Unstoppable: 45 Powerful Stories of Perseverance and Triumph from People Just Like You 1570713383, 0760789980268

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f

you're ready to be pennanently

Unstoppable, read, absorb and use the inspiring

uisdom

in this brilhant

book!

—Mark Victor Hansen. Co-author. New

York Times #1 Best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series

KERSEY

^

Powerful

^M.^3

Stories of

yi

Perseveronce ond

Triumph from

People

^^Unstoppable

wants

to lire

a

is

life

a must-read for anyone who where you grow

until you go.

Just Like

You

— Quincy Jones

What's Stopping You???

mo

you crave more out of

life,

unsure abt)ut how to get

achieve yoin- true heart's desire? think vou do.

about L

it

Do vou

it

takes to

you don't have what

secretly fear

but are

it?

Or

if

you

evervone telhng vou to forget

is

and be reahstic?

iistuppable

is

the

first

step to creating

wanted

the hfe you've always

to live. This

ultimate personal motivator introduces you to -+5 people

from

all

walks of

life

who

will

show you how to between you and

not only inspire you but

overcome any obstacle your goals. These current, real-life role models will show you possibilities for your hfe and give you the coiu-age and inspiration to triumph! Along with its heartwarming and inspiring stories, Lnstoppable gives you a seven-step action plan that features the tools you'll need to create the life

you

deser\'e.

You'll Learn: How

to discover

and purpose

your own imique calling

in life

The

biggest hes that may be stopping you from getting what you want

The best strategies for turning self-doubt mto unstoppable self-confidence Seven proven steps to becoming unstoppable in every area of

life

Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in

2010

http://www.archive.org/details/unstoppable45pow00kers

45 Powerful Stories of Perseverance

and Triumph from People Just Like

You

45 Powerful

Stories

of Perseverance

and Triumph from People Just Like

You

Cynthia Kersey

C^) Sourcebooks, Inc. V*

Naperville, IL

Copyright

©

1998 by Cynthia Kersey 1998 by Sourcebooks,

Cover copyright

©

Inc.

AH

rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems except in the case of without permission in writing from its brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews publisher, Sourcebooks.

—

—

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. required, the services of a

If legal

advice or other expert assistance

is

competent professional person should be sought.

From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

ISBN 1-57071-338-3 Permissions

The author and

publisher gratefully acknowledge the following artists and writers for their permission to reprint their work in this publication. Thanks also go to the individuals profiled

throughout the book for allowing us to share their tremendous

stories.

Your Dream Comes True," by Helen Steiner Rice, used with permission of The Helen Steiner Rice Foundation, Cincinnati, Ohio. Copyright © 1964 The Helen Steiner Rice Foundation All Rights Reserved. Pages 151 and 198 excerpted with permission from the American Academy of Achievement at www.achievement.org. Page 19 cartoon 1991, 1994 Henry Martin. Page 40, 63, 76, 190, 237, 242, 263, 283, 288 cartoons © George Crenshaw.

"Climb

'Til

—

©

©

Page 109 cartoon 1996 by Randy Glasbergen. Andrew Toos. Page 115, 168, 271 cartoons 1987 from Page 122 cartoon by Robert Mankoff

©

©

The New Yorker Magazine,

Inc. All Rights

Reserved.

©

Page 203 cartoon 1994 H.L. Scwadron/Cartoonists &. Writers Syndicate. Page 278 PEANUTS reprinted by permission from United Feature Syndicate, Inc. Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.

PO. Box 372 60566 Phone:(630)961-3900

Naperville, Illinois

Fax: (630) 961-2168

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

This book

is

commitment

dedicated to the unstoppable people to pursuing their passion

and detemiination.

1

admire your

will

a

and unique calling with courage

efforts

encouragement and be a tool that

who have made

and hope

make

this

book

your journey

will provide

easier.

Acknowledgments Unstoppable has taken

more than two years to complete, including endless hours of and compiling information. It has been a true labor of the combined efforts of many people. especially wish to

research, interviews, writing, editing,

of love and the result

1

acknowledge the following:

To my husband, Dave, and

me

tion for giving

son, Benjamin.

