The Greatest Salesman in the World

by Og Mandino

You can change your life with the priceless wisdom of ten ancient scrolls handed down for thousands of years.

Studying this book and the 10 scrolls (1 at a time for 30 days) has made the most significant, positive impact on my life and mindset since quarantine started. I have the main sentence of each scroll memorized and inscribed into my conscious and subconscious mind. I continue to repeat them every morning and night with a deep breath in and long exhale for each one.

The practice involves reading the scroll (4ish pages in 5ish minutes) silently in the morning, silently after lunch, and aloud before bed, which would be 90 times/month. Transparently, I was able to do ~45 times/month because the lunch habit never stuck, but I always did it at least once each day. I was earnestly committed to doing it before bed if I got up in a rush and missed the morning one. I can confirm the before bed reading aloud was more impactful if I had the privacy to do so alone, and would opt to read it silently if in bed with my partner.

If you are willing to commit to the commitment, then order a copy of the book. Do the best you can, and it will be great. Make note of the calendar # date when you read the first scroll to begin the practice because then you can get excited each month when you get to that day to read a new scroll. Additionally, when you move on to the 2nd scroll, I recommend reciting the first scroll's main sentence (I will form good habits and become their slave) before opening the book to begin reading. As you progress, you will have more main sentences that build on one another...

I will form good habits and become their slave.
I will greet this day with love in my heart.
I will persist until I succeed. I was not delivered into this world into defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I am a lion, and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep. The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny. I will persist until I succeed.
I am nature's greatest miracle. Count my blessings. Proclaim my rarity. Go another mile. Use wisely, my power of choice. Do all things with love. Love for myself. Love for all others. Love for God. God, guide me.
I will live this day as if it is my last, and if it is not, then I shall fall to my knees and give thanks to the Lord for the many wonderful blessings he has given me on this beautiful day.
Today, I will be master of my emotions.
I will laugh at the world because this too shall pass.
Today, I will multiply my value a hundredfold.
God, guide me.
I will act now. Do it now.

The sequel to the first book is called The Greatest Salesman in the World Part II: The End of the Story. It follows a similar format to continue the parable and then the main character gives us additional wisdom in the form of 10 vows of success to read for 7 days straight morning and night. The vows of success are:

Never again will I pity or belittle myself.
Never again will I greet the dawn without a map.
Always will I bathe my days in the golden glow of enthusiasm.
Never again will I be disagreeable to a living soul. [disagreeable means unpleasant, ill-tempered, or curmudgeonly - you can still disagree respectfully]
Always will I seek the seed of triumph in every adversity.
Never again will I perform any task at less than my best.
Always will I throw my whole self into the task at hand.
Never again will I wait and hope for opportunity.
Always will I examine, each evening, my deeds of the fading day.
Always will I maintain contact, through prayer, with my Creator.