or prospects. So it is essential to your success as a
prospector that the investigation of your field of opportunity be
carefully _planned_ in order to make the most effective use of the time
you spend prospecting. It is vitally important, too, that you develop
sufficient physical stamina to do a tremendous amount of hard work. The
gold miner has little chance to discover the bonanza he seeks if he
searches only a few days or weeks, or if he lacks the strength and
endurance required for making a thorough exploration of the mineral
region. Similarly it may take a master salesman months of unremitting
toil to prospect a sale that he then is able to close in an hour or two.

[Sidenote: The Food of Salesmanship]

_Prospecting supplies the food of salesmanship._ The salesman thrives if
his prospecting is sufficient and good. He grows thin and weak to the
point of failure if it is bad, or inadequate in quantity. Every salesman
should realize that prospecting furnishes the nourishment for
salesmanship, but some so-called salesmen do practically nothing to
ensure themselves an abundant food supply. They merely absorb the tips
that come their way. Like sponges they sop up the limited quantity of
selling chances they happen to get. That is not the way to feed one's
ambition with opportunities.

Comprehend that you must _seek actively_ for your best prospects. You
should not stop searching until you find what you are looking for.
Myriads of men have failed because they did not make _an earnest, hard
effort to discover chances_ to succeed, or because they _did not persist
in the exploration_ of their fields of opportunity. You know that other
men no more capable than you are succeeding all about you. Certainly,
then, _your_ chance _exists_. Seek it in your own thoughts and in the
circumstances of your every-day living. Put a great deal of time and
toil into your search. You cannot afford to loaf on this preliminary
job.

[Sidenote: Prospect Continually Act Quickly]

_Every moment you are awake should be used in prospecting_; unless it is
required for some other part of the process of assuring your success.
There is no keener pleasure than the eager, continual search of a miner
for gold and of a master salesman for possible big buyers. It is
necessary that you feel their thrilling zest for discovery; that you
develop their unflagging energy; that you be fired by their ardor for
the quest. In order to be a highly successful pros