‘There is no substitute for Love”

—Bruce Barton 1953

I have recently finished my next children’s short story( more about it next week).

As a self-publisher, I am required not only to be the creative writer but also to put on a publisher’s hat.

It isn’t the easiest of combinations!  But if you want the world to know about your creativity, yes, you have to take the responsibility for that business.

I have been reading a book written by Joe Vitale on Bruce Barton. Bruce Barton was a household name in America.

Few people know his name today.

Here is a portion of Joe Vitale’s work, from  his book The Seven Lost Secrets of Success.

Business is a great teacher.

It makes you take risks, go for your dreams, face fears, handle your emotions, deal with difficult people and learn balance. You don’t have to do any weird workshops or sign up for any therapy sessions. Go into business and you’ll be enrolled in the greatest seminar of all time. And it happens every day, everywhere to everyone. You can’t avoid it.

Though I’ve done self-help retreats, practised meditation, walked on fire, hunted for my inner self, nothing compares to the day-to-day challenges of being in business.

 The Ultimate Guru

It shows you your fears and challenges you to go past them.

It shows you your dreams and challenges you to attain them.

Not many people talk about business in this way. I thought I was alone in my belief that business could challenge us to do our best and for a long time I kept silent.

But then, while researching advertising methods from the 1920s through 1940s, I found a kindred spirit from an earlier time…

The Messiah of Business

Bruce Barton lived from 1886 to 1967.

From after the Civil War through to the Vietnam War.

Bruce Barton had a ringside seat for most of the century’s greatest events. Few remember him today; he has somehow fallen through the cracks of history.

When I tried to learn more about Barton, I hit roadblocks. Few remembered him; his own advertising firm kept quiet when I asked for information. I couldn’t find his relatives, anyone who knew him or anyone who wanted to tell me anything about him.

I began to suspect a cover-up of some sort. For a man  who ate with Presidents, made history, and led our country on a quest for prosperity, it seemed odd that he was now forgotten.

I decided to do some investigating I couldn’t believe what I found.

Bruce Barton was so famous that in 1938, an envious fellow wrote:

“Almost every day, there is a story about a man named Barton. Barton says,  Barton suggests, Barton shakes hands, Barton laughs, Barton sneezes. It’s Barton Barton Barton everywhere.”

As an author, Barton penned many books, including a novel, several volumes of inspiring essays and the 1925 bestseller The Man Nobody Knows.

It was this book that made Barton’s name a household word.

In it, he declares that Jesus was the founder of modern business.

The book set an entire nation on a path of service.

When Bobbs-Merrill published the book in 1925, they felt it might sell 500 to 1000 copies. To everyone surprise, including the authors, the book shot to  4th place on the bestseller list in 1925 and was in first place by 1926.

It is still in print today.

What happened?

I believe we are all caught up with what’s new that we forget about what works.

Our information age is so constipated with new ideas, new facts, new reports, new studies, new books, new news that we can’t possibly retain yesterday’s news.

That’s a costly mistake.

When we forget the tried and true methods, we are forced to relearn them through trial and error and (usually a lot of the latter) because we let old knowledge get replaced with new information.

We’ve lost some major secrets to success.

We’ve let them get buried.

I simply found them while digging around in old books.

They have benefited me; now they can benefit you.

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Joe Vitale’s book “The Seven Lost Secrets of Success” is available on Amazon.

Bruce Barton’s book “The Man Nobody Knows” is available on Amazon.

 

It is an uplifting read.

Enjoy whatever you are creating this week

Pauline