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VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1, OCTOBER/1985
THEME: SUCCESS
SUCCESS: n. 1: outcome, result; 2: degree or measure of succeeding; 3: favorable termination of a venture; 4: one that succeeds.
THE HIGH (AND THE LOW) OF SUCCESS Success can sometimes dazzle you in the achieving, but there's usually someone around to help you keep your perspective. Television anchorman Tom Brokaw has a story about that:
Brokaw was wandering through Bloomingdale's in New York one day, shortly after he was promoted to co-host of the Today Show. The Today Show was a pinnacle of success for Brokaw after years of work, first in Omaha then for NBC in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and he was feeling good about himself. He noticed a man watching him, and finally, when the man approached him, Brokaw was sure he was about to reap the first fruits of being a New York television celebrity.
The man pointed his finger and said, "Tom Brokaw, right?" "Right," said Brokaw. "You used to do the morning news on KMTV in Omaha, right?" "Right," said Brokaw, with anticipation of the recognition to come. "I knew it," the fellow said. Then, after a pause, "Whatever happened to you, anyway?'
Soundings
LET 'EM KNOW YOU'VE MADE IT BIG I love the story of the man who was very insecure. One day he was promoted from major to colonel and was ushered into his new office. He looked proudly at his new surroundings and sat in the chair. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. He said, "Come in." In walked a corporal. The colonel said, "Just a minute, I have to finish this phone call." He picked up the receiver, pushed the button, and said, "I'm sorry about the interruption, General. Now, where were we? Oh, yes sir, I will take care of it. It's true we are close friends. Yes, I'll call the President immediately after I finish talking with you, General. You're welcome, sir." The colonel ceremoniously put the phone down, turned to the corporal, and asked, "What can I do for you?" He answered, "Well, sir, I just came in to connect your telephone."
Be An Extraordinary Person In An Ordinary World
Success is not permanent----------- but neither is failure.
Bits
&
Pieces
No horse gets anywhere 'til he is harnessed. No steam or gas ever drives
anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power
until it is tunnelled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated,
and disciplined. Harry Emerson Fosdick
The price of greatness is responsibility.
Sir Winston Churchill
THE MORAL OF THE STORY: SUCCESS OCTOBER 1985 - PAGE 2
TAKE TIME TO SUCCEED About 20 years ago, a creative team was assigned the job of developing a commercial that featured the reliability of the Volkswagen Beetle under winter driving conditions. They had two months to create and produce the commercial before it was to go on the air.
The writer and art director wrestled with the problem for two weeks, writing concepts on large sheets of layout paper and tacking them on the walls of their offices.
Finally they hit upon the idea of using a snowplow operator as a spokesman for Volkswagen. They developed this idea further, tacked more sheets on the wall until finally, after another week of work, one of them asked a simple question: "How does the snowplow driver get to his snowplow?"
A great commercial was born at that moment. It was born in a flash of inspi
ration. But would it ever have been conceived without those three weeks of
thinking? Malcolm McDougall in Advertising Age
He was born in Columbus, Ohio, 1890, the third of eight children. At eleven he quit school to help with the family expenses, and got his first full-time job at $3.50 per week. At fifteen he got interested in automobiles and went to work in a garage at $4.50 per week. He knew he would never get anywhere without more schooling, so he subscribed to a correspondence home study course on automobiles. Night after night, following long days at the garage, he worked on the kitchen table by the light of a kerosene lamp.
His next step was already planned in his mind - a job with the Frayer-Miller automobile company of Columbus. One day, when he felt ready, he walked into the plant. Lee Frayer was bent over the hood of a car. The boy waited. Finally, Frayer noticed him. "Well," he said, "What do you want?1
"I just thought I'd tell you I'm coming to work here tomorrow," the boy replied. "Oh! Who hired you?" asked Frayer. "Nobody yet, but I'll be on the job in the morning. If I'm not worth anything, you can fire me," the boy answered.
Early the next morning the young man returned to the garage. Frayer was
not there yet. Noticing that the floor was thick with metal shavings and accu
mulated dirt and grease, the boy got a broom and shovel and set to work
cleaning the place. The rest of the boy's future was predictable. He went
on to a national reputation as a racing car driver and automotive expert. In
World War I he was America's leading flying ace. Later he founded Eastern
Airlines. His name? Eddie Rickenbacker. Retold in Bits & Pieces
Eliot Ford in Dayton ran a newspaper ad showing a new Ford with this headline: "Would you pay $102,000 for this car?" The copy stated: "This car actually sells for $6,000. The student who drops out of school to go to work just so he can drive tough wheels like this, stands to lose the $96,000 difference in potential earnings. So stay in school. We can wait."
