People need inspiring examples to overcome themselves and achieve new successes every day. Emotional support in sales is of great importance. Therefore, especially for you, we have prepared several real stories about people who not only once earned their million dollars, but who completely changed this world.

1. Zig Ziglar opens the top ten

Zig Ziglar has a ton of talent. He is an outstanding salesman, speaker, teacher, writer, and network marketing expert. Starting his career at the lowest level in sales, he made the most of his abilities, became an incredibly productive salesman, and then headed companies, introduced revolutionary new products to the market, and always found success in his endeavors.

Zig did a lot for the development of free enterprise (for which, by the way, he was awarded US government awards), developed his own sales methods, which are now actively used all over the world.

A bright, charismatic speaker, he still speaks a lot, gives lectures and delivers speeches side by side with presidents. The ability to motivate and inspire listeners helped Ziegler become an outstanding business coach. Sieg’s speeches are broken down into aphorisms, and you’ve probably heard them more than once:

1. Success is like a ladder against a wall, and no one has ever climbed to the top with their hands in their pockets.
2. Character gets us out of bed, commitment gets us going, and discipline gets us through.
3. You will always have everything you want in life if you help other people get what they want.

With such a gift of eloquence, it is impossible not to become a writer. Ziegler has penned 25 best-selling books on sales and personal growth, and the most successful of them, “See You at the Top,” is still in print and has currently sold more than 1.7 million copies. Ziegler's methods and books have been translated into 40 languages, and international corporations are queuing up for Zieg to conduct training for their employees.

Marketing(English “Marketing”, from “Market” - market) is a company management system aimed at its development and achievement of success by solving the tasks and problems of consumers.

Objection– this is a meaningful disagreement between the client and the seller.

Clarification of needs– one of the five stages of sales, which consists of identifying a potential client’s need to solve certain problems and tasks.

2. John Henry Patterson - the father of cash registers and the modern sales system

John Patterson was born in 1844, and during his 78-year life, he managed to make a huge contribution to the development of trade. He always possessed the qualities of a successful businessman, but was truly able to realize himself only after acquiring a small company that produced cash registers. With outstanding entrepreneurial instincts, he saw a bright future in mechanical cash registers.

His next steps led the small company (which John called the National Cash Register Company) to global success. Almost immediately, mechanical devices gave way to new cash registers with electric motors. Having received a technically more advanced product, John Patterson did everything to bring sales to the highest level. He developed a sales training system that companies around the world still use today.

If previously sellers worked “on a whim,” now each of them has clear instructions with step-by-step recommendations. Greeting, creating/identifying a need, dealing with objections, closing a deal are familiar concepts, right? They are by John Patterson.

He became famous not only as an outstanding businessman, but also as a caring employer. The social programs that were implemented at Patterson's enterprises were striking in their scale. As a result, John's company became a monopoly in the production of cash registers; 95% of transactions for the sale of this equipment belonged to the National Cash Register Company.

Today John Henry is no longer alive, but his company still exists and occupies a worthy place in the market. In 1979, John Patterson was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame.

4. Most Influential Businesswoman - Mary Kay Ash

The founder of the most successful beauty business began her journey to the top as an ordinary salesperson. She was so passionate, knowledgeable and personable that she became a huge success selling cosmetics. Women trusted her, were inspired by her enthusiasm, and wanted to be like Mary Kay.

She wrote her own business plan, applicable to any online business. In her guide on how to sell cosmetics, Mary Kay Ash paid special attention to skin care. So she became the first woman who sold not just lipstick or mascara, she sold great results. Mary taught women to take care of their skin, and not to hide imperfections behind decorative cosmetics. As a result, all the products that she offered to her customers were popular.

Mary Kay is no longer in the world, but her company is actively developing to this day. The level of trust in products under the Mary Kay brand is consistently high; sales volumes in 2006 brought the company to first place among global cosmetics manufacturers. Every year, company representatives sell cosmetics worth more than $2.9 billion. Mary Kay representative offices are open in dozens of countries, and the company is among the top 500 largest American corporations.

Three books written by Mary Kay Ash became bestsellers. Her autobiography inspires entrepreneurs, her communication guide, “On Working with People,” is included in university curricula, and her latest book, “It Can All Be Yours,” written 6 years before Mary's death, broke previous sales records.