Words cannot adequately

my dream and

the freedom to pursue

for

express

my

apprecia-

providing the emotional support

what seemed like a never-ending task. Your love and belief in me is my Without your support and unselfishness, this book would not have been possible.

to persevere through

strength.

To the people who granted interviews and graciously agreed to participate in the book. Many of you have become special friends and all serve as a constant reminder of what is possible for anyone who is committed to being unstoppable. Thank you for sharing your life

stories

To my

and

Mom

To my dear

=^-.#^

'Wmmv^

w z:^

XA

$1

c^S^-

always wanted to be somebody, should have been more specific."

"I

but

"^

I

"Lily

Tomlin

Own

In Their

"Some people bring out the

Words

best in you

might never have fully realized on your own.

in

a way

M7 mom,

that

you

Ruby Lloyd

Wilson, was one of those people.

"Most people months

making her a

old,

While

teen.

money week

I

a

when

mother and a widow at

my

While food was scarce,

time.

would change

night, she sat

my

little

me on

mother's love and devotion

and spoke

her lap

in

life if

the

words

for greatness

you're willing to work hard enough to

it.'

"At fourteen,

I

was

hit

by a car and the doctors said

would never

I

walk again. M^j mother took a leave of absence from her job

my

packing plant and moved into day, she spoke to

me

hospital

room

I

could walk again

enough. She drove that message so deep into

A year later,

believed her.

"When of others.

I

the

"Over

I

returned to school

Great Depression

hit,

my

At

that

moment,

mother's sake, and

the years,

I

I

But

the real turning point occurred

five kids in

.

I

for each child. That

and

1

lost

became

vowed never

on a vacation

was frustrated

tions available for families

family,

me

heart that

her job

Doll's wishes, it

.

no

that

to badly 1

finally

my

I

like millions

school to

left

mission in

to be

life

to

poor again.

experienced varying levels of business success.

and

1951

my

me Every

wanted

if 1

a meat-

at

—walking on my own.

my mom

was seventeen, and against

support the both of us.

succeed for

to care for

in her gentle, loving voice, reassuring

matter what those doctors said,

$2

was nine

I

the age of eigh-

'Kemmons, you are destined

life,

and you can do anything get

father died

on a few pounds of dried butter beans for a

to live

were abundant. Each that

single

M7

was growing up, there were times when we had so

we had

that

at

called her Doll.

and was furious

was

was determined

I

took with

at the second-rate

that they charged

too expensive for the average to offer

them an

unstoppable"

my

wife

accommoda-

alternative.

an extra

American I

told

my

41

.

.

characteristic one

wife that

I

was going

to

open a motel for families with a brand name

people could trust that never charged extra for children.

400 nationwide

motels would be the right

would be within a day's drive of about 150 doubters

who

number

miles.

I

figured about

so that each one

There were plenty of

predicted failure because there wasn't anything remotely

similar to this concept at that time

"Not

among

surprisingly, Doll

the first to pitch in.

designed the

we

room decor for

was one of

my

strongest supporters

She worked behind

the first

hundred

experienced enormous challenges

.

hotels.

the desk

As

in

and

and even

any business,

For years we paid our employees ,

Christmas bonuses with promissory notes because cash was so short.

But with

my

mother's words deeply embedded in

doubted we would prevail. Fifteen years

later,

my

we had

soul,

I

never

the largest hotel

system in the world, with one of the most recognizable names in the business

"You may not have started out

But

if

you can find a mission

yourself, nothing

in

and

it

of circumstances.

worth working for and believe

the

first

Holiday Inn in 1951

into the largest hotel chain in the world.

retired in 1979, the

fifty

42

built

in the best

can stop you from achieving success."

Kemmons Wilson founded he

life

life

company had 1,759

inns in

countries with annual revenues of $1 billion.

Bunstoppable

When

more than

in

.

