W.

Clement Stone Bio-Sketch 1

"I f you employed study, thi nki ng, and planni ng ti me dai ly, you
could develop and use the power that can change your desti ny.
And, keep your mi nd on your obj ecti ve, and persi st unti l you suc-
ceed. Study, thi nk and plan."

"Ther e i s li ttle di ffer ence i n people, but that li ttle di ffer ence makes
a bi g di ffer ence. The li ttle di ffer ence i s ATTI TUDE ... and the bi g
di fference i s whether i t i s POSI TI VE or negati ve."

"I thi nk ther e i s somethi ng mor e i mpor tant than beli evi ng: ACTI ON!! The wor ld i s full of dr eam-
ers. There aren't enough who begi n to take concrete steps to actuali ze thei r vi si on."
- W. Clement Stone

W. Clement Stone

William Clement Stone was born in Chicago on May 2, 1902 and was 3 when his father died. From
an early age, while growing up on Chicagos South Side, Stone demonstrated the entrepreneurship,
tenacity and optimism that were hallmarks of his later life.

FROM SELLING NEWSPAPERS AT AGE 6
TO OWNING AN INSURANCE COMPANY WITH 1000 AGENTS AT AGE 28

At age six, young William helped his mother support their family by selling newspapers on the street.
When older youth drove him away from the busiest corners, he moved his sales to restaurants. At
first, the managers of restaurants tried to discourage him from this practice, but he gradually won
them over, due in part to his politeness, charm, persistence and the fact that by and large, the patrons
of the restaurants had no objection to this new way of selling his newspapers.

At age 16, William journeyed to Detroit to help his mother at an insurance company she'd opened
there. Building on his childhood newspaper building success, he began successfully selling insur-
ance policies in business offices many stories tall. Soon, he was making $100 a week selling casu-
alty insurance.

By the time he was 28 years old, Stone had started the Combined Insurance Company of America, a
multi-level marketing company that some have accused of being like a cult. Soon, he had over 1000
agents selling insurance for him across the United States.

ENDURING LEGACY:
SUCCESS THROUGH A " POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE"

Through these early experiences, W. Clement Stone developed his lifelong philosophy
of Positive Mental Attitude (PMA), which he viewed as the cornerstone of his success.
Above all, Stone emphasized using a "positive mental attitude" to make money for him-
self and for millions of people who read his books and heard his speeches. In 1960, he
teamed up with Napoleon Hill to co-write, Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, a
classic in the success literature.

W. Clement Stone Bio-Sketch 2

The book was based on Hill's 20 years of interviewing the most successful 500 men in
the country to find out how successful people actually became successful. It was re-
search commissioned by Andrew Carnegie, the richest man in the world at the time,
who wanted to help create an economic philosophy of what it actually takes to succeed
in business and in life. Hill (shown above on the right) teamed up with Stone on the
book because Stone was a living example of someone who had become rich and suc-
cessful applying the principles used in the book.

Two years later, Stone wrote The Success System That Never Fails. In it he describes his
secrets to becoming wealthy and having a healthy, productive lifestyle. Stone emphasized
that very little separates us from success and that there is a small difference between us
and the great people of history. Most of them achieved their greatness not because of great
intellect, but because they used the latent power within them to drive themselves up to the
top.

PHILANTHROPIC ACTIVITIES KEEP HIM ACTIVE
... RIGHT UP UNTIL AGE 100

Among his many philanthropic activities was his long-time support of the Boys Clubs of America, of
which he was at one time the National Board Chairman. And, his J essie V. and W. Clement Stone
Foundation provided many college scholarships, requiring little more than diligence and good citizen-
ship of many individuals through the years. Stone celebrated his 100th birthday in May 2002 with a
gift of $100,000 to the University of Illinois at Chicago. He died later that year.

CAPSULE SUMMARY:
THE " POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE" WAY OF ACHIEVING SUCCESS

W. Clement Stone was a gifted businessman, motivational speaker, and philanthropist. But,
he is best known for his deep belief in the power of a positive mental attitude -- a way of life
built on daily planning, seeing failure as a rung on your ladder to success, finding your burn-
ing desire in life, controlling your environment ... and, most of all, pursuing your dreams with
gusto!!.