5. Master of Communications - Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie became the founder of the school of personal growth and communications. His books and speeches began the introduction of psychology into human communication and conflict resolution. We are talking about the widespread use of psychological techniques to attract people to each other. Being a talented speaker and master of words, Dale Carnegie formulated simple and understandable tips on how to win friends. He did not discover anything new, but his merit is that he taught people to communicate kindly, without negativity, thereby contributing to their career and life success.

Dale Carnegie, like many great people, did not have a completed higher education. But he dreamed of becoming a teacher, had the necessary qualities for this, and realized himself in the field of business literature and public speaking. He was not without ambition, as evidenced by the fact that he changed the spelling of his last name to one identical to that of millionaire Andrew Carnegie. A successful play on the similarity of names undoubtedly helped him on the path to success.

The most famous book was Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, published in 1936 and selling 5 million copies.

In addition, he authored the following books:

• “Oratory and influencing business partners”;
• “Little known facts from the lives of famous people”;
• “How to stop worrying and start living”;
• “How to Build Confidence and Influence People by Speaking in Public.”

Dale Carnegie created the “Institute of Effective Public Speaking and Human Relations,” which exists to this day and has branches in many countries. Dale Carnegie University is also active in training speakers. The training school, created by Carnegie in 1912, operates in 80 countries and conducts thousands of trainings annually.

6. Joe Girard is the king of salesmen

Joe Girard came into sales as a mature man, with many failures in other areas behind him. His main failure was the construction industry, after which he completely despaired and simply came from the street to the dealership, asking to take him to work. With typical Italian ardor, Joe vowed to sell the car on the first day, and he kept that promise.

Within two months, he sold more cars than all the department managers combined, and he was fired under a flimsy pretext. But it was already too late! It was at that moment that Joe realized what he should do in life, and soon became the best car salesman in American history. Buyers lined up to see him, everyone wanted to deal only with Joe. Girard's personal record is 13 thousand cars. Thanks to these achievements, he is officially included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Joe never hid the secret of his success. He knew how to establish almost personal friendly relationships with each client, developed and strengthened these connections, was sincere in his desire to solve the client's problems, and if necessary, he knew how to ask. In his person the buyer found a guarantor of a successful purchase and the best service.

During his long career, Joe wrote several books:

• “How to Sell Anything to Anyone”;
• “How to sell yourself”;
• "13 rules of trading";
• “Sell yourself dear.”

The main idea of ​​most of these books is that if you have a goal, a person is capable of anything.

Joe provides training in the areas of sales and goal setting, personal growth and networking.

7. Erica Feidner: “How do you feel when listening to Mozart?”

Erica Feidner's success story differs from the textbook ones in that she managed to make selling a slow-moving product a real art. For starters, she made $46 million selling Steinways pianos. The cost of one instrument sometimes varies from 2 thousand dollars to 152 thousand dollars, pianos are bought infrequently, and there are even fewer repeat purchases. Despite this, Erica, a former piano player, managed to become the most effective salesperson.

She easily found a common language with customers because she was on the same wavelength with them and knew how to touch the deepest emotions. At the same time, buyers noted that she did not exert the slightest pressure on them. It’s just that the strength of her conviction, based on her own passion for the subject of sale, was so high that it captivated her interlocutor.

After achieving success in her sales career, Erica became a piano consultant and then retired. However, her achievements were appreciated, because even the most successful sellers in the enterprise IT equipment sector could not come close to her results.

9. Larry Ellison - despot and genius

Larry Ellison's biography is eventful; more than one film will probably be made about him. He is one of the eccentric, fearless and slightly crazy leaders who are equally ruthless towards themselves and their subordinates, causing hatred in some people and love in others. Ellison's name is legendary, and he largely fuels numerous rumors with incredible statements and antics.

Raised by his mother's aunt and uncle, he failed to graduate from either of the two universities he attended, but his passion for databases set Larry up for success in life. In the 70s, he participated in the creation of databases for the CIA, and one day he opened the Oracle company. Very soon the company became the world leader in database development; by 1990, the company's profit was more than $580 million. Subsequently, Oracle's activities had ups and downs, but it always remained a leader in its field.

For a long time there were rumors about the rivalry between Larry Ellison and Bill Gates, but no one went further than humorous statements on talk shows. Larry left his leadership position at Oracle, but remains involved in the company as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Technology Officer.