In Their you can^t

**If

That's the dilemma to

me

about

I

officers

conditions

faced eleven years ago

not responding to

was moved by thing about

1

fixin's to

and we went

the to

in front of houses,

the

drug users and dealers

The problem was

was determined

cleanup

work.

do some-

to

my

effort.

off-

all the

One hundred

We removed abandoned

and painted over every speck of

still

owned

that ours

the streets

was a

arresting the sons, brothers, friends,

clean up. Sparks flew.

"I received threats

on

my

me. People taunted

But

I

wasn't about

his

message was clear

get

hung up on

the people

to

to

went after

community, of the same

I

They

felt

clearly

wanted me out of

a strong calling from God, and

me: 'Stay focused on your purpose and don't

the process.'

would begin

relatives

I

Someone spray -painted

the streets.

stop sign.

to leave.

so

A man was arrested for attempting

life.

me on

,

close-knit

and

me

who were

Wayne Barton on a

there.

M}? heart

their streets.

helping

to kill

help.

we could find.

was

people

'Kill

I

on

with a good old-fashioned cleanup. Working in

weeds

full farce.

I

After looking

neighborhoods. They'd accepted run-down

anyone who would help with

"But

and

.

organized a picnic in the park, offering a barbecue with

cars, pulled

them

of violence

found a community crying out for

circumstances and

ninety people showed up

graffiti

calls

the illegal activity taking place their

turn to?

when a resident complained

them

"I started

hours,

I

lost pride in their

and

Words who can you

call the police,

further into the complaint,

People had

Own

I

was

there to stay

understand what

I

and hoped

was

that over time

really all about.

"The turning point came during a community meeting when anger was high. People were demanding that

named Miss Jackson

stood up and told

mailbox and don't have

to sleep

on

1

leave.

the crowd,

'I

the floor because

unstoppable*

the

Then a woman

can

now

go

to

my

I'm worried about

43

.

.

characteristic one

a stray

bullet hitting

me

in the head.

munity, there was no peace.' After

own

with their

"With

testimonies.

Until

that,

man came

this

That meeting turned everything around.

the department's support,

kids,

7:00 P.M. every day.

to

we opened a

problem

,

buyers,

tried to find

1

"W^t and

home

who

who wanted

and plenty more.

bottles at the police

,

now

Why? The

If the

planning

community had a

hotline

.

A sense

.

the responsibility for their

payoff was living in a community where

The

children have been able

across challenges

when pursuing a

focused on your purpose and remain determined ,

comes your way.

If you hang

in there,

to deal

goal, stay

with whatever

your sense of purpose

will inspire

together, you'll be unstoppable!"

Wayne Barton

has been a city police officer for sev-

enteen years and has been practicing community policing ten years in Boca Raton, Florida. zine's

He

for

received Parade maga-

1988 Police Officer of the Year Award and the 1990

Jefferson

44

They

of community

for over ten years

"When you come

Officer

their high

the local residents cheered for us

on our new

the children could play outside without fear.

and

earn

a difference a year makes! In time, instead of throwing

role in the change.

others,

to

from 3:00

labs for the

credit counseling,

was being restored and people were accepting

do that

tutored

a cure

tipped us to a violent crime

to

study center for the

opened up computer

and provided

school equivalency certificates,

rocks

We

developed workshops for parents

for first'time

com-

a whole wave of people followed

neighborhood children with three paid teachers

P.M.

to the

Award

for

Outstanding Public Service.

unstoppable

"A

n old

man

Came

going

down a

lone highway

and gray To a chasm vast and deep and wide Through which was flowing a sullen tide. in

The old

the evening cold

man

crossed

in

the twilight dim;

That swollen stream held no fears But

for him;

he turned when safe on the other

side

And

built

'Old

man/

Tou

are wasting your strength with building here;

a bridge to span the a fellow

said

Your journey

will

end

tide.

pilgrim near,

with the ending day;

You never again must pass

way;

this

You have crossed the chasm deep and wide-

Why

build

you

The builder

'Good

this

bridge at the eventide?'

lifted his

friend,

in

old gray head.

the path

'There followeth after

A youth whose This

feet must pass

To that fair-haired youth He, too, must cross friend,

I

have come/ he

am

in

said,

me today

swollen stream which

Good

I

this

way.

was naught

may a

pitfall

to

me

be;

the twilight dim;

building the bridge for him.'"