Here, in his own words, is a summary of W. Clement Stone's "Positive Mental Attitude" philosophy of
life:

1. Planning Can Change Your Life. "If you employed study, thinking, and planning
time daily, you could develop and use the power that can change your destiny. And,
keep your mind on your objective, and persist until you succeed. Study, think and
plan."

2. Failure Contains Seeds Of Your Success. "Like success, failure is many things to
many people. With Positive Mental Attitude, failure is a learning experience, a rung
on the ladder, a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try
again."

3. Find Your Burning Desire. "When you discover your mission, you will feel its de-
mand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it."
W. Clement Stone Bio-Sketch 3

4. Control Your Environment. "You are a product of your environment. So choose the
environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Analyze your life in
terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you toward success - or
are they holding you back? And, be careful the friends you choose for you will be-
come like them."

5. Pursue Your Dreams With Gusto!! "No matter how carefully you plan your goals,
they will never be more than pipe dreams ... unless you pursue them with gusto!"













































W. Clement Stone Bio-Sketch 4
20 W. Clement Stone WordSearch Questions
Directions. First, check the correct answer to each question. Then, write those answers in the table at the bottom of
the W. Clement Stone WordSearch Letter Grid that follows these questions. Finally, highlight or circle that word or phrase
in the Letter Grid.

1. W. Clement Stone said, If you employed (1
st
word) ___________ , (2
nd
word) ______________ , and
(3
rd
word) ____________ time daily, you could develop and use the power that can (4
th
word) __________
(5
th
word) ________ (6
th
word) _______________. And, keep your mind on your objective, and persist until
you succeed. The word that belongs in the 1
st
underlined space is:
DREAMING
STUDY
WISHING

2. In that same quote in Question #1 above, the word that belongs in the 2
nd
underlined space is:
THINKING
HOPING
BELIEVING

3. And, in Question #1 above, the word that belongs in the 3
rd
underlined space is:
PLAYING
FRONTING
PLANNING

4. Finally, in Question #1 above, the words that belong in the 4
th
, 5
th
, and 6
th
underlined spaces are:
MAKE YOU RICH
CHANGE YOUR DESTINY
MAKE YOU FAMOUS

5. In another quote, W. Clement Stone said, There is little difference in people, but that little difference
makes a big difference. The little difference is (1
st
word) ___________________ . . . and the big differ-
ence is whether it is (2
nd
word) __________________ (3
rd
word) ____ (4
th
word) __________________.
The word that belongs in the 1
st
underlined space is:
ATTITUDE
GOOD-LOOKS
MONEY

6. And, in Question #5 above, the 3 words that belong in the 2
nd
, 3
rd
, and 4
th
underlined spaces are:
POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE
SUPERIOR OR AVERAGE
MUCH OR LITTLE

7. In still another quote, W. Clement Stone said, I think there is something more important than believing:
(1
st
word) ________________ !! The world is full of dreamers. There arent enough who begin to take
concrete steps to (2
nd
word) _______________ (3
rd
word) _________ (4
th
word) ________________.
The word that belongs in the 1
st
underlined space is:
VISIONING
DREAMING
ACTION

8. And, in Question #7 above, the 3 words that belong in the 2
nd
, 3
rd
, and 4
th
underlined spaces are:
WALK THEIR TALK
ACTUALIZE THEIR VISION
LIVE THEIR DREAM
W. Clement Stone Bio-Sketch 5

9. From an early age W. Clement Stone demonstrated the (1
st
word) ________________________,
(2
nd
word) _____________, and (3
rd
word) _______________ that were hallmarks of his later life. The
word that belongs in the 1
st
underlined space is:
BRAGGING
BOASTING
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

10. And, in Question #9 above, the word that belongs in the 2
nd
underlined space is:
TENACITY
TIMIDITY
UNCERTAINTY

11. Finally, in Question #9 above, the word that belongs in the 3
rd
underlined space is:
RUTHLESSNESS
PESSIMISM
OPTIMISM

12. At age six, young William helped his mother support their family by selling (1
st
word) ________________
on the street. The word that belongs in the underlined space is:
DRUGS
NEWSPAPERS
HOROSCOPES