Sales Talk
The secret to success is to do the common things uncommonly well.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY: SUCCESS OCTOBER 1985 - PAGE 3
FAITHFULNESS VS. SUCCESS A frequent statement by those defending non-
growth is "God called us to be faithful, not successful." 1 Corinthians 4:2 is often used to back this up: "Moreover it is required in stewards that one be faithful." I have never been able to comprehend setting faithfulness over against stewardship, however. It seems to me that biblically they go together. One of Jesus' central teachings of stewardship is His parable of talents. In it He describes a scene from the commercial world where the master gives three servants $1,000, $2,000 and $5,000 respectively (to substitute modern currency figures).
The goal for each is to make more money. The one with $2,000 brings back $4,000 and the one with $5,000 brings back $10,000. What does the master say to each? "Well done, good and faithful servant." They were faithful because they were successful in taking the master's resources and using them for the master's purpose. The unfaithful servant did not accomplish the master's goal, or in other words he as unsuccessful.
Peter Wagner in Leading Your Church to Growth
WORK EVERY DAY Don't wait for the inspired moments: work every day
or you may miss them. Little by little you may find that your best work in a sense creates itself, your hands functioning almost without conscious control. You may come to wonder how much is really yours and how much mysteriously part of some universal force.
William Wheeler in Bits & Pieces
HOW MANY TRIES WILL YOU MAKE? Abraham Lincoln's life is an example of what it takes to be successful: 1831-failed in business; 1832- defeated for legislature; 1833-failed in business again; 1834-elected to legislature; 1835-sweetheart died; 1836-had nervous breakdown; 1838-defeated for speaker; 1840-defeated for elector; 1843-defeated for Congress; 1846-elected to Congress; 1848-defeated for Congress; 1855-defeated for Senate; 1856-defeated for Vice-President; 1858-defeated for Senate; 1860.. .ELECTED PRESIDENT.
Signs of the Times
THE FORMULA FOR SUCCESS "If [a] is success in life, the formula is [a] =
[x] + [y] + [z], [x] being work and [y] being play." "And what is [z]?"
he was asked. "[z]," he said, "is keeping your mouth shut."
Albert Einstein
THE WISDOM OF SUCCESS "Integrity and wisdom are essential to success in
every business," said the boss to a new employee. "By integrity I mean that
when you promise a customer something, you must keep that promise even if
you lose money."
"And what is meant by wisdom?" asked the new man.
"Don't make such fool promises."
The Complete Toastmaster
There are but two ways of rising in the world: either by one's own industry,
or profiting by the foolishness of others. La Bruyere
THE MORAL OF THE STORY: SUCCESS OCTOBER 1985 - PAGE 4
HOW TO SUCCEED Assume that obstructions can be broken down. Assume
that problems can be solved. Assume that laws can be changed. Here's a story about achieving success through assumption:
Dr. William Brashears, of Fullerton, California, decided to build a beautiful shopping center over a strategic ten-acre parcel of land. This choice location was at a major crossroads. It was odd that no one had developed it before this time, for it was a commercial "natural." Investigation revealed the reason. A county flood control channel was planned to cut through its center. The law prohibited building over a flood control channel.
"Why not?" Bill asked. "Why couldn't a large underground tunnel be built to handle the water flow? With Modern construction methods you could safely build over it. "
He believed. He crusaded. He won! The law changed. The Brashears Center today features a glistening twelve-story structure. Flowing harmlessly beneath it, inside a reinforced concrete tunnel, is the flood control channel.
Assume also that various details and difficulties can be handled by experts-financial, technical, political, legal or psychological. Assume that in this vast world there's someone, somewhere, with the brains to help you succeed. Assume that you can enlist that help.
Robert Schuller in You Can Become the Person You Want to Be
SUCCESSFUL SELLING I tell salespeople: "You are not unique when you get
rejected. Being rejected is something you haven't invented. It doesn't happen just to you alone." When I first went to New York, I won the first audition. I figured that I've got this place in my pocket. But I lost the next thirty. That got me straightened out.
In selling, you know that you're going to be rejected or turned down; that's the nature of the beast. It's a built-in part, it comes with the territory. You can't be a salesperson without failing. I guess everybody finds their own way of overcoming it. For me, it was perseverence, pressing on, discipline. It's knowing that sooner or later you'll get back on track.
Ed McMahon in Personal Power
THE MORAL OF THE STORY: SUCCESS OCTOBER 1985 - PAGE 5
SUCCESS CAN BE SMALL Most of us miss out on life's big prizes. The
Pulitzer. The Nobel The Oscars. Tonys. Emmys. But we're eligible for life's small pleasures. A pat on the back. A kiss behind the ear. A four pound bass. A full moon. An empty parking place. A crackling fire. A great meal. A glorious sunset. Hot soup. Cold lemonade.
