the extra commission you would earn, if you were to repeat
your October performance in November?" (He actually earned
three times his usual monthly income in October.)
Seeing the true meaning behind my question, Heinz's
face brightened considerably and a broad smile appeared
across his face. Then I quickly added, "We both know you are
quite "capable" of repeating your October performance in
November; there is absolutely no question about that." By this
time Heinz had become thoroughly convinced, that not only
was he capable of repeating his performance, but he definitely
would repeat it. He said, with his customary confidence and
vigor fully restored, "All right Bob, I'm going to do it."
The Razor's Edge - he did it - Heinz Daues beat his own
record of October in November! Think of the difference this will
make in his annual income, not to mention his standing in the
company. You just know he will duplicate or better his
performance next November, following "President's Month."
The "something" for Heinz Daues turned out to be
nothing more sophisticated, than deciding to do the same
thing in November, which he had already done in October.
Perhaps you are saying to yourself, "anyone could have figured
that out," and you're right-they could have. But there are a few
thousand people selling for the same company that Heinz sells
for and I'll bet you "dollars to donuts," there weren't five others
who did!
Vince Lombardi, former football coach of the outstanding
Green Bay Packers football team, described the Razor's Edge
concept in football very well when he said, "Most games are
won or lost in the last two minutes of the first and second
half." But what Lombardi is best remembered for-with respect
to football's Razor's Edge-is the "Second Effort" concept, which
he introduced for the edification of his players. In a nutshell,
the "Second Effort" concept simply meant, that when a player
was initially stopped by the opposing team, he would always
surge forward a second time, with the added thrust of a
"second effort."
Now, just consider the tremendous difference you could
create in your own life if you were to adopt a similar mental
attitude. For example, if you are a person who is working in
sales and currently selling only three units a week, what
would the consequences be for you if you were to decide to
make one additional sale per week, through a conscientious
application of the second effort concept? Well, on a weekly
basis, it might not appear to be a major breakthrough.
However, viewed over the time frame of an entire career, it
would actually amount to well over two thousand extra sales.
Moreover, from a monetary standpoint, it would mean you
would actually receive an extra ten years' income over the
span of a forty-year career. Yes, that one sale would be the
Razor's Edge difference, which could catapult you into "the big
leagues" in your chosen career.
Milt Campbell's Triumph
One individual who discovered the Razor's Edge
difference for himself, in his own life, is Milton Campbell. You
see, Milt went to the Olympic Games in 1952, to compete in
the decathlon event. He performed with distinction, finishing
in second place in the world and as a result, brought home an
Olympic silver medal. However, Milt's ambition has always
been to win the Olympic gold medal. Therefore, when he
returned home, he gave it that old second effort and he started
his training program all over again. For the next four years,
Milt Campbell dedicated himself single-mindedly to a training
schedule, which would culminate with his winning the
Olympic gold medal for his country at the 1956 Olympic
games. In the aftermath of that spectacular achievement, I had
the pleasure of speaking with Milt on numerous occasions. He
often confided to me that many of the athletes against whom
he competed in high school were far superior to him at that
time. But at some point, they had made the decision to
abandon a sports career and the Razor's Edge difference for
Milt was that he kept training. The result-the day they pinned
the gold medal on Milt, he was recognized as the best athlete
in the entire world!
One of the most powerful illustrations of the fine line
which separates winning from losing was revealed in the
filming of the movie, The Razor's Edge. The cast for the movie
was comprised of eight "principal actors," and eight "stand-
ins." (That is to say, each "principal" had a "stand-in" to do the
hard, grueling and tiresome work for him, while the stars did
"the rest!") After the film had been completed, Life Magazine
published a story in which the pictures of the eight
"principals" were exhibited on one page, and the eight "stand-
ins" were shown on the opposite page.
The stand-in for "the star" of the film, Tyrone Power, was
a man by the name of Thomas Noonan. Noonan was a close
associate of Power's and they had even attended the same high
school at the same time. Both men were about the same size,
they were equal in intelligence, they dressed almost
identically, and they resembled one another very closely, even
in their physical appearance. In point of fact, as close a
resemblance as was humanly possible existed between each
"principal actor" and his or her "stand-in." But in one way-and
one way only-the "principal actors" and their "stand-ins" were
completely dissimilar. For the combined salaries received by
the eight "principals" for the picture amounted to, what was at
that time, a staggering $489,000. The combined salaries for
the eight "stand-ins," on the other hand, amounted to a paltry
$6,534. The "principals" may only have been slightly more
talented than their "understudies" were, but the monetary
compensation which they received was seventy-five times
greater!
As your awareness becomes increasingly great with
respect to "The Razor's Edge" concept, you will be astounded
by the number of such examples you encounter every day. As
a case in point, just consider how much kindlier you feel
towards a particular retail store, where the cashier smiles and
"thanks you for your business," and then asks you to come
back "real soon", as compared to one where you are greeted
with a stern, "Well, are you going to buy anything or not,"
attitude.
Or consider this illustration-approximately one year ago,
a family attended one of my seminars in Toronto. They were a
truly beautiful family, but they had a serious problem and
they asked me if I could help them solve it. They informed me,
to begin with, that they were the owners of an automobile
repair shop. But they also explained their business had gone
sour, so "sour," in fact, they were seriously contemplating
"closing their doors," and going to work for someone else.
