Four short words sum up what has lifted every successful individual above the crowd: a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more!
My parents lived through the Great Depression and it is their generation that sacrificed so much. My father, being of this generation, had a true appreciation of thrift. But far beyond thrift was a philosophy of giving. He would often tell the story of the shopkeeper during the Great Depression. This shopkeeper was different than all the other shopkeepers in town. When you came into his shop to buy five pounds of coffee beans, he would take his marvelous scale out and a five-pound weight on one side, and the empty container on the other. Then, he would ceremoniously put the scoop into the bag of freshly roasted coffee beans, scooping and scooping until the once empty container was perfectly balanced with the five-pound weight. The shopkeeper would then pause – and wink – and dip the scoop into the bag of beans one more time. With a smile, he would empty the extra scoop of coffee beans on top of what he had carefully measured, overflowing the container and tipping the scales in favor of you, the customer. As he smiled and winked, he would say “Lagniappe,” which in French Creole means: “every bit you paid, and then just a little bit extra.” It was obviously this little bit extra which had created, built and successfully retained the business other shops lost during that difficult time in our nation’s history. Giving that little bit extra, going the extra mile, making that final effort – those are the things that pay dividends, that bring success.
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Humanity is much like a whole: the more you take away from a person the bigger they become. Greatness is always in terms of giving, not getting.
He was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1932, and was adopted shortly thereafter. His family moved often and, at age 12, he got his first job, in a Knoxville, Tennessee restaurant. At age 15, he was working as a busboy in a Fort Wayne, Indiana restaurant when his family decided to move again. Instead, he dropped out of high school to work full-time at the restaurant. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he went to work for Kentucky Fried Chicken in Columbus, Ohio, but later quit in order to pursue his dream of owning a hamburger restaurant. In 1969, the dream became reality when high school dropout Dave Thomas opened his first Wendy’s Restaurant, named after his young daughter. Under his leadership, Wendy’s grew to become the nation’s third-largest fast-food chain specializing in burgers. At the time of his death in 2002, the number of Wendy’s Restaurants had grown to more than 6,000. Dave Thomas was a highly successful businessman, and a generous one as well. As a child, he spent several summers with his grandmother, who instilled in him the importance of always giving something back. During his career, he donated millions of dollars to various causes, including children’s homes, hospitals and various charitable organizations. He lived the giving back lessons of his grandmother, saying: “Giving back doesn’t simply mean giving money to charities. It also leans giving your time or sharing your special skills.” Adoption causes were always close to his heart and, in 1992, he launched the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which continues to place thousands of children with adoptive parents. His generous spirit lives on, a glowing example of these words of 19TH century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Lives of great men all remind us, We can make our lives sublime. And departing, leave behind us, Footprints in the sands of time. Always remember there are two types of people in the world. Those who come into a room and say, “Well, here I am!” and those who come into a room and say, “Ah, there you are!”
In 1865, an itinerant preacher who had been walking the streets of London for more than a decade held a series of meetings in a tent set up in a London churchyard. This was the beginning of a movement that would spread rapidly, first throughout the British Isles, and on to the U.S., France, India, South Africa, Argentina, Zimbabwe and some two dozen other nations, all by the end of the 19TH century. Today, The Salvation Army is one of the largest and most widely respected charitable organizations in the world. What has been the key to its enormous and long-lasting success? The answer can be found in a single word, expressed by its founder, General William Booth, more than a century ago. One year, with his troops spread around the world, he wanted to send them a Christmas greeting, encouraging them to continue to serve a hurting world. At the time, the only means of rapid communication was via telegram, an expensive process, with fees based on the number of words used. The general was a practical and frugal man, and found a single word to convey his message. A single word – but it spoke volumes. His telegram read, simply: “Others.” However we define it, becoming successful is rarely, if ever, an individual achievement. As George Matthew Adams, an American author and columnist of a century ago, reminded us: “There is no such thing as a self-made person. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and our thoughts, as well as our success.” You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all aid one another, everyone wins.
In 1913, James Cleveland Owens was born into a sharecropper’s family in Alabama, and moved to Ohio when he was nine. Asked at school for his name, he gave his initials, J.C, which the teacher misunderstood as Jesse. And it was as Jesse Owens he became a world-famous athlete in track, winning four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics and setting numerous world records during his career. In his later years, Owens spoke to young students, encouraging them as he had been encouraged as a boy. “The top athletes, “he once stated, “can keep the young interested and out of trouble. They can inspire them, just as I was inspired by athletes when I was younger.” One athlete Owens credited for encouraging him was Charlie Paddock, who had won several medals in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. Later, Paddock spoke at Jesse’s school, and the young boy was spellbound. “You can be somebody,” Paddock informed his audience. “You can be anything you want to be, if you have a goal and will work hard and believe and have good moral character.” Years later, Jesse could still quote those words from memory, as a key to the enormous success he would achieve. In 1970, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and, in 1976, President Gerald Ford honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Even after his death in 1980, honors continued. President George H.W. Bush named him a recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal and, in 1996, the Jesse Owens Memorial Park opened in his hometown of Oakville, Alabama. Inscribed on a bronze plaque in the park are these words: “May his light shine forever as a symbol for all who run for the freedom of sport, for the spirit of humanity, for the memory of Jesse Owens.” Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is temporary detour, not a dead-end street.
