It had been a bad week for the young president of a struggling company. His largest vendor had refused to ship critical supplies unless a past due invoice was paid. His company didn’t have the money for the invoice or the next week’s payroll. Looking at the problems his board of directors voted to dissolve the company. Then he read five sentences that changed the future for his company and it’s employees, as well as his life forever.
(Average reading time 120 seconds)
The vote by the board was a blow. He was also discouraged, but saw a potentially important ray of hope. The results from a newly tested sales training process looked good. It could turn things around. But he stood alone.
Disheartened he decided to spend the weekend at his father’s rustic mountain cabin. When he arrived a family project awaited him, varnishing the wood floors. Not exactly what he had in mind. Unenthusiastically he spread the newspaper, put his can of varnish down and began to distractedly stroke away. His thoughts raced on the events of the week and what they meant for the future.
The repetitive work and the fumes soon slowed down his brain. His eyes aimlessly drifted to the varnish stained newspaper. There in large old English print, arranged like a poem and taking up the entire page were 5 sentences that changed his life.
His thoughts became resolve. The next week he firmly told his supplier they would never get paid if they cut him off now; there was no money. However, he had customer orders. With their next shipment he could fill them and generate the cash to pay the outstanding invoice. They agreed. With the commitment to ship from his suppliers, he went to the board – agreed to work unpaid until cash flow improved and they agreed to rescind their decision to dissolve. He put everybody available on collecting outstanding receivables.
The company shipped the orders, met payroll, paid the supplier and implemented the new sales and training system. Within a year it was profitable…within three it was a leader in its industry, and over the next 20 years created substantial returns for its investors and hundreds of new job opportunities for its employees. Here is the message that turned things around.
Press On
NOTHING IN THE WORLD CAN
TAKE THE PLACE OF PERSIS-
TENCE. TALENT WILL NOT;
NOTHING IS MORE COMMON
THAN UN-SUCCESSUL MEN
WITH TALENT. GENIUS WILL
NOT; UNREWARDED GENIUS
IS ALMOST A PROVERB ♠
EDUCATION ALONE WILL NOT;
THE WORLD IS FILLED WITH ED-
UCATED DERELICTS. PERS-
ISTNECE AND DETERMINATION
ALONE ARE OMNIPOTENT.
Other than these words, the only other thing on the newspaper page was a very small double arch, centered at the bottom. For some reason McDonalds had taken out a full page add to convey these thoughts – and they lay spread out on the floor when he needed them the most.
Thirty years ago I was that young man. Since then I’ve never met anyone whose life did not have it’s share of obstacles. Our careers, our most important relationships, our physical health, all present us with occasional barriers to creating the value and balance we want. But as you know, most of life’s greatest joys result from finding a way to go over, around or through them.
If you have children you know the multitude of obstacles that challenge you in trying to be the best parent you can be…but what a reward. As the child, often our parents seem to be the obstacle. And what of our personal dreams and ambitions – are there roadblocks? A bundle. What to do?
Well certainly you have to be realistic. There has to be hope and a plan.
But if that relationship is important, if the dream makes your heart stir, if the pursuit gives life meaning, then Press On.
Today that stained piece of newspaper hangs framed in my office. It’s a reminder that starts my everyday and helps me through my toughest challenges. At the right time in your life it may also be helpful for you to recall that…
Persistence and Determination Alone are Omnipotent
Quotes
“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.”
“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take you to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”
“The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.”
Earl Nightingale (1921-1989)
As a Depression-era child, Earl Nightingale was hungry for knowledge. As a young boy, he would frequent the library searching for the answer to the question, “How can a person, starting from scratch, who has no particular advantage in the world, reach the goals that he feels are important to him, and by so doing, make a major contribution to others?” His desire to find an answer, coupled with his natural curiosity about the world and its workings spurred him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on success and what makes people successful.
Good Habits are Hard to Break
Just like bad habits, good habits are also hard to break. To make something a habit, you just have to focus on doing it for 30 days, and then it will be hard for you not to do. So RIGHT NOW, pick the one thing you think will improve your life most dramatically. Exercise, eat right, more Play time, start back that hobby you love, read more to improve your professional skills. Now, write a reminder to do it in your planner every other day for the next 30 days. Even though you may want to do it everyday, we recommend you write it on every other day. This prevents it from looking like print on the page that your mind just overlooks. Seeing it should be an “ah-hah” reinforcer, Think this is a good idea? Do you want to improve your life with a good habit? Then write the reminders in your planner RIGHT NOW – and it will happen.