Don't fret about copping life's grand awards. Enjoy its tiny delights. There
are plenty for all of us. United Technologies Corporation
LOOK AT THE GOAL BEFORE YOU START In a little country community, a farmer had a dog who spent part of his time sitting by the side of a main traveled highway waiting for big trucks. When the dog saw a large truck coming around the corner, he would get ready and as it passed him, he would take out after it down the road, barking and doing his best to overtake it. One day the farmer's neighbor said, "Sam, do you think that hound of yours is ever going to catch a truck?"
"Well, Bill," Sam replied, "That isn't what worries me. What worries me is what he would do if he caught one."
Many of us in life are like that hound. We give our lives to pursuing goals that would have little value if we did succeed in reaching them.
Herbert Prochnow in The Complete Toastmaster
NINE ESSENTIALS FOR A SUCCESSFUL LIFE Health enough to make work a
pleasure. Wealth enough to support your needs. Strength to battle with dif
ficulties and overcome them. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake
them. Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished. Charity enough
to see some good in your neighbor. Love enough to move you to be useful
and helpful to others. Faith enough to make real the things of God. Hope
enough to remove all fears of the future. Goethe
Success is, an amazing amount of the time, a positive manipulation of failure.
Bits & Pieces
PICK A GOOD TEAM The most successful executives carefully select under-
studies. They don't strive to do everything themselves. They train and trust
others. This leaves them foot-free, mind-free, with time to think. They
have time to receive important callers, to pay worthwhile visits. They have
time for their families. No matter how able, any employer or executive who
insists on running a one-man enterprise courts unhappy circumstances when his
powers dwindle. B. C. Forbes
It is not in the least likely that any life has ever been lived which was not a failure in the secret judgement of the person who lived it.
Mark Twain
LET GOD JUDGE SUCCESS Whether a man lives or dies in vain can be mea-
sured only by the way he faces his own problems, by the success or failure
of the inner conflict within his own soul. And of this no one may know save
God. James Conant
THE MORAL OF THE STORY: SUCCESS OCTOBER 1985 - PAGE 6
HOW TO SUCCEED FOR GRADUATES: Seven points that Win Borden collected from successful journalists, businessmen and a congressman:
First, in terms of your professional life, get ready for some fun: The working world is not just cold, dry drudgery. The adventures you have, the success you achieve as you take your place in your chosen profession, will hopefully result in an enjoyment of life which is now difficult to imagine. In other words, the good times aren't over. The really good times are, for you, just beginning.
Second, get ready to work harder than you've ever worked before. Third, demand the best from yourself, because others will demand the best from you.
Some years ago, Winston Lloyd, who later became one of America's top foreign policy experts, began his career as an aide to then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Lloyd relates the story of his first encounter with Kissinger. He presented the secretary with a long awaited report on conflicts in South America. Without even glancing at the report, which LLoyd was holding out to him, Kissinger asked, "Is this the very best you can do?" Lloyd stammered a bit, and said there were a few informational gaps. "Take it back," was all that Kissinger said, and dismissed him. Two weeks later, after working night and day, Lloyd again entered Kissinger's office and held out the report. "Is this the very best you can do?" asked Kissinger without looking at the document. Lloyd hesitated and admitted that some sections could be more complete. Kissinger angrily ordered him to take it back. Three weeks later, Lloyd asked for another meeting. Again, Kissinger asked, "Is this the very best you can do?" And Lloyd replied, "Mr. Secretary, it's my best effort." Kissinger smiled and said, "That's all I ever ask. I'll be happy to read your report.
Successful people don't simply give a project hard work. They give it their very best work.
Fourth, don't be afraid to make mistakes or experience set-backs: successful people often make a lot of mistakes. But they also learn enough, from one mistake to another, to develop good instincts about when to pursue an idea and when to let it go.
Fifth, be happy at what you do: successful people are people who enjoy their work. Few people succeed at something they hate.
Sixth, don't get too comfortable: the great baseball pitcher, Satchell Page, had several rules for life. His most famous one, "Don't look back. Something may be gaining on you." He was right. Something is almost always gaining on you. When a job stops challenging you, perhaps you should consider looking for another one. As long as a job challenges you, you'd better be anxious to meet those challenges. It's a cinch that someone else is waiting in the wings to do it if you don't.
Seventh, don't be afraid to take risks. Hardly anyone succeeds without them: if you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right, you'll probably never do much of anything. Taking a risk is not necessarily the same as being reckless—although the two are often confused. Robert Kennedy probably put it more sensibly. "Only those who dare to fail greatly ever succeed greatly."
