Reading The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino has been one of the benefits of the conditions of the China Virus hunkering down process. While it addresses the important habits, noble values, necessary courage and required resilience to be a truly successful and honorable salesperson, Mandino bookends the wisdom conveyed in ten ancient scrolls with faith-based twists of character and story. At the core of much of the parable that is the book resides the question “Do you have what you need to sell what you believe in?” Mandino reveals the things we need as habits and their resultant qualities.
Since there is not a human being on earth who is not involved in sales of one type or another, the message is as poignant now as when the book was written a half-century ago. For those among Christian believers, the book offers insights and questions that are familiar to them and are also translatable to anyone who is “selling” complicated ideas and ideals to others.
Here is my one-page summary of the ten scrolls. This document is not a replacement for reading the book. If the book was read and put into practice as described in its contents, it would take ten months to complete. Life transformations take time.
About 20 years after the book was first published, Mandino added a “Part Two,” just a few pages to put a tidy bow on the book’s lessons. According to Wikipedia, “This is a sequel to Mandino’s 1967 bestselling book, published in 1988 and set forty years later than the first part; the main character Hafid is in a sad state, mourning the loss of his wife, Lisha. The story starts years into Hafid’s seclusion, when a dream convinces him to see a stranger that turns up on his doorstep and pulls Hafid out of retirement to embark on a new adventure: a speaking tour to enlighten others about the principles enclosed in The Ten Scrolls.”
The stranger who arrives in search of the greatest salesman because he is struggling to sell to others the special message he carries is named Paul. You may know him as the man he became: St. Paul. What Paul wears comes from…sorry, I can’t tell you. The first read of the book is short, easy and insightful. Print a copy of the scroll summary for daily reminder and then re-read the book. It will change your life and prepare you to sell to others that which you believe in. More importantly, it will provide you habits and conviction to live the life you were created to have.