As of the beginning of 2016, Larry Ellison's fortune was estimated at $43.6 billion, and was in 7th place in the world ranking. Here's what he said about money:

…When you earn as much as I earned, you no longer know what to do with it. You can only spend a few hundred million if you don’t try hard enough. Even after ten million, financial problems disappear. If a person has ten million, he is able to provide for his family and children. And I need a billion to maintain my standard of living. That's how it is! I need a billion. I started from scratch, my parents didn’t have a cent. That's why I still remember that 10 million is a lot of money. I was poor, I became rich, and, to be honest, it’s much better to be rich. Some say wealth didn't make them happy. If so, give your bucks to me, I know what to do with them...

Entrepreneur, largest shareholder of NetSuite, investor

Despite the fact that in Russia there are many business education systems in the field of sales. Today, the sales profession has practically ceased to exist. Today, everyone understands salespeople as consultants, sales floor managers, forwarding drivers, sales department employees, etc., etc.

Why do I say with confidence that some of them are sellers like bullets made of shit? There are several fundamental reasons for this, which developed in Russian business and now, against the backdrop of the fall of the ruble, have become exposed like an old and stinking abscess on the body of a leper.

1. Large chains have long since stopped teaching how to sell. (why bother teaching them if they quit tomorrow)
2. Corporate trainers working for large businesses, by default, have never sold anything themselves and conduct any kind of training, just not on sales. (They call it sales of course)
3. 999 out of 1000 of those who call themselves sellers are not able to clearly answer the question “What is working with objections and how does it depend on the client’s profile”
4. 999 out of 1000 of those who think that they know how to sell are sure that sales depend on the product, price and advertising, and their role is to show where the cash register is.
5. Companies working using sales scripts are sure that this is a magic pill that solves their problems.

I know dozens of examples where large structures hired an excellent head of the sales department with excellent knowledge of the business, but after 2-3 months (when sales began to grow and employees began to earn 1.5 - 2 times more than before) he was called back on the carpet and made it clear that they did not need such sales.

But a question arises. What's going on in the small business sector? What happens among entrepreneurs who themselves must sell their goods or services. Is everything really bad for them too?

They're not doing badly; they're absolutely amazing on all fronts. Why am I sure of this:

1. If they learned sales, then from those described above
2. They simply don’t have the time to properly learn sales.
3. They cannot go to training because they cannot leave their business unattended
4. 999 out of 1000 have never budgeted funds for education
5. Their friends and acquaintances are sure that any training is a waste of money.

Let's remember 2008. For every 1,000 job advertisements with the words “WANTED,” there were more than 700 vacancies with the job responsibilities of SALES. 100% of closed businesses were unable to sell the required quantity of goods or services and pay business expenses. 100% of businessmen who switched from business back to hired work simply did not know how to sell.

Everyone thinks very simply. I don’t want to sell, let someone else sell. And I'll pay him. Gee Gee Gee. Who else? There are simply no such people on the market, there are those who are described at the beginning of the article, but these are not sellers, these are bullets made of shit.

Those who actually know how to sell no longer need work. They either work for salaries that ordinary businessmen cannot afford, or they run their own successful businesses. Neither one nor the other will look for a job.
Now, when mass layoffs begin after the new year, the labor market will be flooded with charlotte salesmen who can only talk about how well they supposedly sell. But this is all complete nonsense.

So what should we do? Yes, there are actually two ways out:

1. Say that Belanovsky is wrong and continue to look for “good” sellers
2. Understand that in order for you to have the coolest salespeople, you first need to learn how to sell yourself, and then teach them.

– Is it possible to invest 10 million dollars in the production of a product and sell it for 300 million dollars?

– It’s possible if you attract the best sellers in the world.

- Well, where can I get them? Only the idlers remained. And those who are worth at least something want to receive millions themselves.

- No. There are more great salespeople today than at any time in human history. and the best part is they are free.

How I became the best seller this week

At the beginning of the week I watched the movie “The Fault in Our Stars”. I liked the film so much that I told many people about it and they all watched it too. In fact, I sold them the film, convinced them to do what I thought they needed to do.

Looks like I wasn't the only one selling it. The company hired an army of super salesmen. The film's budget was a meager $12 million by Hollywood standards, but they made $304 million, all because I and other sellers sold it so well. Now, by the way, you are also in the army of the best sellers, so now you will watch this film and will not be able to help but tell your friends about it.

World's best seller

The best salesman in the world is a friend. It has the two most important selling qualities:

1. High trust
2. Lack of interest in selling

(Note that if a friend makes money from you, then he is no longer the best salesman in the world, because he is interested. This is the difficulty that network companies have faced.)

mission Possible

You always need to think about how to hire the best salespeople in the world for your product or service. Ask yourself the question: “How to create a product or service of such quality that people tell their feelings to each other?” Previously it was almost impossible, today it has become difficult, but possible. Everyone who has a social circle, talks on the phone, Skype and watches YouTube is already the best salesman in the world. This salesperson will always have time for the client, he will talk to him for hours in a relaxed manner, he loves the client and sincerely wants to help him. He definitely needs to be hired.