—Will Allen Dromgoole The Bridge Builder

Your Personal

Action

Igniting Purpose

Plan

Your

in

R

Spirit

urpose can ignite your

ing personal is

why

the

Purpose

is

meaning and deep

—why you the unique

are here gifts

spirit,

satisfaction to your

—and your own

and

insights that

life.

provid-

Purpose

special calling.

you bring to the

planet and can contribute to your world. Purpose fuels your efforts

and gives you the drive to continue, no matter what the

challenges. If

the secret to living a rich, meaningful

life

is

to live in

accordance with your purpose, the obvious question remains.

How do those who don't know their purpose discover it? It's a difficult

but important question, because lasting happiness depends

on your

ability to

answer

it

truthfully.

William Marsten, a prominent psychologist, asked 3,000 people,

"What have you

to live for?"

The

results revealed that

94

percent responded by saying they had no definite purpose for their lives

—94 percent!

not everyone really statement.

It

lives."

has been said that "everyone dies, but Marsten's survey sadly supports that

Too many people

live

47

what Thoreau called

"lives of

characteristic one

quiet desperation"

hoping

are all about,

them

—enduring,

waiting, wondering

in a divinely inspired

become

clear to sur-

without

living,

They watch

ever experiencing the spark of aliveness. quickly pass by and

their lives

moment. Meanwhile, they simply

mechanical motions of

vive, going through the

what

become

their purpose will suddenly

their lives

increasingly fearful that their lives will

end before they experience any true joy or deep sense of purpose.

Have you life?

felt

I

wanted to do with pany and

my

income. But

why

I

that

way

did. For five years

I

my

—that something was missing diligently sought to discover

I

many

job brought

knew

was working

life. I

for a

in your

what

Fortune 500 com-

rewards including a six-figure

my work was,

that as challenging as

it

was not

was put on the planet.

While working evenings

demanding

a

and weekends

to

full-time job,

other

explore

my

used

I

late

opportunities.

I

researched several industries and investigated businesses that

could

I

start.

I

got

my

real estate license,

and exporting, and even helped

wrong with

this picture?

sion-making

My

took courses on importing

"home shop-

a friend launch a

ping" television show selling art

—

efforts

I

just to

name

a few.

were scattered.

criteria for the opportunities

1

I

So what's

had no

deci-

investigated. If

an

opportunity looked interesting and offered strong financial potential,

I

was interested.

It

wasn't until

I

discovered

enced genuine direction in I

finally

had a guideline

activities to pursue

The The

my

my

life.

Once

1

which

it is

interests

and

a process, didn't occur overnight.

process required self-reflection and patience

it

experi-

both personally and professionally.

entire process, and

true purpose,

I

had found my purpose,

to use in evaluating

that are difficult for most of us. But

48

true purpose that

now

—two

qualities

that I've identified

has injected a new-found vitality in

unstoppablea

my

spirit.

my At

purpose ignites the spirit the same time,

it

my

has provided a sense of peace about

and

life

where I'm going.

do the same

Identifying your true purpose can

following exercises were particularly useful to purpose, and

Step

1

I

encourage you to

me

for you!

my

in identifying

them.

try

Discover Your Purpose

:

Action

1

"How

Start by writing

:

Want

I

to

Be Remembered."

which you

List the qualities, deeds, and characteristics for

would

The

like to

be remembered by your friends, spouse, children,

co-workers, the community, and even the world.