13. At age 16, William went to Detroit and soon began successfully selling insurance policies in business of-
fices. Soon, he was making $100 a week selling (1
st
word)_______________ (2
nd
word) ______________.
The 2 words that belong in the underlined spaces are:
CASUALTY INSURANCE
BICYCLE INSURANCE
HEALTH INSURANCE

14. In his book, The Success System That Never Fails, W. Clement Stone said that most people have
achieved their greatness not because of great intellect, but because they used the latent
(1
st
word) ______________ (2
nd
word) _______ (3
rd
word) _________ to drive themselves up to the top.
The 3 words that belong in the underlined spaces are:
POWER OF OTHERS
DESIRE FOR MONEY
POWER WITHIN THEM

15. W. Clement Stone is best known for his deep belief in the power of a (1
st
word) __________________
(2
nd
word) _____________ (3
rd
word) _______________ a way of life built on daily planning, seeing fail-
ure as a rung on your ladder to success, finding your burning desire in life, controlling your environment
and, most of all, pursuing your dreams with gusto!! The 3 words that belong in the underlined spaces are:
PLAY-TOUGH MENTAL ATTITUDE
POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE
HOPEFUL MENTAL ATTITUDE

16. In a summary of his philosophy of life, W. Clement Stone has said, (1
st
word) _________________ is a
(2
nd
word) ______________ (3
rd
word) ___________________ , a rung on the ladder, a plateau at which to
get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again. The word that belongs in the 1
st
underlined space is:
SUCCESS
POVERTY
FAILURE


W. Clement Stone Bio-Sketch 6

17. And, in Question #16 on the previous page, the 2 words that belong in the 2
nd
and 3
rd
underlined spaces
are:
LEARNING EXPERIENCE
DREADFUL EXPERIENCE
GREAT EXPERIENCE

18. One of the five summaries of W. Clement Stones philosophy of life presented at the end of the Bio-Sketch
is:
FIND YOUR FINANCIAL BACKING
FIND YOUR BURNING DESIRE
FIND YOUR ACTIVE SUPPORTERS

19. Another of the five summaries of W. Clement Stones philosophy of life presented at the end of the Bio-
Sketch is (1
st
word) ___________ (2
nd
word) _________ (3
rd
word) ______________ (4
th
word) _________
(5
th
word) ____________ !! The 3 words that belong in the 1
st
, 2
nd
, and 3
rd
underlines spaces are:
PURSUE YOUR DREAMS
PURSUE YOUR WEALTH
PURSUE YOUR ENEMIES

20. Finally, in Question #19 above, the 2 words that belong in the 4
th
and 5
th
underlined spaces are:
WITH GUSTO
WITH RUTHLESSNESS
WITH PUNISHMENT















W. Clement Stone Bio-Sketch 7
W. Clement Stone WordSearch Letter Grid
Directions. One at a time, find in the Letter Grid below and then highlight or circle each correct word or
phrase answer to the preceding 20 W. Clement Stone WordSearch Questions. Words and phrases can go
horizontally, vertically, and diagonally in all eight directions.

P O S I T I V E M E N T A L A T T I T U D E L
E P P U R S U E Y O U R D R E A M S L T R C C
N O Z F M E H T N I H T I W R E W O P L R A V
T S N F A K N C W K K W K G R T G K E R L S F
R I O T V I W Z B R T T M K L N M A N G K U R
E T M T J A L W V F L K D R I C R D K Y K A Z
P I S R S T T U L N R F Q K H N D J Y B A L G
R V I Y P U Y T R Y T L N T I P J J M C M T K
E E M L T X G L I E R I X N C R M M T N R Y N
N O I M F I Y H M T H L G F S J R I V Z P I B
E R T C P H C M T T U E B R C B O K T M L N F
U N P J Q H M A P I X D E N V N F T B L C S D
R E O H Z Q C N N P W P E L J F L D M W F U H
S G N Q W K Y K E E A P L A N N I N G P N R X
H A M G P T G R G P T C M G R W N D R N M A N
I T W Z T M I M S P H Y M T P M Y L B B J N D
P I N K M E L W M M H J D D L T D R Z N D C P
T V X D N V E Z R H K J M V P T U V Z Y M E N
B E Y C Z N Z M G P L H P P D L T K K B F K F
T R E F M L P W K X T Y M R F L S V X M Y N R
T L C N O I S I V R I E H T E Z I L A U T C A
C H A N G E Y O U R D E S T I N Y R Z P V D T
G R E R I S E D G N I N R U B R U O Y D N I F
2009 Soulful Crosswords - Prepared for MyGrowthPlan.Org, Inc. by Sandra King Freeman All Rights Reserved
Answers To The 20 W. Clement Stone WordSearch Questions
1. 11.
2. 12.
3. 13.
4. 14.
5. 15.
6. 16.
7. 17.
8. 18.
9. 19.
10. 20.


