"If you employed study, thinking, and planning time daily, you could develop and use the power that can change your destiny. And, keep your mind on your objective, and persist until you succeed. Study, think and plan."

 

"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is ATTITUDE ... and the big difference is whether it is POSITIVE or negative."

 

"I think there is something more important than believing: ACTION!! The world is full of dreamers. There aren't enough who begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision."

- W. Clement Stone

W. Clement Stone

William Clement Stone was born in Chicago on May 2, 1902 and was 3 when his father died. From an early age, while growing up on Chicago’s South Side, Stone demonstrated the entrepreneurship, tenacity and optimism that were hallmarks of his later life.

From Selling Newspapers at age 6

To Owning An insurance Company with 1000 agents at age 28

At age six, young William helped his mother support their family by selling newspapers on the street. When older youth drove him away from the busiest corners, he moved his sales to restaurants. At first, the managers of restaurants tried to discourage him from this practice, but he gradually won them over, due in part to his politeness, charm, persistence and the fact that by and large, the patrons of the restaurants had no objection to this new way of selling his newspapers.

At age 16, William journeyed to Detroit to help his mother at an insurance company she'd opened there.  Building on his childhood newspaper building success, he began successfully selling insurance policies in business offices many stories tall.  Soon, he was making $100 a week selling casualty insurance.

By the time he was 28 years old, Stone had started the Combined Insurance Company of America, a multi-level marketing company that some have accused of being like a cult.  Soon, he had over 1000 agents selling insurance for him across the United States.  

Enduring Legacy:

Success Through A "Positive Mental Attitude"

Through these early experiences,  W. Clement Stone developed his lifelong philosophy of Positive Mental  Attitude (PMA), which he viewed as the cornerstone of his success.

Above all, Stone emphasized using a "positive mental attitude" to make money for himself and for millions of people who read his books and heard his speeches. In 1960, he teamed up with Napoleon Hill to co-write, Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, a classic in the success literature.

The book was based on Hill's 20 years of interviewing the most successful 500 men in the country to find out how successful people actually became successful. It was research commissioned by Andrew Carnegie, the richest man in the world at the time, who wanted to help create an economic philosophy of what it actually takes to succeed in business and in life. Hill (shown above on the right) teamed up with Stone on the book because Stone was a living example of someone who had become rich and successful applying the principles used in the book.

Two years later, Stone wrote The Success System That The Success System That Never Fails by W. Clement Stone: Book Cover Never Fails. In it he describes his secrets to becoming wealthy and having a healthy, productive lifestyle. Stone emphasized that very little separates us from success and that there is a small difference between us and the great people of history. Most of them achieved their greatness not because of great intellect, but because they used the latent power within them to drive themselves up to the top.

philanthropic activities

keep him active

... right up until age 100

Among his many philanthropic activities was his long-time support of the Boys Clubs of America, of which he was at one time the National Board Chairman.  And, his Jessie V. and W. Clement Stone Foundation provided many college scholarships, requiring little more than diligence and good citizenship of many individuals through the years.  Stone celebrated his 100th birthday in May 2002 with a gift of $100,000 to the University of Illinois at Chicago.  He died later that year.

Capsule Summary:

The "Positive Mental Attitude"

Way Of Achieving Success

W. Clement Stone was a gifted businessman, motivational speaker, and philanthropist. But, he is best known for his deep belief in the power of a positive mental attitude -- a way of life built on daily planning, seeing failure as a rung on your ladder to success, finding your burning desire in life, controlling your environment ... and, most of all, pursuing your dreams with gusto!!.

Here, in his own words, is a summary of W. Clement Stone's "Positive Mental Attitude" philosophy of life:

1) Planning Can Change Your Life. "If you employed study, thinking, and planning time daily, you could develop and use the power that can change your destiny. And, keep your mind on your objective, and persist until you succeed. Study, think and plan."

2) Failure Contains Seeds Of Your Success. "Like success, failure is many things to many people. With Positive Mental Attitude, failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again."

3) Find Your Burning Desire. "When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it."

4) Control Your Environment. "You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you toward success - or are they holding you back? And, be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them."

5) Pursue Your Dreams With Gusto!! "No matter how carefully you plan your goals, they will never be more than pipe dreams ... unless you pursue them with gusto!"