitude is a self-help book, it would be wise
for you to study Franklin's method and see how you can apply
the principles. In the chapter entitled "How to Motivate
Others" you will see how Frank Bettger raised himself from
failure to success by employing Benjamin Franklin's plan.
If you decide to start your own plan, and don't know exactly
what principles to start with you could begin with the 13
virtues used by Benjamin Franklin. Or you may prefer the 17
success principles.
Now for some bread for your sandwich. Let's tell about the
first Fuller Brush man.
Alfred C. Fuller, the first of the "Fuller Brush men," came
from a poor farm family living in Nova Scotia. Al couldn't
seem to hold a job. In fact, during the first two years of
trying to earn a living, he lost three jobs.
But then a radical change came into Fuller's life. For he
tried selling brushes. Right then Fuller was motivated. He
began to realize that his first three jobs were not the kind
of work suited to him.
He didn't like them.
PAGE. 109
The work didn't come to him naturally. But selling did. And he
saw immediately that he would do well as a salesman. He liked
his work. So Al conditioned his mind to do the best selling
job in the world. He was terrific.
And having succeeded as a salesman, he set a goal in his climb
up the ladder of success. It was: to go in business for
himself. Now this goal fitted nicely with his personality,
provided he was in sales.
Alfred C. Fuller did quit selling brushes for someone else.
And he had more fun than ever before. He manufactured his own
brushes in the evening, then sold them the next day. And when
his sales began to mount, he rented space in an old shed for
eleven dollars a month and hired an assistant who made the
brushes for him while he concentrated on sales. The end result
from the boy who lost his first three jobs?
In 1959 the Fuller Brush Company had more than 7,000
door-to-door salesmen and an annual income of over one hundred
million dollars.
You see, you are more apt to succeed if you do what comes
naturally.
But there are greater motivating factors than losing a job,
making money, or success in business. The desire for
self-preservation is the strongest on the list.
Seven came through. Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker is one of the
most successful and highly esteemed men in the United States.
He is successful as president of Eastern Air Lines. He is
esteemed for what he is.
Capt. Eddie, as he is affectionately called, is the symbol of
faith, integrity, the joy of hard work, and common sense.
Those who meet him, hear his lectures, or read his book Seven
Came Through, are themselves inspired by the symbol he
represents.
The airplane carrying Capt. Eddie and his crew fell into the
Pacific. No trace of the wreckage or the men could be found
the first week. Nor the second week. But the world was
thrilled with the news that Capt. Eddie was saved on the 21st
day.
Just picture Capt. Eddie and his crew on three rafts in the
Pacific with nothing in sight but the sea and the sky. Picture
these men, if you will, suffering from the shock of hitting
the water when their plane crash landed, suffering from the
heat of the burning sun, hungry, thirsty. Then picture the
three rafts tied together each morning and evening with each
member of the crew bowing his
head in prayer or listening intently as the 23rd Psalm or the
verses from Matthew 6:31-34 were read.
PAGE. 110
Now, you have the picture, so let's hear directly from Capt.
Eddie himself as he wrote in his book:
"As I have already stated, there was no time that I lost faith
in our ultimate rescue, but the others did not seem to share
this state of mind fully with me. My companions clearly began
to think of what lay beyond death and to think of it in terms
of their own lives.
"I say in all truth that at no time did I ever doubt we would
be saved.
"I tried to impart my own philosophy to these men, hoping to
stimulate their desire to carry on. It was based upon the
simple observation that the longer I have had to suffer under
trying circumstances, the more certain I was to appreciate my
deliverance. This is part of the wisdom that comes to older
men."*
Should you ask us how to motivate yourself, we would list the
basic motives. They are repeated here!
First, the desire for self-preservation; then the emotion of:
love, fear, sex. The desire for: life after death; and freedom
of body and mind would follow. And after that, the emotion of:
anger; and hate. Then the desire for recognition and
self-expression. And last in the list of the ten basic motives
would be the desire for material wealth.
In the following chapter you will see how any one of these, or
a combination, motivates others.
11
Pilot No. 9
THOUGHTS TO STEER BY
HOW TO MOTIVATE YOURSELF
1. Motivation is that which induces action or determines choice. It is the hope or other force which starts an action in an attempt to produce specific results.
2. Motivate yourself with PMA and you will direct your thoughts, control your emotions and ordain your destiny.
3. Hope is the magic ingredient.
4. Negative emotions, feelings, thoughts, and attitudes are good at the proper time and under the right circumstances.
5. The 10 basic motives are: self-preservation, love, fear, sex, desire for life after death, freedom of body and mind, anger, hate,
• From Seven Came Through, by Capt. E. Rickenbacker. Used by permission of Doubleday & Co., Inc. desire for recognition and self-expression, and the desire for material wealth.
6. Motivate yourself as Benjamin Franklin motivated himself.
7. Have you developed a strong faith like Captain Eddie Ricken-backer's?
8. Are you prepared so that you can and will apply your faith at the time of your greatest need?
HOPE IS
THE MAGIC INGREDIENT IN MOTIVATING
YOURSELF AND OTHERS