We easily admit that sellers of glazed cheesecakes savor their goods at breakfast. What about the sellers of happiness? Did they themselves live a happy life?

Text: Maria Mikulina
Illustrations: Alexander Kotlyarov

Think and act cheerfully and you will feel cheerful

In the 1940s, the author of the best-selling book How to Win Friends and Influence People, a pleasant, neutral-looking man with glasses, spoke from the pulpit with a sweet smile about how easy it is to manipulate people. Not surprisingly, the lectures sold out well in advance, bringing Dale Carnegie not only profit, but also fame that he could hardly have dreamed of when, as a young boy, he got up at three in the morning on the family farm in Missouri to milk a frail cow. One of the greatest American speakers, who believed that in order to find happiness it was enough to stop worrying, hating and taking revenge, was born into a poor family of simple farmers and, by his own admission, worried constantly.

There was a reason: the Carnegie family eked out a miserable existence and, when Dale went to college, they couldn’t even buy him new pants and a jacket, which is why the young man began to have complexes even more and wanted to overcome his complexes even more. Carnegie noticed that two types of students were popular in college: athletes and debating groups. The puny Dale chose the second and soon achieved such success in rhetoric that other students began to line up to learn from the farmer's son how to hang noodles on their ears and win in verbal skirmishes. After graduating from college, Carnegie tried to organize his own school of speakers, but in vain: Missouri farmers didn’t give a damn about how to add philippics. Then Dale got a job with a company that sold soap, lard and bacon, and began traveling around the country on freight trains, convincing ordinary Americans to replenish their supplies. Soon Carnegie saved enough money to throw a couple of pieces of bacon at his employers and rush to New York. This was followed by a short period, no more than a year, when Carnegie hung around the New York Academy of Theater Arts, selling suitcases and ties at the same time.

Finally, 23-year-old Dale got a job as a public speaking teacher at one of the schools. And away we go. His lectures on the art of communication and influencing an interlocutor were very popular, and brochures sold out instantly. Soon, Carnegie’s first monograph, “Oratory and Influencing Business Partners,” appeared on the shelves. To celebrate the good sales, Carnegie got married, then divorced and remarried, and at the age of 63 he had a daughter. By this time, Carnegie had already become the most popular lecturer in the United States, having earned a fortune from his methods of manipulating people. But the idyll did not last long. Doctors discovered Carnegie had a malignant disease of lymphoid tissue, the so-called Hodgkin's disease. And this despite the fact that Dale himself repeatedly wrote in his writings that diseases arise from negative emotions, in particular from anxiety, and everyone who knows how to cope with them is practically invulnerable. “Recently, a cigarette magnate died of a heart attack while on vacation in Canada. He had millions at his disposal, but he passed away at the age of 61. As you can see, he spent a lot of time and effort on the so-called success in business, but he died not yet old.” Carnegie himself died at the age of 66, having achieved success in business, but apparently unable to cope with anxiety.

A painful death can overshadow even a successful and happy life.

If a person is positive, believes in himself and is determined to be confident and determined, he is unlikely to be affected by hostile and negative thoughts, disappointments and failures

From time to time, humanity tends to get carried away by something together, be it the next Olympics or the fight against terrorism. The same thing happened with the book “The Secret,” which appeared on the shelves of bookstores around the world in 2004. The explanatory text on the back cover promised that anyone who knows the “Secret” will find happiness in work, well-being in the family, and so on blah blah blah. As a result, the book was translated into 44 languages ​​(even into difficult and unpopular Russian), republished and filmed many times. The author of the book, Australian writer Rhonda Byrne, is still showered with laurel leaves, although she, in essence, simply rewrote the thoughts expressed at the beginning of the 20th century by the now half-forgotten American occultist William Walker Atkinson in his monograph “Thought Vibrations or the Law of Attraction.”

Contemporaries spoke of Atkinson as a friendly, cheerful person, moderately obsessive and obsessed with the idea of ​​positivism. The occultist lawyer managed to live a calm life, the only dark spot in which was the death of one of his two children. But even despite this tragedy, Atkinson continued to write articles and smile until his death in 1932. Gradually, Atkinson's fame faded, and people began to forget about him, partly because he overdid it with pseudonyms. Often those who had not heard of Atkinson whipped their opponents on the ears with positivist quotes from the “Indian yogi” Ramacharaka.

