THERE IS VERY LITTLE DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE, BUT THAT LITTLE DIFFERENCE MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE. THE LITTLE DIFFERENCE IS ATTITUDE. THE BIG DIFFERENCE IS WHETHER IT IS POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE. REMEMBER, WITH EVERY ADVERSITY THERE'S A SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT OR GREATER BENEFIT.
W. Clement Stone was born in 1902 and grew up on Chicago’s South Side. From an early age, he demonstrated the entrepreneurship, tenacity and optimism that were hallmarks of his life. To help support his family, Mr. Stone began selling newspapers on the street at the age of six. When older youth drove him away from the busiest corners, he moved his sales to restaurants where he eventually won over owners and customers.
As a teenager, Mr. Stone used the sales skills he had developed to sell insurance policies. He was highly successful and eventually started the Combined Insurance Company of America with a modest initial investment of $100. Combined Insurance grew into a multimillion dollar enterprise that became Aon Corporation in the 1980s.
Through these experiences, Mr. Stone developed his lifelong philosophy of Positive Mental Attitude (PMA), which he viewed as the cornerstone of his success. He believed in the power of optimism and that even in adversity lay seeds of success.