Augustine’s mom had big dreams for son. “You’re going to be a great writer,” she kept telling him. By age five, he was reading adult books and, while he was in high school, his goal was to attend college and study journalism. Then, when he was 17, his mother died and the dream ended. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying 30 combat missions during World War II. After the war, he tried to find work but, there was not a big demand for bombardiers with a high school education. He married his high school sweetheart and became a life insurance salesman. After work, he began stopping at a bar, for one drink, which soon became many. Then his wife left him, taking their young daughter, and he lost his house and his job. ”I was a drunk,” he said, “a 35 year-old bum, ready to end it all. I had thirty dollars in my pocket, and when I saw a gun in a pawnshop for twenty-dollars, I bought it.” On the way out of town, he stopped at a local library and he began reading a motivational book and was so impressed he contacted the author. Augustine made such an impression over the telephone; he was hired as a salesman. After writing a sales manual, he became the sales manager and later editor of the company’s motivational magazine, where he remained until the first of his eighteen books were published. The long-ago dream of his mother’s finally came true, to a far greater degree than either of them could have imagined. Along the way, he began using a shortened version of his name, or Aug, which, on a whim one day, he decided to spell his name Og. By the time he died in 1996, Og Mandino had become the most widely read inspirational author in the world, with sales of more than fifty million copies of his books in twenty-five languages. For all of us who, at some point in our lives have known disappointment and failure, he left us this advice: “Remind yourself, in the darkest moments, that every failure is only a step toward success.” I have learned success is to be measured not so much by the position I have reached in life but rather by the obstacles I have overcome while trying to succeed.
Born in Maryland to a slave woman early in the 19TH century, Fredrick Bailey never knew his father’s identity. As a baby he was taken from his mother and saw briefly until her death when he was about seven. Even at this age he was forced to work as a slave, suffered frequent beatings and endured long hours without food or sleep. Later, he would write: “I was broken in body, soul and spirit.” The one bright spot in his bleak existence came when his owner’s wife taught him to read and write. This act of kindness would become the catalyst eventually allowing Fredrick to overcome the enormous obstacles placed in his path and bring him success and fame. As a young man, he escaped, and made his way to New York and then to New England. He became active in the abolitionist movement and was encouraged to publicly share the story of his life as a slave. He was a brilliant speaker, and the publication of his autobiography, while still in his thirties, made him world famous. He later spent two years on a lecture tour of Great Britain and Ireland. After returning to the U.S., he met with President Abraham Lincoln to discuss plans to free the slaves. He became a successful newspaper publisher, editor, author and public speaker. In 1880, at the Republican National Convention, he became the first African-American to receive a vote for President of the United States. At the time of his death in 1895, Fredrick, who as a young man had changed his last name to Douglas, had overcome obstacles few of us would ever have to face and became one of the most prominent and successful figures in U.S. and African-American history. The common denominator of success – the secret of success of every person who has ever been successful – lies in the fact they formed the habit of doing activities that failures don’t like to do.
In 1940, the National Association of Life Underwriters held its annual meeting in Philadelphia. At one of the general sessions, the speaker was Albert E.N. Gray, an official of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, who, during a 30-year career with the company, had become known nationally as a writer and speaker on life insurance subjects. As he rose to speak on this long-ago day, it did not occur to Gray his message would become a classic, applicable not only to the members of his profession but to all who would seek success in any endeavor. “Several years ago,” he began, “I was brought face to face with the very disturbing realization that I was trying to supervise and direct the efforts of a large number of people who were trying to achieve success, without knowing myself what the secret of success really is.” So Gray launched what he called a voyage of discovery to learn the secret of success. “It must not only apply,” he stated, “to every definition of success, but since it must apply to everyone to whom it is offered, it must also apply to everyone who has ever been successful. In short, I am looking for the common denominator of success.” After studying the lives of many successful individuals, Gray found this common denominator – forming the habit of doing activities that failures do not like to do. “Every single qualification for success,” he insisted, “is acquired through habit. People form habits and habits form futures.” Nearly two centuries ago, American theologian Nathanael Emmons commented “Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters.” Those who would become successful, then, will be wise to chose those servants who will assist them in reaching their goals. Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant and prove you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then... life will become a beautiful success!
