Maybe you have become discouraged and have given up, in disgust, your ambition for achievement.  Very likely you have said to yourself, “Success is so much a matter of luck and circumstances, there’s no way to make sure of it.  I’ve done everything that Marshall Field, J. Pierpont Morgan, and Charles M. Schwab have counseled; but I’m still plugging along on an ordinary salary.  Rules for certain success are bunk.  Luck has to break right for a man.”

[Sidenote:  The Element of Luck]

Unquestionably good luck has brought success to some men who would have failed without its aid.  It is equally beyond doubt that bad luck has prevented other men from achieving their ambitions.  Of course such successes and failures do not fall within any rules.  They are altogether exceptional, and neither prove nor disprove general principles.

Eliminating the factor of luck, good or bad, the success of any normal, deserving man can be made certain to the extent of his individual capacity.  Some men have different or bigger capacities than others; hence not all successes will be of the same kind, or alike in extent.  But any normal, deserving man can assure himself as great a success as he is fitted to achieve.  It is necessary, however, that he do more than develop his utmost capability.  He must learn to employ skillful salesmanship, in order to market his “goods of sale,” or personal qualifications, most profitably.

[Sidenote:  Sales Skill Necessary]

Each of us has to make his own pattern of success.  “The individual should develop his individuality,” instead of attempting to imitate anybody else.  It is even more necessary for him to use most effectively all the natural powers he builds up.

A man can assure his success only if he learns how to utilize his personal qualifications so as to create and control his opportunities to succeed.  He should be able to bring himself to good luck, and not expect anybody or any event to bring good luck to him.

One cannot make the most effective use of his capabilities, he cannot create and control his chances to succeed, until he develops skill in salesmanship, which is necessary to market his qualifications profitably.  He must practice “selling himself” until the habit of using sales skill in everything he does and says becomes second nature to him.  Sales skill is the dynamic factor of success.  It transforms potential powers into actual accomplishments.  It enables the qualified man to turn his individual capabilities to best account.

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[Sidenote:  Opportunity A Constant Companion]

Sometimes a man says, as an excuse for his failure, “I never had a chance.”  The truth is that Opportunity is a constant companion to every man.  Each of us has within himself limitless wealth.  All normal people are rich in ability.  It is possible for anyone to become more prosperous. He need only turn his possibilities into realities. When a man capable of accumulating riches continues poor, he is like the shipwrecked discoverer of a bonanza gold mine on an uncharted island.  He cannot exchange his potential wealth for the things he desires; because he is unable to market his raw gold.