If

you have

special relationships with other people or groups, such as a

church or synagogue, club, or team, include them on the too. In the process of writing,

true values

To

believed in him, a partner

what was

vision of

potential. For

my

I

and to

want

who to

to be

always

expand

his

live his life to its ultimate as a

mother

him and helped him

see that

to be

deeply loved and believed in

wanted

loving wife

a

as

life. I

who encouraged him

possible

son,

wrote that

I

uncover your

will begin to

and the sources of meaning in your

give you an example,

remembered by my husband

who

you

list

remembered

there was no limit to what he could contribute, accomplish, and

become friend?

if

he was committed to achieving

Guess what?

I

As I completed

a distinct pattern

ues.

Over and over

to encourage others.

wanted to be remembered

And my

people in

became evident indicating my highest saw that

More

my

purpose,

specifically,

my

best

in a similar way.

this exercise considering other

life,

I

it.

my

val-

driving force, was

my purpose was to encour-

age individuals to become aware of the greater possibilities for their

own

people

is

lives

what

and to take action really excites

to pursue them. Encouraging

me and where my

unstoppablGB

natural

gifts lie.

49

characteristic one

Once my purpose became

clear,

I

chose to write

this

book

my first project. quit my "day" job and wholeheartedly pursued my chosen path with a passion and a joy that had never for

I

1

before experienced in any line of "work." Every project that

now

pursue

is

these projects,

in alignment with I

my

true purpose.

feel alive, invigorated,

As

remembered

makes you

for? will

"the question

the

What do you want

Nonto

be

induce you to renew yourself; the question

see yourself as the person

As you complete emerge and create your your purpose

pursue

I

complete.

According to Peter Drucker (author of Managing profit Organization),

I

you can become."

this exercise, observe the patterns that

own unstoppable calling.

may be your

single

Being clear about

most important accomplishment.

can do in your life is to figure hope for. And the most you can you

"The very least you

out whiat

do

is

live inside

that hope. Not

a distance but

live right in

it,

admire from under its roof." it

—Barbara Kingsolver

Action 2: Hie following chart, provided by authors Mark Victor

Hansen and Jack Canfield

Column

in I

Dare

to

Win,

is

Column

an excellent tool to

II

Column

III

purpose ignites the spirit help you clarify your purpose. To chart, lists

I

have provided a

are by

list

assist

you in completing the

of choices for each column. These

no means complete; the intent

is

to stimulate your

thinking about what matters most to you.

Column I: From the following list, choose the actions that best represent your personal calling and most excite you. Write

those words in the blanks in

Column

I.

Chances

already engaging in these actions naturally.

ACTIONS acknowledge

are

you are

characteristic

ojte

PERSONS, ORGANIZATIONS, abused

AND CAUSES

purpose ignites the spirit

Here are some examples of filled-in

charts:

characteristic

and

Stronger,

o.rt

e

and heals the

healthier, tor purpose ignites the spirit

soul.

"Make no they have no magic to

Make —Daniel

Step

big plans. ..aim high

Once you have

a clearly defined purpose,

and make plans

—

goals

To have purpose

in

life

Do

mean you have

possessions,

unless that's your true desire.

He

great example.

only part oi his

employed

is

much

Officer

on serving Identify-

nity.

Wayne

live

"on purpose"

Barton's story

broader sense of purpose to activities,

make

on and

job, business, or

—your next

up

is

a differ-

community. For example,

for that

—

domestic,

commu-

artistic, business,

step could be to:

committee you've been saying no to

•

Volunteer one day per month to serve someone

•

Mentor

a

a

that purpose.

Whatever your vocation

• Sign

is

off the job,

say your purpose emerges as a desire to serve your

otherwise

54

You can

a mission in

one way you can integrate purpose into your

— through your

let's

and join

to quit your

as a police officer, but his job

ence in his community. His goals and

Action:

to

the goals serve your purpose?

doesn't

no matter what your vocation.

are focused

now know where

and plans that serve your purpose and help

away your material

—

you

Now you can begin to establish goals

evaluated by one criterion only:

life

work."

of greater meaning. Present and future goals should be

life

Calcutta

hope and

Burnham. Chicago Architect and Planner

H.

focus your energies and efforts.

job, give

in

plans;

little

men's blood...