VITAL SPEECHES.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY: SUCCESS OCTOBER 1985 - PAGE 7
FAITH TURNS THE TIDE: An interesting illustration of this fact was described some years ago by Hugh Fullerton, a famous sports writer of a bygone era. As a boy, Hugh Fullerton was my favorite writer of sports stories. One story which I have never forgotten concerned Josh O'Reilly, one-time manager of the San Antonio Club of the Texas league. O'Reilly had a roster of great players, seven of whom had been hitting over three hundred, and everybody thought his team would easily take the championship. But the club fell into a slump and lost seventeen of the first twenty games. The players simply couldn't hit anything, and each began to accuse the other of being a "jinx" to the team.
Playing the Dallas Club, a rather poor team that year, only one San Antonio player got a hit, and that, strangely enough, was the pitcher. O'Reilly's team was badly beaten that day. In the clubhouse after the game the players were a disconsolate lot. Josh O'Reilly knew that he had an aggregation of stars and he realized that their trouble was simply that they were thinking wrong. They didn't expect to get a hit. They didn't expect to win. They expected to be defeated. They were thinking not victory but defeat. Their mental pattern was not one of expectation but of doubt. This negative mental process inhibited them, froze their muscles, threw them off their timing, and there was no free flow of easy power through the team.
It so happened that a preacher named Schlater was popular in that neighborhood at that time. He claimed to be a faith healer and apparently was getting some astounding results. Throngs crowded to hear him and most everybody had confidence in him. Perhaps the fact that they did believe in his power enabled Schlater to achieve results.
O'Reilly asked each player to lend him his two best bats. Then he asked the members of the team to stay in the clubhouse until he returned. He put the bats in a wheelbarrrow and went off with them. He was gone an hour. He returned jubilantly to tell the players that Schlater, the preacher, had blessed the bats and that these bats now contained a power that could not be overcome. The players were astounded and delighted.
The next day they overwhelmed Dallas, getting 37 base hits and 20 runs. They hammered their way through the league to a championship, and Hugh Fullerton said that for years in the Southwest a player would pay a large sum for a "Schlater bat."
Regardless of Schlater's personal power, the fact remains that something tre
mendous happened in the minds of those ballplayers. Their thought pattern was
changed. They began thinking in terms of expectation, not of doubt. They ex
pected not the worst, but the best. They expected hits, runs, victories, and
they got them. They had the power to get what they wanted. There was no
difference in the bats themselves, I am quite sure of that, but there was certainly
a difference in the minds of the men who used them. Now they knew they could
make hits. Now they knew they could get runs. Now they knew they could win.
A new thought pattern changed the minds of those men so that the creative power
of faith could operate.
FAITH AND SUCCESS.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY (Registered) is published monthly by the Anchor
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THE MORAL OF THE STORY: SUCCESS OCTOBER 1985 - PAGE 8
SUCCESS BIBLIOGRAPHY: These are "hands-on" resources for successful living.
Two ministers we know have preached through the chapters of Dennis Waitley's
Seeds of Greatness by discovering appropriate scripture and adopting Waitley's
examples as they fit in the outline. Dr. Waitley's subtitle for Seeds of
Greatness is: "The Ten Best Kept Secrets of Success." For pastors who'd like to try, here are some titles, scripture references and themes:
SELF ESTEEM: Genesis 1: 26-31; Acts 17: 24-28. Theme: God made man and woman to be like Him and it was excellent in every way. CREATIVITY: Proverbs 23: 4-8; 1 Timothy 6: 3-10. Theme: From Proverbs: " . . for as he thinketh in his heart . . . SO IS HE" . . . unlocks the door to use one's God given talent. RESPONSIBILIIY: Job 13: 7-9; Galatians 6: 7-10. Theme; Whatever is sown is reaped, so plant good seeds.
Good luck — please write and tell us of other creative preaching series. If we use yours you'll receive six extra months of the Moral of the Story . FREE!
Thanks to Reverend Vic Folkert, New Life Community Church, Gladstone, Missouri, for the idea.
INDEX OF BOOKS
1. The Success System That Never Fails, W. Clement Stone. Prentice-Hall
2. Psycho-Cybernetics, Maxwell Maltz. Prentice-Hall
3. Expect to Win, Bill Glass. Word Books
4. Live for Success, John T. Malloy. Perigard Press/ Morrow Publishing
5. See You at the Top, Zig Zieglar. Pelican Books
6. Seeds of Greatness, Dennis Waitley. Revell Publishing.
7. Positive Imaging, Norman Vincent Peale. Revell Publishing
8. In Search of Excellence, Thomas J. Peters and Robert Waterman, Jr.
Warner Books
The Moral of the Story is designed to help pastors, speakers and teachers illustrate their work. It is a source for ideas and a resource to continue the search for excellence in our line of work. At Anchor Press, we are praying for your success . . . all of you who've joined us from Maine to Hawaii. May God bless you.
Stuart Clark Gail Lee
Publisher Editor