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The best way to gather ideas is to center your attention on ideas. Pay strict attention to your environment. Many interesting things surround you most of the time. The imag- ination helps to classify them as to their importance. The field of selling affords you the opportunity of making a broad application of this principle. You can apply this principle to your own affairs, as well as to those of the prospect. You have eyes with which to see, ears with which to hear, a mind with which to think, and an imagination with which to vis- ualize. One sure way to gather and develop ideas is to en- courage yourself to read. Read some good books. Emerson's Essays, Bacon's Essays, Shakespeare's plays, and philosophy are helpful in stimulating the imagination. The Bible is the greatest of all books to develop the imagination. You will find it stimulating and most helpful. There is another book published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, entitled, How to Turn Your Ability into Cash. I spent four years preparing this book, and it contains many ideas and thoughts that will give your imagination something on which to feed. In addi- tion to reading good books, read trade papers and magazines. Try to read Time, Life, Newsweek, Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, American, Science Digest, Harper's, Atlantic Monthly, Cosmopolitan, Readers Digest, Nations Business, and Forbes. You can drop in your nearest library from time to time and glance over these magazines. They will not only entertain you, but they will provide you with some very interesting ideas to stimulate your imagination. Try not to read too quickly. Reading is like eating. By 152 IMAGINATION YOUR JUNIOR SALESMAN doing it too quickly you may get the flavor but you do not get the full essence. It is not what you eat, but what you digest. It is not what you read, but it is what you absorb and visualize that really develops the imagination. As you read, your imagination will pose questions to you every now and then. By no means ignore them. They may be a clue to an idea worth developing. I have often spent at least 30 min- utes on a particular sentence, permitting my imagination to survey, analyze, and visualize every phase and aspect of its content. Reading in this manner increases understanding and gives an insight into the thinking of others. It stabilizes thought, ripens judgment, eliminates error, and teaches you to be tolerant and considerate of others. It helps you to grow and expand. Do you ask yourself how others always "get the breaks"? Opportunities come to those who prepare for them. Instead of complaining about not "getting the breaks," just start to equip yourself with an active imagination, and soon you will wonder where they are all coming from. |
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