Chapter 1: The art of being positive
In 2007, I was extremely honored
to receive the Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking.
In the late 1940s – when I was with Jay Van Andel,
a longtime friend
After years of being a business associate,
starting a business selling Nutrilite vitamin products,
one of the first books
that I read was The Power of Positive Thinking by Mr. Peale.
I know him well.
We have also invited Dr. Peale
to speak at several Nutrilite business conferences.
Back in the day, Peale was a shy student.
While in college,
Peale was encouraged by a faculty member to believe in himself
and trust in God’s help.
He prayed, lived by faith
and then became the “father” of the concept of positive thinking.
Peale once shared that his joy is helping those who are unhappy,
because unhappiness often prevents people
from reaching their full creative potential,
and society also suffers that loss.
So Peale decided to take action
to change this reality by sharing her ideas in speeches,
as well as in books.
Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking is an annual award given
to “those who live a pure life,
are exemplary in using the power of positive thinking, have faith,
and care deeply for all things of people
and commitment to contribute
to the advancement of the world”.
I don’t know if I’ve really lived up
to the spirit of the award,
but that’s what motivated me to write this book.
In general, I am an optimistic and positive person.
I was a happy kid despite growing up
during the Great Depression.
Throughout my life,
I have always tried to encourage others to reach their full potential.
As the co-founder of Amway,
I have conveyed this message to thousands of people around the world
with the desire to see them achieve their dreams by working with Amway.
As a cheerleader for the famous Orlando Magic basketball team
and an initiator of activities
to contribute to the construction
and development of my home city of Grand Rapids, Michigan,
I find it is the positive thinking
and the Motivation and encouragement are fundamental factors in leadership
as well as in the development process.
Whether it’s the head of the company
or the breadwinner of the family,
it is positive thinking that creates a powerful spillover effect,
leading to change.
My father was an optimist,
even when he lost his job during the Great Depression.
I have always received encouragement and encouragement from him.
Jay Van Andel and I have no other dream
but to create our own business,
and we persistently pursue that goal even on the way
to starting a business.
encountered many difficulties.
We once rented a hall with a capacity of two hundred people
to hold a presentation
to find distributors for our nutritional products.
Yet only two people attended!
But we remained undaunted,
and as a result our business today has grown
to incredible heights.
Everyone congratulated us on our achievements,
but we didn’t spend too much time complacent
with what we had achieved.
We are busy planning for the future.
Although people often want to vent
or grumble about something,
they are drawn to the positive
and will follow the guiding light
to those good things.
I’ve spoken on big stages before,
but one of my first lectures was
to a group of forty accountants.
One of the first employees
when Amway was founded invited me to speak.
I thought a lot about the content of the talk
and quickly jotted down all the good things
that happened in the early days
of growing the business.
A lot of speakers I know often want
to demonstrate their understanding
by mentioning bad things happening in the world.
This is a way for them to polish their name
and increase their credibility.
They are always trying to figure out
what makes them “commentators”.
During my talk with that group of accountants,
I said that I didn’t mean to criticize anything
but just wanted to share the good things
that are happening in this country.
After that, I continued to convey positive messages to other groups.
Every day I get more and more support through my speeches.
It helps people realize how
and why they should form the habit of looking
for the good in life and from those around them.
From the small message
that I sent to the group of accountants at that time,
it has developed into the topic of Selling America
The talk I gave to thousands of people across the country.
This talk was later recorded
and was awarded the Alexander Hamilton Award
for Economic Education from the Freedoms Foundation.
At that time, I realized that the more positive things I shared,
the more people wanted to listen to me.
The reason is that people are too “hungry” for positive
and good information because today’s world is full of bad things.
We are used to finding mistakes, errors.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been infected with skepticism,
that only good things can happen
in the fairy tale!
I hope that through this book,
people can find for themselves the positive things in life.
To be successful, you need to put in a little effort
and persevere in practice.
But those who make an effort to help themselves
and to help others will surely be rewarded.
Being optimistic is a choice,
just like choosing a direction wisely
to avoid potential problems
or quickly changing course
when you realize you are on the wrong track.
Once we have chosen a positive way of thinking,
it becomes a habit.
When we meet someone,
we should listen to realize the good they have done.
If you listen patiently,
you will hear good things.
Then we should respond
with appropriate sentences such as:
“You can do it!”,
“Thank you!”,
or “I am so proud of you!”.
Positive thinking will change
who you are and the way you think,
helping you to lift the spirits of others.
When you start looking for the good things,
you will feel that everything is more beautiful.