Time! Over the course of history, it has been defined or described in more ways than there are hours in a month (700+) or minutes in a day (1,440). Observations about time include the comical, the cynical and the serious. Novelist Faith Baldwin called time “a dressmaker specializing in alterations,” while author Lucille S. Harper described time as “a great healer but a poor beautician.” Screenwriter and playwright Ben Hecht saw time as “a circus, always packing up and moving away.” To business executive Franklin P. Jones: “time is a versatile performer. It flies, marches on, heals all wounds, runs out and will tell.” Others have taken a more serious view, calling time: “the life of the soul” (Longfellow); “the coin of your life” (Sandburg); the only capital that any human being has” (Edison); and “the stuff life is made of” (Benjamin Franklin). Making the best of one’s time is a key ingredient in the formula for success. The late Peter F. Drucker, often called “the father of modern management,” was a leading exponent of the importance of time management, emphasizing it often in many of his 39 books and countless newspaper and journal articles. “Time,” Drucker wrote, “is always in short supply. There is no substitute for time. Everything requires time. It is the only truly universal condition. All work takes place in and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable and necessary resource.” Drucker, well up into his nineties, consulted with many Fortune 500 companies and many of the world’s best known business leaders. His admonition to them is the same as it is for all who would achieve success today: “Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed.” Enthusiasm is the most powerful engine of success. When you do something, do it with all your might. Put your soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your objective. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Gordon Parks was a remarkable man, who accomplished much in his lifetime, despite a start that seemed bleak – at best. He was born in 1912, the youngest of 15 children in a poverty stricken Kansas family. After his mother’s death when he was 15, he dropped out of school and left home, supporting himself as a busboy, waiter, semi-pro basketball player, self-taught piano player and big band singer. But, before her death, his mother had planted a seed in Gordon that would later bear fruit. “She would not allow me to complain,” he said, “about not accomplishing something because I was black. Her attitude was: ‘If a white boy can do it, then you can do it, too and do it better.’” While in his twenties, he became interested in photography, and purchased a pawnshop camera for $12.50. This marked the start of a distinguished career, including 20 years as a photographer for Life magazine. However, Park’s interest extended well beyond photography. He wrote poetry and several books, composed a piano concerto and the music for a ballet. He went on to become the first African-American to direct a Hollywood movie, and his film, Shaft, received an Academy Award. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan presented him with the National Medal of Arts in honor of his life of achievements. Gordon Parks died in 2006 at the age of 93, a onetime high school dropout, who had received more than 40 honorary degrees. What was the secret of his remarkable success? It can be described in a single word – enthusiasm. “Enthusiasm,” he wrote, “is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit. Enthusiasm is natural; it is being alive, taking the initiative, seeing the importance of what you do, giving it dignity and making what you do important to yourself and others.” No one ever got into trouble listening. This is the safest action one can do in life. If you listen to people and you pay attention to them, then you are bound to learn.
The late Steve Allen, who launched The Tonight Show in 1954, enjoyed involving his audiences in his shows. Often, he would leave the stage and whisper a brief statement to someone sitting in an aisle seat, and ask that person to whisper it to the next person, with the process continuing across the row. The person in the last seat was asked to repeat the statement aloud. At the same time, the original statement was flashed on the screen. Invariably, there was great disparity, leading to much laughter. However, the sobering point it made, again and again, is that we are a nation of non-listeners. In the 1980s, a California based consultant named Ben Joyce had enough. “Listening,” he said, “is a skill having a dreadfully limited number of truly effective practitioners. We are not taught to listen in school, at home or at work. On the contrary, we learn the communications process from authority figures whose specialty seems to be talking. Joyce decided to do something; designing a device he called The Listening Stick. The small wooden stick was imprinted on one side with the words: “Please, will you listen to me?” On the reverse side were the words: “Thank You.” Accompanying it was a detailed instruction brochure, called An Operator’s Manual and a business-card size Quick Use Guide. The plan was to politely hand the stick to so-called listeners, who had the attention span of a flashbulb or listened with a stop watch or quickly took over the speaking role. Sadly, Joyce’s noble experiment had limited success, and we continue to be mostly non-listeners, despite the many advantages accrued to those who have developed strong listening skills. As the late Bernard M. Baruch, and American financier and presidential advisor, noted: “All of the successful people I have known are those who do more listening than talking.” |
AuthorMusings from Gammon Irons. To desire and strive to be of some service to the world, to aim at doing something which shall really increase the happiness and welfare and virtue of mankind - this is a choice which is possible for us all; and surely a good haven to sail. Archives
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