Our happiness score: 9 out of 10Oblivion after death slightly detracts from the years of a happily lived life.

Happiness is man's greatest achievement; this is the response of his personality to his own productive orientation towards himself and the outside world

In 1900, a boy was born into the family of hereditary rabbis Fromm, who lived in the German city of Frankfurt am Main, and received the name Erich Seligmann. The great humanist took his first step towards freedom at a very young age, when, returning from school to his Orthodox home, he bought a bun with pork sausage from a stall. In order to somehow justify his action, Erich Fromm entered the University of Heidelberg in the department of sociology, psychology and philosophy, defended his doctoral dissertation and developed the thesis that rejection of the conventions imposed by society and the ability to recognize one’s deepest desires is true freedom.

The Fromm family was shocked by the freedom-loving descendant - even though Erich opened many of his studies with quotations from the Torah. The next act of disobedience to stereotypes was the marriage of 26-year-old Fromm not to a modest Jewish girl from a decent family, but to his own psychoanalyst Frieda Reitman, who was also ten years older than Erich. The marriage did not last long; they separated after four years, but Fromm always spoke warmly of his first wife. The emigration overseas that followed Hitler's rise to power brought Fromm professional success: in partnership with his typewriter, Erich created the bestseller “Escape from Freedom.”

This was followed by sequels: “A Man for Himself”, “The Art of Loving”. No other psychologist was as fixated on the topic of love as Fromm. He believed that love is the answer to all questions of humanity. Erich not only worshiped love, he dissected it, studied it and sorted it: maternal love, brotherly love, erotic love, self-love. Fromm also did not forget about practical studies: Erich lived with his second wife for eight years and would have undoubtedly lasted even longer, but Annie Fromm died in 1952. Already in 1953, the inconsolable widower married Annie Freeman. Fromm spent the next 27 years with her in peace, harmony and, of course, in love. These years were marred by Fromm's three heart attacks, the third of which was fatal.

Our happiness score: 10 out of 10A successful career, world recognition, a considerable number of affairs that always ended amicably, three adored and respected wives, an honestly earned fortune and very good health. Ugh, it’s disgusting to even list them.

We are playful and mischievous creatures, cheerful children of the Universe. We cannot die, and nothing can harm us, like the illusions on the screen.

Writer Richard Bach is a priori the happiest on our list, because, unlike other teachers of happiness, he is still alive at the time of submitting this issue. The pilot-preacher, who became famous throughout the world for the philosophical story “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” published in 1970, was born 34 years before this significant event. Richard Bach was born into an unremarkable family (except for a very distant and probably imaginary relationship with the great composer Johann Sebastian Bach), living in Illinois, USA. Like many boys, Bach was fascinated by airplanes. Therefore, having entered college, Richard soon dropped out to surrender to the mercy of the US Air Force, where he successfully served for several years, after which he earned money by flying demonstrations and carrying passengers through the air. Bach got rich just in time: he and his wife Betty, whom he married immediately after his service, had six children growing up. Soon they were growing up only at Betty's. Bach announced that he no longer believed in marriage and filed for divorce.

One of the sexiest actresses in America, the blue-eyed blonde Leslie Parrish, who starred in the film adaptation of “The Seagull,” helped him regain his faith. The novel and subsequent marriage inspired Bach to new achievements. One after another, his philosophical and biographical works appeared on the shelves. First, “Illusions, or the Adventures of a Disillusioned Messiah,” then “Bridge Over Eternity” and “The One” - works whose general idea is this: everything is in the hands of a person, and there should be only one woman in a man’s life, since “fleeting connections do not warm " As it turned out later, Bach chose to forget about the fact that he had six offspring behind him. But the children have not forgotten about their famous father. One of Bach’s sons, who became a journalist, published a scandalous monograph about separation from his father and late acquaintance “again” entitled “Above the Clouds: The Reunion of Father and Son.” Meanwhile, Bach’s marriage with his “one,” Leslie Parrish, began to fall apart at the seams, from whose relationship the writer earned millions by retelling them in his refined works. Having received a divorce in 1999, 63-year-old Bach immediately married his third wife, 29-year-old Sabrina Nelson-Alechsopoulos.

Our happiness score: 7 out of 10A tense relationship with five children (one of Bach’s daughters died) is, of course, not a gift. But a young wife is, of course, a gift.

