THE H A BIT 0 F DOl N G M 0 RET HAN P A I D FOR 597newspapers in most major cities in North America, advertisements would appear
offering a free introductory course provided by a local trainer certified in the
Silva Method. These free introductions convinced enough participants to become
paying customers that the Silva Method grew into one of the most successful
self-help courses of all time.
In the 1980s the principle evolved again, only this time the free lecture was
called an infomercial. But in essence it was the same concept: it was a way for
audiences to sample ideas and speakers. Once again the principle worked, and
in the case of Anthony Robbins, for example, it launched a true phenomenon
into the world of motivational speaking.If this woman, who had no extraordinary qualifications, could
harness the law of increasing returns and make it raise her from the
position of stenographer at fifteen dollars a week to that of lecturer
at over $ 100,000 a year, why can you not apply this same law so
that it will give you advantages that you do not have now?
You are struggling to make a place for yourself in the world.
You may already be exerting enough effort to bring you success of the
highest order, if only that effort were coupled with and supported by
the law of increasing returns. For this reason, you owe it to yourself
to find out how you can apply this law to best advantage.
After you have finished reading this lesson, if you will go back
and review the previous lessons on Initiative and Leadership and on
Enthusiasm, you will better understand them. Those lessons and this
one clearly establish the necessity of taking the Initiative, following
it with aggressive action, and doing more than you are paid to do. If
you will burn the fundamentals of these three lessons into your con-
sciousness, you will be a changed person, and I make this statement
regardless of who you are or what your calling may be.
I hope you will profit by the counsel of one who has made many
more mistakes than you ever made-and for that reason learned a few
of the fundamental truths of life.