In an attempt to assist them, I visited them on the
premises of their shop and I asked them a series of related
questions. Then, I "sat back" and listened very carefully to the
answers which they provided me with. It wasn't long before I
ascertained, that whenever I asked a question having to do
with their ability as mechanics, they answered with great
enthusiasm and literally overflowing with confidence. In fact,
they soon had me convinced not only were they very skillful
mechanics, but they were exceptionally hard workers as well.
On the other hand, however, I also discerned, that
whenever I asked them a question which touched upon the
public relation's side of their business, they exhibited
absolutely no enthusiasm, whatsoever. In fact, an aura of
pessimism and despondency actually came over them. It was
fairly obvious to me, therefore, the only problem which this
family really had was dealing with their own mental attitudes.
Once I had identified the exact nature of the problem, I
was able to suggest corrective action. I told them they must
begin to "visualize their shop full of cars which needed to be
repaired." I suggested, moreover, that every time they
visualized themselves doing work on a car, they also visualize
themselves vacuuming the inside of the car, washing the
outside, and making sure the windows were spotless. I pointed
out to them, that because most people don't really understand
very much about the mechanical aspects of a car, the only
thing which they would notice, was "how it looked," and since
almost everyone feels better driving a car that looks good,
these little extra touches would soon start paying great
dividends for them.
Approximately two weeks later, I received a phone call
from one of the family members. She told me that none of
them quite understood how "something so basic," could make
such a tremendous difference. But nevertheless, they had
become so busy in the next two weeks since I had visited
them, their only problem now was completing all of the work
which they had attracted to themselves. The Razor's Edge
difference that changed their business from a loser into a
winner, turned out to be nothing more dramatic than a
hospitable attitude and a few additional touches on each and
every automobile. Was it worth it? Just ask the Jacob's family
of Toronto, Canada!
Most educators will admit - with some coaxing - that the
average individual reads at only about a grade six or seven
level. The reason for this is we are taught to read by the time
we reach grade six or seven, and then we never bother to
improve our reading skills beyond that point. You should
realize, moreover, that what is true about "reading," is also
true of most other skills which we acquire in life. Once people
have become proficient in the basics in any particular field,
they usually choose to stop learning, and of course, from that
point forward they cease to improve. Since this is true of most
people, it follows that it is only the small minority of people in
any given field who will go on to become the acknowledged
experts in their chosen vocation. Therefore, they are the people
who can demand and who will receive the lion's share of the
income in their field. (Just reflect upon the vast difference in
the incomes of the actors in the movie The Razor's Edge.)
Taking this information into account, consider the job
you are doing presently and ask yourself the following
questions: "How good am I at doing it?," and "How much better
could I be?" Realize, that if you would study your chosen field
for one hour per day, in five years time you would have
studied for 45 forty-hour weeks, which amounts to almost a
full year of study. Moreover, since you would only be studying
for one hour at any given time, you would be able to give the
material your undivided attention. Therefore, it would actually
be the equivalent of "a full year" of concentrated study. This
means that by the end of the first year, you would already
have put in nine forty-hour weeks of invaluable study time.
Although this amounts to only one hour of study per day, if
you were to follow this schedule rigorously, in a relatively
short span of time you would stand among your peers like a
giraffe in a herd of field mice.
In fact, when you really think about it, you will soon
understand there isn't any competition at all, because there
are so few people in the race, that even the losers are winners.
Therefore, you need not do a tremendous amount of studying
to gain the understanding you require, because again, the
difference between knowledge and ignorance, may be as fine
as "the Razor's Edge."
Let's get down to specifics again-as I have explained to
audiences on numerous occasions, I do a great deal of
studying by listening to educational tapes while I am driving
my car. I'd like to suggest that you turn your radio off and
your tape-recorder on when you get into your car, as it could
make as big a difference for you, as it has for me. You should
be aware that those people who drive twenty-five thousand
miles per year spend thirteen forty-hour weeks sitting behind
the wheel of their car. Therefore, they are in an excellent
position to have a wealth of invaluable information deposited
in their subconscious minds, while they are, otherwise,
engaged in the routine activity of driving. Remember, it is
virtually impossible to keep exposing your mind to great ideas
without having those ideas expressed in your physical world.
Moreover, it is probably only one idea you need to make the
difference in your life.
Consider this illustration-by merely moving an index
finger a fraction of an inch, a person can transform a cold
piece of metal into a deadly weapon. Or, by simply shouting
the word "Fire," a person can turn a room full of happy people
into a screaming, panic-stricken mob. Obviously, these are
both very negative examples. Nevertheless, they do graphically
illustrate the important truth, that "the Razor's Edge can cut
both ways." In other words, since the law of opposites is at
work in every aspect of life, it follows, that if you are not
consciously striving to move across that fine line to improve
the quality of your life, you could be inadvertently moving in
such a way, that your particular position in life is actually
starting to backslide.
Let me elaborate. A couple of weeks ago, I was doing a
talk show on the radio. A lady phoned in and she was in a