You are the creators of your own life... The sages have proven this fact, but modern people are still unable to comprehend it. They seek to find happiness in the outside world

Swami Vivekananda drops out of our list, not because the page is poorly glued, but because he is Hindu. The Indian concept of happiness is noticeably different from the European one. A European strives for happiness in this life, dreams of achieving material wealth and mental well-being. The Hindu is more concerned about the upcoming transition to another world, and he can prepare for it all his life. Therefore, Swami Vivekananda’s lecture, which he delivered at the International Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, is divided into characteristic sub-chapters such as “Technique of leaving the soul from the body” and “Life in a dead body.” You probably understand: the mere fact that an Indian reached Chicago at the end of the 19th century and even gave a lecture there suggests that although he thought mainly about the next world, he succeeded in this too.

From the very beginning of his life, Vivekananda was extremely lucky. He was born in 1863 into an aristocratic family from Calcutta and instead of running screaming after cows across flooded fields, he practiced fencing, wrestling and meditation. Little Narendra (this name was given to the future preacher at birth) showed particular zeal for meditation - partly thanks to his religious mother, who claimed that Shiva himself appeared to her before the birth of her son, saying that he planned to take the image of her child. Narendra's father, a lawyer of the Calcutta High Court, a more practical man, saw to it that his son received an excellent secular education in the best school in the area. Narendra continued his studies at the Scottish Church College, which accepted only the children of white colonists and the most well-born Hindus. After Narendra’s graduation, the college director wrote in one of his private letters: “This guy is a genius. I have traveled a lot, traveled all over the world, but nowhere have I met a young man with such unlimited mental capabilities, even in German universities among philosophy students.”

Meanwhile, the “genius” finally decided to pursue a spiritual career, partly thanks to a fateful meeting with the cult preacher Ramakrishna. The latter quickly saw potential in the 20-year-old young man and gradually brought him closer to himself, making him the main student and heir of his wisdom. When Ramakrishna passed away, it was Narendra who began organizing the first monastery named after the teacher. Then Narendra undertook a pilgrimage to India and even managed to visit Japan, and soon an invitation to the USA followed. According to legend, the name Swami Vivekananda was suggested to the preacher just before his departure by the Maharaja of Khetri himself. The trip was a great success: American society happily welcomed the Indian sage, educated and not at all wild. Swami visited England and other European countries, and his teachings were admired by many famous people, such as Nikola Tesla and Jerome Salinger. The latter, completely under the influence of Vivekananda, became so deeply interested in Zen Buddhism that he spent the last thirty years of his life in his country house in the intoxication of meditation. Vivekananda acquired another ardent follower of his ideas in London. The Scot Margaret Elizabeth, who later took the name “Sister Nivedita” (“dedicated to God”), accompanied Swami on all his trips. The story could have had a piquant tone if Vivekananda had not told left and right that he practices celibacy.

Upon returning to India, where Vivekananda was hailed as a national hero, the Swami continued to work in the Ramakrishna order, although his health was deteriorating every day. On the morning of July 4, 1902, he taught a lesson for students of the order, then walked in the garden with one of the close preachers, giving instructions on the ways of development of the order. The 39-year-old Swami died that evening while meditating. Small blood clots were found in the corners of his eyes and mouth, and doctors never determined the cause of their appearance. But Vivekananda’s followers did not have such questions: they knew that their mentor accepted mahasamadhi - death from the highest degree of enlightenment.

Our happiness score: 6 out of 10Honor, respect and glory are, of course, good, but celibacy and death at 39 are not inspiring.

Why do you people suffer so much? There is no need for you to suffer, except for the savagery of your concepts. Understand the truth and the truth will make you happy

The free-thinking writer Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was unlucky to be born in Imperial Russia, where the combination of the words “freedom” and “thought” was prosecuted by law. The unremarkable childhood of the son of a Saratov priest, Kolya, quite unexpectedly for his conservative circle, resulted in revolutionary youth. Having left the theological seminary, 18-year-old Chernyshevsky moved to St. Petersburg, where he entered the university at the Faculty of History and Philology. Fellow students strongly support Nikolai’s revolutionary aspirations: they are like that themselves. The basic ideological principles of Chernyshevsky are also developed: all people are by nature equal, free and strive for pleasure.

