Mind control story of a 13 year old super salesman

This is a mind control story of John who wanted to earn some extra money and had his father drop him off in a nearby neighborhood with a basket of stencils, paint, and brushes. John was going to paint numbers on the curbs in front of houses. The numbers would make it easier to identify the address. John would sell his service for one dollar.

Robert, a salesman, was easing his son into the profession. Even if John did not take to sales, at least he would have a better idea of what his father did, and that was Rober's primary interest. He felt that this was an easysell and that his son might even make a few dollars at it. John, who had never tried anything like it before, was excited and could hardly wait to begin.

Robert dropped John off in a residential neighborhood and promised to return within two hours. An hour and a half later Robert pulled up to a curb where John sat, his chin resting on his fist, with a dejected look on his face that brightened when he realized his ordeal was over.

Dropping his basket on the floor of the car with a bang, he sat heavily on the back seat and sighed. "Dad, I dont know how you do it. That was the worst experience I have ever had in my whole life. I dont ever want to do it again."

Needless to say, his father was disappointed. He asked, "What happened, John? Didnt anybody buy the service?"

"Oh, yeah," replied his son, "a few people paid me a dollar to paint numbers on the curb. It was the ones who slammed the door in my face that bothered me." And shaking his head he asked again, "How do you do it, Dad? How can you take that?"  "Take what? What are you talking about, son?" Robert asked. "You know what I mean. People are so nasty. They cursed me, and threw me out of their houses. Some of them yelled at me. I didnt realize that people were so mean."

On questioning, it turned out that none of these things were really happening, although John thought that they were. For the first time in his life he had faced the bane of the sales profession, rejection. At age thirteen, he had never gotten so much of it in so short a period of time. Everyone, it seemed, rejected him which to him meant that they didnt like him. It was too much; he couldnot handle it and would never expose himself to that experience again. "Well, did you sell any?"  his father asked.

John reached into his pocket and pulled out a crinkled dollar bill, and then a few more until he had accumulated a small pile. His father's eyes opened a bit wider as he asked, "How much is there?" John counted and said, "Ten dollars."  "Ten dollars!"  his father exclaimed. "But John, that is terrific. You were only out for an hour and a half and you made ten dollars. I think that is pretty good"

"No, it's not"  was the reply. i am not going out there again, I hate it. I'd rather do anything than knock on doors again.".  How many people did you call on, John?", his father asked.  "About a thousand."

His father shook his head seriously and said, "John, you must be mistaken. You were not out long enough to call on a thousand people."Well then, maybe fifty or sixty," he said after thinking about it for a moment.

“You know, John,” his father began, “if you called on sixty people and made tendollars that means you sold over 16 percent of them. That is a pretty good average." John's features took on the look of total misery at that statement, and his father chuckled and quickly added, "It's okay, son, I am not going to make you go out anymore."  He shrugged and continued, "At least you know what it is all about now."
Robert reported that here was a good test case for the changing of a viewpoint for him to use. Johnn had a negative attitude toward selling that Robert was going to turn around so that his son would have a positive attitude and taste success.

John was a recent graduate of the children's class, and he had seen some spectacular events take place at the seminar for youngsters. He had been a participant in many of them, so what Robert said did not seem at all strange to him. "John," his father asked, "how would you like me to put a spell on you so that every time you knock on a door, the person answering will pay you a dollar to paint the house number on the curb?"

"Every one of them?" John asked. "Every one," Robert answered. "Sure." For it was not the selling he feared; it was the rejection. If it could be guaranteed that he would make a sale in every house, then he would not have to fear rejection. The most timid salesperson in the world would have the courage of a tiger if every call were guaranteed to result in a sale.

Thirteen-year-old John outside the car while Robert put the spell on him. Pointing his index finger at John's chest Robert quickly moved his arm to describe a five-pointed star in the air, finishing with a dot in the center of the star as a nice flourish, while John stood with his chest out as though catching the symbol.

"That's it," Robert said. "Now let me get this straight,"  John said. "Every person will buy?".  "Yes,"  Robert said. John grabbed his basket of paint and started off.

"Wait a minute," his father cried. Back John came to hear what more he had to say. "You know, John," Robert said, on second thought it would not be fair if you were to sell every one. Have you ever heard me speak about paying your dues?"

He had, and  John understood that if it was too easy it might hurt his growth and that he had to take a few knocks just so he could experience what people with less resources had to experience.

"Well," Robert said, "this is the way the spell is going to work. You call on fifty people. The first forty-five will all say no. The next five will all buy. Can you handle that?" "Sure," John said, "but I am going to get past them as quickly as I can."

"That is all right," Robert replied, as long as you knock on fifty doors. But, John," he continued, "I really dont have complete control over this spell. Some of the five might slip into the forty-five, so here."  Handing him a piece of paper and a pencil he said, Every time you speak to a person, make a mark here so that you can keep score, and if one of the five slips in and you accidentally sell them, circle the mark. When you get to number forty-five, if two people have bought, then only the next three will buy."

Off he went, skeptical but game. Robert  left to have a cup of coffee and returned about an hour later. John was walking briskly down the street, paint all over his shirt and pants. When he noticed his father he waved and Robert pulled over.

"Wow!"  he exclaimed. That spell really works, I am selling like crazy. Dad, how about leaving me here? I'll take a bus back. I don't want to quit just yet, there's plenty of paint left in the can and I have the rest of the next block to work."

Robert told the story just as it happened. It worked; his son's viewpoint changed. The first time he knocked on doors, every door was a potential rejection. John hated that. He hated the feeling that his finger on the doorbell or his knuckles knocking on the door would bring a person who rejected him. He couldn't deal with that for very long.But after the so-called spell, which you might liken to the placebo effect because John believed that the spell was going to influence the people he called on, everything changed.

Forty-five people were going to say no. That's not rejection. That's just a job to do, to get past those fortyfive as quickly as possible so he could get to the five who were going to buy.As long as he believed that, he could be a tiger. He not only didn't care any longer if they slammed the door in his face, he welcomed it, and the quicker they did it the better. He would scratch off one more on his way to number forty-five.

Of course what was happening was that his enthusiasm and courage showed through and the percentage of his sales increased dramatically. More and more of the magic five slipped through. By the time he reached the forty-fifth person he was so involved with the spell that counting was no longer necessary and when he was greeted with a resounding "no" he responded with an "Oh boy, another one out of the way."

His viewpoint had changed. Instead of seeing the door from a negative viewpoint (hate), he began to see it from a positive viewpoint (love), and that helped him to achieve his goal. Incidentally, there is a postscript to the story. Robetr had inadvertently created a monster. John's introduction to sales took place during summer vacation, and it wasn't long before he was making $2500 a week and had two of his friends working for him. It took all of his father's power of persuasion to get him back into school at vacation's end.

Applying mind control in to our own lives.