August 9, 2010 6:57 PM PDT
The following article was written by RSC member Jay Mitchell, editor and publisher of
Small Market Radio Newsletter. I enjoyed it so much that I asked him if I could share it with everyone here, and he graciously gave me permission to do so.
Enthusiasm Does Make The DifferenceI was doing some shopping at Trader Joe’s the other day—remarkable store, Trader Joe’s; Google it sometime—and I asked one of the unfailingly sunny team members (Rebecca, if you must know) where I could find their yummy macaroni and cheese. She bolted over to the freezer case, picked up two boxes of the product and said, “Isn’t this just the best? How many do you want?” When I told her just one would do, she merely said, “Are you sure?” and suddenly I wasn’t.
Okay, so my tab was a big $3.99 more than it would have been without Rebecca’s ringing endorsement, but imagine the impact of thousands of Rebeccas in hundreds of stores, sharing their knowledge and passion, every hour. (I mean really, Google Trader Joe’s.)
The foregoing dialog suffers from the absence of Rebecca’s personality and her obvious complete belief in Trader Joe’s and especially in that yummy mac and cheese; the whole transaction was comfortable and effortless. At no time did I feel pressured; on the contrary, her enthusiasm was highly infectious.
My encounter with Rebecca got me thinking about a favorite book,
Enthusiasm Makes The Difference, by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. The book is a good read, but it can be summed up by this excerpt:
I truly believe that enthusiasm makes the difference between success and failure.
I am convinced that the fortunate individuals who achieve the most in life are invariably activated by enthusiasm.
The men who do the most with their lives are those who approach human existence, its opportunities and problems with a confident attitude and an enthusiastic point of view.
The important fact is that you can make yourself enthusiastic. Actually you can go further and develop a quality of enthusiasm so meaningful and in such depth that it will not decline or run dry no matter what strain it is put to.
What about you? You represent one of the most effective, powerful media—some (including me) would say the most effective—the world has ever known. You change lives. You help people become successful, or more so.
Don’t you suppose that’s even more worthy of your enthusiasm than Trader Joe’s Macaroni and Cheese?
—Editor
(from the 08/05/2010 issue of
Small Market Radio Newsletter,
http://www.smallmarketradio.com)
