To Be Enthusiastic, You Gotta...

.... Be Enthusiastic!

Thought for today:

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to be really happy is something to be enthusiastic about."
--Charles Kingsley

What are you enthusiastic about?

If You Do Nothing, You Get Nothing

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be
our doubts of today.”  
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

After a few weeks out of the Army and back in New York trying to figure out what to do next and how to support my growing family, I was excited to tell my wife, Fritzie, that I wanted to be a hairstylist. 

So I began my training at the Wilfred Academy Beauty School in New York City on Broadway and 51st Street right next door to Lindy’s Restaurant.  I was pleased when the owner told me that tuition would be free under the G.I. Bill.  Now that the money was covered, I would begin classes in January.  Fritzie and I wanted our own apartment so we quickly moved into an apartment in Brooklyn on East 15th Street off Kings Highway in the heart of Flatbush.  It was next to the train station and we had to bang on the pipes for heat.  We were always freezing and had to dress for bed in turtlenecks, socks, sweatpants and lots of blankets. But we were happy.

I needed money for rent and food so I took a job during the day with Fuller Brush in door-to-door sales.  I sold a lot of toothbrushes in my territory of the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.  I remember so well that whenever it got slow and sales weren’t good, I could go to Perry Como’s mother.   She lived in the area, and I could always count on her to buy something from me.   Thank you, marvelous Mrs. Como, wherever you are.  What a talent your son brought to the world. 

That job wasn’t really enough to live on, so I took a job in Abrams Carriage and Children’s Furniture Store to supplement my income.  I worked Fuller Brush from Monday to Friday, Wilfred Academy on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights and at the furniture store on weekends.  One main reason I took the job at the furniture store was so I could buy my new baby things at a discount and get paid by the hour.

I quickly took to my craft and, after graduation, I started to work in Brooklyn, making $60 to $70 per week plus tips, while getting exposure to people in all walks of life.  I’d never realized how much a part of everyday life a hairstylist plays.  The relationships formed, the bonds made, the camaraderie with clients – it was all addictive to me.  The passion to get better and better at a skill really got into my blood, and I couldn’t get enough education.  I went to Clairol, L’Oreal, and Rayette schools at night for more certifications, learning more about coloring, permanent waves - really mastering the craft.  All the while, I learned about relationships like never before.  The truth is I was good -- never the most highly skilled or talented, but my personality made up for anything that was missing.

This is when I truly started asking the question, “How Can I Help You?” on a daily basis and to everyone I encountered.

How I started my first business...at 6 years old

"With money in your pocket, you are wise and you are handsome and you sing well too.” 

– Yiddish Proverb

One day, I asked my mom and dad for ten cents to go to the movies with my friends.  Dad told me that if I wanted money, I had to earn it.   Well, considering it was 1943, and there was a war going on, there weren’t many job opportunities available to a six year-old kid. 

Even then, I must have realized on some level that because of my parents’ circumstances, there was only so much that they could do for me.  It seemed perfectly natural for me to take matters into my own hands and start my first business, although at the time I didn’t realize it was a business.  I just thought it was a way to make a few quick pennies to pay for a ticket to the movies. 

In retrospect, I realize that’s exactly what it was – providing a service to others which I could do better, or make it easier for them than if they were to do it on their own.  It also taught me that if you need anything, you have to work for it yourself. 

I think this was the beginning of my lifelong credo for business and life:  the Most Important Question in Life: “How Can I Help You?,” which is basically finding out what people need and helping them get it.

 
So, with the little I had available to me, I looked around my neighborhood for ideas.  I decided to take advantage of the resources that others left (or dropped) behind. I would go to all of the backyards of the crowded, six-story apartment buildings in my neighborhood, with my father’s size 12 shoe box in tow, and pick up all the fallen clothespins.  I took them home, washed them in the bathtub and dried them with a towel. Then I took my mother’s red nail polish and put a small spot on the top of each so people would know that they were mine.  Now that’s branding! 

I proceeded to go around knocking on doors and selling them three for a penny.  No one owned a washing machine or dryer in those days; women used a washboard in the kitchen sink to do laundry.  They hung the clothes on clotheslines from the window to poles in the back of the buildings.  The ladies appreciated my service, and before I knew it, they were knocking on my door placing their orders.  They would give my grandmother money wrapped in pieces of newspaper and write down how many clothespins they needed and their address and apartment number for delivery.

From then on, I always had money in my pocket for my friends and I to enjoy the movies, candy, Cokes, whatever. 

Book Signing this Saturday: Barnes & Noble in Westport, CT

I'll be at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Westport, CT this Saturday, May 14 from 2-3 pm. 

I will be signing copies of my new book, "How Can I Help You? The Most Important Question in Business and in Life."

If you're in the area, please stop by.  I would love to meet you and sign a book for you.

Location: Barnes & Noble, Post Plaza Shopping Center, 1076 Post Road East
Time:  2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Til then, remember: To be enthusiastic, you gotta' act enthusiastic!

Interview on 12 On The Money

You'll get a taste of my philosophy in this interview on 12 On The Money

Enjoy and learn!

Who ever said life was easy?

Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out. 

~Art Linkletter

There is no guarantee that life is going to be smooth sailing, but that is no reason for you to just sit back and let life just happen to you.

When I was faced with the biggest fight of my life – the literal fight for my life against multiple myeloma cancer – I found myself having to reach back to my own history to tap into a fighting spirit and faith that I didn’t even know I had in order to get me through.

And I truly believe deep in my heart and soul that you can do the same.

During my stay in the hospital I had a lot of time to think about where and how I would get the mental and physical strength I would need to beat the odds.

As I lay there in my hospital bed with I don’t know how many needles stuck into me in the name of life, I had no idea if the drugs they were pumping into my veins were helping me or destroying my insides. Although the pain wouldn’t let up, I tried not to lose myself in the morphine haze that was taking me out of myself and into a dream state.

But I believed that I needed to stay in reality to survive, even though it was no picnic being there. In spite of the morphine, or maybe because of it, I began to have moments of clarity and flashes of childhood memories that reminded me just how tough I really was and always had been. I also realized that if I ever wanted to get out of that hospital I would need to be even tougher.

I knew that the fight was on.

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow

will be our doubts of today.”

 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

You never know how -- or from where -- you will get guidance in life. It is my greatest hope and sincerest wish for you to take some of what I’ve learned and apply it to yourself and your personal journey – whether it’s a fight against cancer, a fight to succeed in your business, a fight against being poor, or whatever.  

When you add my principles to your every day choices, I guarantee that you will find the way less bumpy and more positive for your future. 

I will share my principles and the lessons I’ve learned during my journey from going from “Nuttin’ to Something” (more on that later) by asking the simple question, “How Can I Help You?”