W. Clement Stone Bio-Sketch 8
Gr ow t h Pl anni ng Bi o-Sk et c h Anal ysi s For m For
W. CLEMENT STONE
W. Cl ement St one w as a busi nessman and c o-c r eat or of t he ac hi evi ng suc c ess
t hr ough a " Posi t i ve Ment al At t i t ude" w ay of l i vi ng.

THE TEN GROWTH PLANNI NG LI FE-SKI LLS
#1
USE
IMPULSE
CONTROL
#2
USE
DECISION-
MAKING
#3
ACHIEVE
STAN-
DARDS
#4
USE
FUTURE-
IMAGING
#5
OPTIMIS-
TIC
MINDSET
#6
HUNGER,
PASSION &
PURPOSE
#7
BUILD
BRAND
IDENTITY
#8
LEARN &
BOUNCE
BACK
#9
USE SUP-
PORT
NETWORK
#10
MAINTAIN
MOMEN-
TUM
Being able
to use
impulse
control &
delayed
gratifica-
tion in our
everyday
life
Being able
to use
Whole-
Mind De-
cision-
Making to
make our
everyday
decisions.
Being able
to set &
achieve
no excuse
high per-
formance
standards
in our
everyday
life.
Being able
to use the
power of
future-
imaging to
pull us into
our de-
sired fu-
ture.
Being able
to develop
and keep
an opti-
mistic &
positive
mindset.
Being able
to use
hunger,
passion, &
a worthy
purpose
as motiva-
tors in our
life.
Being able
to build
and main-
tain our
own brand
identity.
Being able
to learn &
bounce
back from
lifes inevi-
table mis-
takes,
failures &
losses.
Being able
to build
and use a
support
network.
Being able
to main-
tain step-
by-step
momen-
tum to-
ward our
vision and
goals.
PART ONE RELATI NG W. CLEMENT STONES QUOTES TO THE 10 LI FE-SKI LLS
DIRECTIONS: Check (and then discuss) all Life-Skills that are reflected in the following quotes.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. "If you employed study, thinking, and planning time daily,
you could develop and use the power that can change your
destiny. And, keep your mind on your objective, and persist
until you succeed. Study, think and plan."

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2. "There is little difference in people, but that little difference
makes a big difference. The little difference is ATTITUDE ...
and the big difference is whether it is POSITIVE or negative."

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3. "I think there is something more important than believing:
ACTION!! The world is full of dreamers. There aren't enough
who begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision."

PART TWO RELATI NG W. CLEMENT STONES LI FE TO THE 10 LI FE-SKI LLS
DIRECTIONS: For each Bio-Sketch excerpt, check (and discuss) all Life-Skills that relate in any way to that excerpt.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. At age six, William sold newspapers on the street. When
older youth drove him away from the busiest corners, he
moved his sales to restaurants. At first, restaurant managers
didnt want him there, but he won them over with his polite-
ness, charm, and persistence.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2. At age 16, William helped his mother at an insurance com-
pany she'd opened. Building on his childhood newspaper
building success, he began successfully selling insurance
policies in business offices many stories tall.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3. By age 28, Stone had started the Combined Insurance
Company of America. Soon, he had over 1000 agents sell-
ing insurance for him across the United States.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4. W. Clement Stone is best known for his deep belief in the
power of a positive mental attitude -- a way of life built on
daily planning, seeing failure as a rung on your ladder to
success, finding your burning desire, controlling your envi-
ronment ... and pursuing your dreams with gusto!!

PART THREE APPLYI NG W. CLEMENT STONES LI FE & I DEAS TO MY OWN LI FE
DIRECTIONS: Identify (and discuss) 3 things from W. Clement Stones life or ideas that you will apply to your life.
1

2

3