In the game of life, enthusiasm can make the difference between winning or losing. Enthusiasm is contagious; it is an emotion that can be communicated more easily than words. It is a force that springs from person to person like an electrical spark. It is almost impossible to be exposed to enthusiasm for any length of time without acquiring some of it.

I learned this lesson when I was a teacher. We had an in-service meeting after school. The meeting was about teaching reading. I had no interest in teaching reading; I was a physical education teacher. I did not want to attend that meeting but it was mandatory. Needless to say, I attended.

I'll never forget the presenter. His name was Tony Dibiasio and he was a teacher from Lakewood, Ohio. When he started talking about reading, a subject I had no interest in, almost immediately I was caught up because the speaker was totally caught up in his subject. He totally believed in the techniques of teaching reading and he loved it.

His enthusiasm energized the whole audience and everybody was listening to him. Not only did I learn about how to teach reading, which I used later in my career, but I saw the importance of enthusiasm and what it would do for a non-interested audience.

Almost all aspects of life requires some skill in persuading or motivating people, and there is no characteristic that will help you more than enthusiasm.

There's the story of a saleman named Harry who broke every rule in selling that was ever written. But before the sales meetings, his sales manager would tell him, "Now Harry, I am going to teach the other salesman how to sell. I want you to sit in the back of the room and ignore everything I'm saying. You keep on making the same mistakes that you have been making."

You see, Harry was his top salesman and it was no mystery to his sales manager why. He revealed, "I have never seen a salesman with more enthusiasm than Harry. He seems to have so much faith and conviction about the product, he cannot keep it bottled up. He just seems to bubble all the time. Harry isn't selling, he's on a crusade to convince everyone he contacts that they would be better off owning his product. You can't stop a guy like that."

How is enthusiasm acquired?

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

Charles Schwab started out as a laborer and ended up as chairman of the board in the Bethlehem Steel Company has said, "A person can succeed at anything for which there is Enthusiasm."

As a football coach, I was teaching a young player to tackle. I told him to throw his heart into the tackle and his body would follow.

If you're going to be enthusiastic you must first want to be! If you're mired in self pity, criticism and a lot of negative thinking about your job and your position in life, enthusiasm is not going to ascend from the heavens like a bolt of lightning and strike positive life into you.

Look at the word enthusiasm. Now look at the last four letters - iasm. "I am sold on myself." I'm talking about the affirmation "Be the model yourself." I'm talking about your self image. Liking yourself is a big part of enthusiasm.

Look at the letters again - iasm. "I am sold on my product." You totally believe in what you are doing whether it be teaching, selling, homemaking, engineering, whatever it may be. Loving what you do is also a part of enthusiasm. Combine belief in what you're doing and loving your product with liking yourself... Now you're going to have an enthusiastic individual!

You don't need to be loud or boisterous to emit enthusiasm. Just the quiet confidence that you have, the way you look people in the eye, the smile you have on your face, the way you shake hands, the way you take an order and even the way you walk can express enthusiasm and denote inner confidence. You can be very quiet and sincere and people will still pick up on your enthusiasm.

It's easier than you think to become a natural wellspring of enthusiasm that energizes and motivates everyone you contact. Just focus on integrating these four basic principles into your daily life; Love what you do, believe in your product, like yourself and spend time with other enthusiastic people on a regular basis. When you do, your life and achievements will change dramatically, even within the first month! Start today.