As you understand, such a rosy picture contrasted somewhat with the real situation in the country. After graduating from university, Chernyshevsky began publishing short articles and stories in Otechestvennye zapiski, which soon brought him fame as a radical publicist. For some time he taught in the cadet corps, but was expelled for bad behavior, or rather, for preaching revolutionary ideas from the pulpit. Chernyshevsky did not remain unemployed for long: he had to feed his young wife Olga Sokratovna. The next place of work was one of the leadership positions in the radical and extremely unpopular magazine Sovremennik. At the same time, Nikolai Gavrilovich tried to defend a scandalous dissertation in which he denied all modern art, citing the fact that it does not reflect cruel realities in the slightest. At his next place of work, in the magazine “Military Collection,” Chernyshevsky quickly recruited military personnel for the cause of the revolution. The result of all these maneuvers was that from the beginning of the 1860s, the publicist was under constant surveillance by the secret police, and in June 1862 he graced the Peter and Paul Fortress with his presence. Chernyshevsky will no longer be released. 27 years of wandering in prisons, the halo of a martyr in the circle of revolutionaries and, in addition, national glory await him. In the first year of his imprisonment, Nikolai Gavrilovich wrote his most famous novel, “What is to be done?” The one who “deeply plowed” - in a good, naturally, sense - the leader of the proletariat Lenin. Prison censors inadvertently allowed the novel to be published, not noticing that the love story disguises the radical ideas of life in a commune, freedom of choice and expression of will. And when they came to their senses and began to withdraw circulation, the utopian novel was already being rewritten by hundreds of enthusiastic readers. Chernyshevsky died of a cerebral hemorrhage a few months after his release, at the age of 61.

Our happiness score: -1 out of 10If Chernyshevsky had been born some hundred or even eighty years later, he would have had every chance of becoming the leader of the proletariat. Even posthumous fame and several hours of the school literature curriculum devoted to the study of the novel “What is to be done?” do not compensate for the years of useless struggle and running around in prisons.

Happiness and strength appear only in the absence of hatred. Hatred leads to disaster. Love is for strength and greatness

Only Shakespeare can boast of a more obscure biography than the biography of Lafayette Ronald Hubbard: the followers of Scientology worked hard to rewrite the life of their idol, and were very successful in this matter. Nevertheless, some facts are still indisputable. For example, the fact that Hubbard was born in Nebraska in the family of a US Navy officer in 1911. Describing Hubbard's childhood, Scientologists, blushing with pride, report that in 1924 their leader was elected "the youngest Scout in the United States," and as a teenager traveled alone through India and Tibet, "listening to the wisdom of a thousand years." Hmm, well, almost: I went on a tourist trip to China twice with my mother. Entering George Washington University with the good intention of studying construction, Ronald soon flunked out for academic failure. And again, Scientologists are proud: according to them, after successfully graduating from university, Hubbard devoted his life to participating in scientific research expeditions and writing popular science stories. In fact, Hubbard went on two expeditions, to the Caribbean islands and to Puerto Rico, both of which did not bring him fame, discoveries, or money.

Gradually, Ronald's hobby - writing science fiction stories under apt pseudonyms like Winchester Remington Colt - grew into a profession. In 1941, Hubbard was enrolled in the United States Naval Academy, but after graduation he did not get to fight because he was declared “unfit for any command.” Hubbard was not embarrassed by failures. He left his wife and two children and began to study the occult in earnest. The result of immersion in the topic (immersion was often preceded by drug use) was the birth of the science of Dianetics and the best-selling book “Dianetics: The Modern Science of the Mind.” Hubbard promised that new science would help man achieve immortality, become happy, healthy and get rid of weaknesses. At the same time, Ronald himself could not quit tarring and smoked two or three packs of cigarettes a day.

In 1947, Hubbard married for the second time, but a few years later he appeared in court in a high-profile divorce case. First, Ronald's second wife, Sarah, publicly announced that Hubbard had tortured, beaten, and abused her. Secondly, it turned out that Hubbard married Sarah without divorcing his first wife, which made him a polygamist. It took a lot of money from Scientologists (by this time Hubbard was already heading one of the most successful sects in the world) to hush up the scandalous matter. Hubbard's third wife turned out to be much quieter than the first two, but those who were close to the couple argued that the pretty, quiet Mary Sue, although she was twenty years younger than her powerful sectarian husband, completely subjugated his will. The couple had four children, each of whom Hubbard prepared a bright future in Scientology. Everyone except the eldest son Quentin, who committed suicide before reaching adulthood. In 1979, Hubbard was diagnosed with brain cancer, although he claimed that Scientology could cure any disease, including malignant tumors. The next seven years for one of America's richest citizens were spent not only in physical torment, but also in constant flight. All over the world, Hubbard is being sued, accusing him of manipulating people, illegally using hypnosis and money scams, and in some countries Scientologists are being prosecuted. Miraculously, Hubbard manages to avoid imprisonment - instead of him, his wife is sitting in the pre-trial detention cells, who, however, is always bought off by smart lawyers. The fight against disease and persecution ended in 1986. The ashes of 75-year-old Hubbard were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

Our happiness score: 3 out of 10Of course, Hubbard's business continues to live and bring in millions, but a life full of tragedies, scandals, trials and assassinations can hardly be called happy.