Integrate Purpose into Your Daily Life

2:

create a

stir

new employee

at

work

aunstoppablea

else

or

purpose ignites the spirit •

Become

• Support

a Big Brother or Big Sister

Love

Letters by writing to children with serious

illnesses

• Join Habitat for ily

in

Humanity and help build

a

home

for a

fam-

need

•

Teach someone how

•

Take the extra step "above and beyond" to provide services to

to read

a customer or find a solution to a problem outside your job

description

Commit yourself to Soon, your goals life

will

will reflect

taking action this week.

will start taking

Make

that

phone

call.

shape and every aspect of your

and serve your purpose.

When

that happens, you

have a power to overcome obstacles that you have never

experienced before.

"There

is

no

failure

except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent wealsibilities

:

identih- three activities or

likes,

that are in line with your purpose.

:c:

TV purpose

r

r

.

based on your loves. Based on

activities

::.::

: :i:tnt

or grandparent

5 r come a mentor

r-; 5:

::.z

1

r

:

church or synagogue

rer at a hospital -

;

S~r

reacher

-:..ead support groups at a

-

_

5

3.

-

:

-^unselor

on

a hot line

Aith a niece or

:

n^hew who needs

support

• Write a book r

.

LSitising

clear to

my

me, and probably to you too

activities that =

~: '

:

r.

92

-

natural strengths, likes, and dislikes,

:

after

would iK)t suit me. Becoming

reviewing

it

my

became list,

the

a nun, a trainer inside

— oratioo, or joining the Peace Corps would not be top H .vevCT, donating time to a charit>^ becoming a

unsioppaDiea

passion fuels inexhaustible energy mentor, or writing a book would.

my

Once I went through

the process,

decision was easy.

Imagine

how much

richer your hfe could be

passion into your Ufe and career

choose goals and

on

if

you injected

a day-to-day basis.

activities that align

When

you

with your purpose and sup-

port your natural strengths and loves, passion will automatically follow. You'll begin to

view each day through wide-open eyes

with expectation, wonder, and

filled

joy.

Find what you love and give yourself to

it

completely.

Once

you have, nothing can stop you.

unstoppable*

93

xoPPo ii

Years

wrinkle the skin, but to give

up

entJiusiasm wrinkles the soul"

—Anonymous

BELIEF Sustains the Journey What

drove the individuals in this chapter to pursue their goals

and not quit when everyone

said

it

was impossible?

believed steadfastly in their dreams, even Belief

is

state of

a prerequisite to

They

else did.

becoming unstoppable. With a believing

mind, you can transform your purpose and goals into phys-

Once you

ical realities.

belief,

Belief.

when no one

truly believe

and understand the power of

you can withstand any setback and adjust to every neces-

sary change.

When belief develops

into a conviction,

in your soul

and nothing can destroy

And

a powerful force.

faith

is

The good news

is

is

all that's

Action Plan"

it is

anchored

then belief becomes

you don't have to have

Texas to become unstoppable. tard seed

it,

when

faith.

faith the size of

A kernel of faith as small as a mus-

required. After the stories, "Your Personal

will provide a step-by-step process so

you can devel-

op your own unstoppable belief system. In doing so, you'll leave the critics and obstacles behind and there will be

"I

no

tell

limits to

what you can achieve.

you hove faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

you the

truth,

if

it

—Matthew

17:20

D

Road Warriors of a Different Kind The

Father, the Son,

and

the

Fighting Spirit

I

.t's

wheelchair, competing

impossible.

famously grueling Ironman race.

comes

A

quadriplegic

and even

in marathons, triathlons, It's

again, across the finish line, ahead of half the others in

come

to expect

love.

Rick Hoyt has crossed over 63 1 of those finish last

a

impossible, and yet here he

the race, with that radiant smile spectators have

and

in

in the

twenty years, often in the top

as the winner.

fifty

lines in the

percent, sometimes even

But he never crosses alone. Sometimes in front of

him, sometimes behind,

is

the other half of the Hoyt team, his

father, Dick.