Self-esteem develops naturally
from the habit of seeing the good in others.
By doing so, you will also recognize many good points in yourself,
and others will also recognize
and praise these good points in you.
The day I graduated from high school,
my catechist wrote a simple word of encouragement in my guestbook
that I can’t forget to this day:
“To the young man with leadership talent in the Kingdom of God”.
That line simply had a great encouragement value for a poor student,
who was once judged as ineligible
for college like me.
But that respected teacher saw me
as a leader
something I never thought possible.
The key point here is
that just one simple word can change a person’s life.
At this point, the question is,
what messages will you convey?
What messages did you receive?
Will you create an atmosphere of pessimism or encouragement?
Will you crush their spirits or lift them up?
Personally, I decided to become a person
who always enriches my life
and seeks to uplift those around me by saying simple
but powerful words such as:
“I am proud of you”, “I need you”.
“I believe in you”, or “I love you”.
These words can all become “catalysts” to change a person,
and they should be in your vocabulary.
This book is for everyone,
especially for those who aspire
to move up in the ranks leadership mind.
Becoming an optimist,
positive is the first step required of a great leader.
Whether you’re a business leader,
teacher,
coach,
or parent,
these powerful quotes will help you succeed in your role.
If you look back,
you will see that great leaders often have a positive mindset.
For example, despite being in the darkest moment of World War II,
in his radio talk,
President Franklin Roosevelt did not mention any pessimistic,
negative stories.
President Ronald Reagan was an excellent storyteller.
He knows how to make people laugh with funny stories,
even though he is facing difficult problems.
He always sees the good side of things.
As for the case of President John Kennedy,
he knew he had to set a clear mission for the country,
he called:
“Let’s go to the moon!”.
He challenged America with his dream of going further,
doing better,
and being ahead of his time.
America persistently pursued this goal
and finally succeeded in 1969
with the first event in human history,
man set foot on the moon.
Those in leadership positions need to develop these traits,
get used to simple
but powerful sayings,
and practice the art of positive thinking.
A leader should be an example
for everyone to follow.
They are the ones
who are willing to go to work and get it done,
whatever it is.
From personal experience,
I know that people can work together
to create a positive atmosphere in their communities.
That’s what the optimists in my city of Grand Rapids did,
they’ve made my home city so much better.
amazing in recent years.
A few years ago,
I had the opportunity to talk
to guests at our convention center opening party.
I said, “The atmosphere is great!”,
and they were surprised by this comment
because it was snowing that night and the weather was very bad.
However, I didn’t mean the weather at the time,
but I meant the atmosphere of positive people working together
to develop the community.
Everyone has come together
to build this great convention center thanks
to the foresight of our leaders,
with contributions from the Government and supporters,
with a team of skilled workers
and experts people quietly help
– not to mention the many skilled
and patient staff who served delicious,
hot meals to each of the 2,500 guests in attendance.
Not only community groups
but also any citizen with a positive attitude
can make a similar impact on the country,
even on the whole world.
If everyone began to form a positive attitude to life,
and began to look for the good things to praise
instead of looking at faults and blaming each other,
this society would change profoundly,
becoming where everyone comes together
to support each other.
Living in that environment,
we think only of good things,
will work harder,
have more ideas,
dream farther and be able to contribute more.
No one else but our own country
and society will suffer the consequences
when we cannot find any good in everyone and everything.
When we deliberately avoid constructive communication or feedback,
instead accusing each other of
“They are insulting my dignity,”
we are inadvertently forming the habit
of hindering the use of Use positive statements.
I like the teaching in the New Testament
(Philippians 4:7-9),
where it says:
“Finally, brethren,
whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,
whatever is just,
whatever is pure whatever is lovely,
whatever is of good repute,
if there is any virtue or praiseworthy,
think about it.”
Just think what the world would be like
if everyone embraced this spirit!
I think a simple way
to encourage people to build a positive,
optimistic attitude is
to introduce some positivity sayings like the ones in this book.
Those humble words contain
within them a source of power
that can profoundly transform our lives for the better.
Not stopping there,
when we decide to live with an optimistic attitude of trust,
that decision will not only change our lives,
but also our community,
even our country,
and the world will also change follow.
We need to adjust our attitude
to life in the direction of optimism
and positive actions
to heal relationships,
connect people together
for the common good.
Just like great leaders,
you can also improve your situation
by helping others and inspiring them.
I fully believe that the message in this book
is extremely important in modern society.
Every society needs people
who can inspire and motivation.
It is they who keep the world moving.
And chances are you are one of them!