Conclusion

Frankly, we are disappointed. For some reason, it seemed to us that those who sell “a smile on the lips and joy in the heart” must actually be serial maniacs or underground killers, or both. But no, most of the “teachers of happiness”, as luck would have it, lived a pretty good life. Except, perhaps, Hubbard and Chernyshevsky: these two were unlucky. Perhaps there actually is a spark of common sense in the idea of ​​positive thinking and subsequent prosperity. But, you must admit, one article is not enough to turn a person into a rainbow idiot. Here is the bleeding smiley face on the wall - yes, it will work.

Those who consider sales not just a job, but their craft, their art, are definitely already familiar with a man named Joe Girard. After all, this person is considered the best seller, according to the Guinness Book. And the best in retail, personal car sales. Joe Girard did not sell cars in large quantities to wholesale buyers, but individually. And every sale is the result of effective work with clients.

The beginning of a legend

Joe Girard didn't get off to a very impressive start. He never finished school, and Joe had about four dozen jobs.
Joe was born into a poor family in the late twenties of the last century. Joe Girard had two sisters and a brother, but his father hated him. This hostility manifested itself in constant beatings. His father constantly called Joe a nonentity who would not achieve anything in life. And later in life, Girard either tried to do things that confirmed his father’s words, or tried to refute these words.
Joe Girard started working early - at the age of eight. He started out as a shoeshine boy. To do this, Joe spent many hours hanging around working-class bars. Soon, in addition to shining shoes, Girard began working as a newspaper delivery boy. He got up early in the morning to have time to deliver newspapers, then went to school, and in the evening he went to the workers' bars to shine the workers' shoes.
While working as a newspaper delivery boy, Joe Girard encountered what is now called the law of probability. The fact is that the newspaper for which Joe worked, for every person who subscribed to the newspaper for at least a month, a box of Pepsi-Cola broke. And in order to get this bonus, Joe went door to door. He pressed the doorbell button so often that his fingers simply became swollen. And if the next client said “no,” Girard still went from door to door. Eventually, a small garage near the house was filled with boxes of Pepsi-Cola. And then Joe sold this pop.

How to become the best salesman in the world

One day, while changing one job to another, Joe joined a small construction company. The company is a strong word - so, an old truck and construction tools. The owner of the company hired workers to build small, cheap houses. Joe worked as a simple worker, but in the end the owner decided to retire and handed over the business to him. This is how Joe Girard became a businessman. But it didn't last long. Joe made a series of mistakes and went broke.
And so, left without income, Girard was forced to think about how to feed his family. In the end, there was no money left in my wallet to buy food for the children. That's how Joe Girard approached the next chapter of his life - selling cars.

The meaning of the work of car sales agents was simple. Agents waited in the dealership showroom for customers and approached them one by one. Accordingly, the more sales agents there are, the less chance of earning money. Therefore, Joe Girard was hired as a car salesman with one condition - he should not take away customers from other salesmen.
The first sale took place on the first day. A client came in just before closing. The rest of the agents were busy or were already going home, which means none of their colleagues could take this client. In the image of a late shopper, Joe saw a basket of food with which he could feed his family.
Joe didn’t know how to sell cars at the time, but his strong desire to make money to feed his family forced him to do everything possible. Later, over the fifteen years of his career, Joe Girard sold 13,001 cars, which was an order of magnitude more than the result of the best car salesman.

Moral of the story

Who is Joe Girard? In addition to being the greatest trader of all time, Girard is a shining example to follow. Joe Girard didn’t get into sales when he was young—at that time he was already thirty-five years old. All his life, Joe was a loser who tossed between two attitudes drilled into him by his father since childhood - attempts to prove his father was right, who called Girard a nonentity, and attempts to refute these words. Joe had a speech impediment since childhood - he stuttered.
But desire, aspiration, and the ability to set goals and achieve them helped me achieve significant heights.