Procesos

The Common Denominator of Success by Albert E.N. Gray

“The common denominator of success --- the secret of success of every man who has ever been successful --- lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do.” THE COMMON DENOMINATOR OF SUCCESS is as timely and inspirational, as it was when it was first delivered in 1940. Though it was written for lifeinsurance professionals, it's message is equally well suited to anyone in the sales profession, or anyone in any field of endeavor who seeks success in their professional, personal or spiritual lives. --This inspiring message by Mr. Gray is one of the most timeless pieces of life insurance literature. It first appeared as a major address at the 1940 NALU (National Association of Life Underwriters)annual convention in Philadelphia and has been available to association members in pamphlet form ever since. Although our author has passed away, his words of wisdom and moving philosophy --- so manifest in "The Common Denominator of Success" --- are part of the current life insurance scene and have real meaning for today's professional life underwriter. Mr. Gray was an official of the PrudentialInsurance Company of America and had 30 years of continuous experience both as an agent in the field and as a promoter and instructor in sales development. He was known throughout the country as a writer and speaker on life insurance subjects. --Several years ago I was brought face to face with the very disturbing realization that I was trying to supervise and direct the efforts of a large numberof men who were trying to achieve success, without knowing myself what the secret of success really was. And that, naturally, brought me face to face with the further realization that regardless of what other knowledge I might have brought to my job, I was definitely lacking in the most important knowledge of all. Of course, like most of us, I had been brought up on the popular belief that thesecret of success is hard work, but I had seen so many men work hard without succeeding and so many men succeed without working hard that I had become convinced that hard work was not the real secret even though in most cases it might be one of the requirements. And so I set out on a voyage of discovery which carried me through biographies and autobiographies and all sorts of dissertations onsuccess and the lives of successful men until I finally reached a point at which I realized that the secret I was trying to discover lay not only in what men did, but also in what made them do it. I realized further that the secret for which I was searching must not only apply to every definition of success, but since it must apply to everyone to whom it was offered, it must

also apply to everyonewho had ever been successful. In short, I was looking for the common denominator of success. And because that is exactly what I was looking for, that is exactly what I found. But this common denominator of success is so big, so powerful, and so vitally important to your future and mine that I'm not going to make a speech about it. I'm just going to "lay it on the line" in words of one syllable, sosimple that everyone can understand them. The common denominator of success --- the secret of success of every man who has ever been successful --- lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do. It's just as true as it sounds and it's just as simple as it seems. You can hold it up to the light, you can put it to the acid test, and you can kick it arounduntil it's worn out, but when you are all through with it, it will still be the common denominator of success, whether you like it or not. It will still explain why men have come into this business of ours with every apparent qualification for success and given us our most disappointing failures, while others have come in and achieved outstanding success in spite of many obvious and discouraging...