People say what Dick does

man jogging mile

after mile,

is

impossible too

pushing another

Peddling Rick on a bicycle up and

down

—

man

a

in a wheelchair.

unforgiving

Rick two miles or more through the water

as

middle-aged

hills.

Pulling

he swims.

But the Hoyt family has made a habit of doing the impossible.

When

Rick was

Dick and Judy, that

bom

their

in 1962, the doctors told his parents,

newborn son would bring them nothing

97

characteristic three

hut heartache and urged

them

to put

spastic quadriplegic with cerebral

him

palsy,

what the doctors

as a vegetable. That's

in

an institution. As a

Rick would said.

out his

live

life

Never, the doctors

warned, could their son be mainstreamed into society.

The Hoyts to their

home

ignored the experts' advice and brought their son

North Reading, Massachusetts. Dick and Judy

in

were determined to

raise

Back then, experts weren't sure of the live

him

didn't

just like

know

they would any other child.

a lot

about cerebral palsy and

extent of Rick's "disability." Learning to

full

with a child with severe

disabilities

was considered beyond

the capabilities of almost any parent. But the Hoyts weren't typi-

They

cal parents.

out to prove that "disabilities" are merely

set

challenges meant to be overcome, not impassable barriers. Rick's only

or shaking to speak.

it

way

to

communicate was by nodding

his

head yes

no. Speech professionals said he would never be able

The Hoyts

believed otherwise and raised $5,000 that

they donated to Tufts University to help build the

first

interactive

communicator. The device allowed a speechless person to "talk" by scrolling electronically through rows of letters and numbers and

making

selections to form complete messages.

twelve, the

communicator was

When

finally ready for testing.

Rick was

The

engi-

neers from Tufts and the entire Hoyt family excitedly stood around Rick, waiting for his

words. Rick used his head to touch an

first

electronic switch, spelling out

"We

all

had believed

"Go

Bruins!"

laughed," said Dick, "because he confirmed what all

along

—Rick had

a healthy, active

mind

we

— and

a

sense of humor."

Because of Rick's revealed interest in family took

strapping

him

him

to

fishing,

his

Rick's sense of adventure

98

sports,

the entire

canoeing, and even rock climbing,

father's

back.

The

family

witnessed

and challenge and saw a person with a

BunstoppablGB

belief sustains the journey

normal mind, human needs, and hopes who longed to be

The

respected. in enabling

communicator played a key

interactive

role

Rick to express himself and his interests and revealed

his curious, intelligent personality. Yet schools refused to enroll

Rick since he could not walk, feed himself, or talk on his own.

At his

fourteen, because of his increasing ability to "speak" through

communicator and

a

new law mandating

the right of

all

children to attend school, Rick finally gained admittance to high school, where special aides helped

unable to handle himself.

It

him with

was during

this

physical tasks he was

remarkable period of

personal growth that Rick found the catalyst for his incredible athletic career.

In 1977,

when Rick was

sixteen,

he learned of a five-mile

who

road race that would be held to benefit a college student

was injured in an automobile accident. Using his communicator,

Rick told his dad that he wanted to "run"

in the race as his

contribution. Dick's initial reaction was shock. forty, a

guy

who

week

jogs a couple of days a

down, but hardly a seasoned runner.

I

"I

thought, I'm

keep

to

my

weight

was concerned about

how

I

could participate in such a race pushing Rick in his wheelchair.

But

I

knew

it

meant

a lot to

him

so

1

After the race, Dick could hardly

was in agony. But one night

Epsom Dick's

salts. life

Rick came

as

when

move

he soaked

home and

forever: "Dad,

'Okay

said,

we'll try

for

it.'"

two weeks. He

his aching muscles in

typed a message that changed

I'm running,

it

feels like I'm

not

handicapped anymore." Finally Rick had found something that gave him freedom

like

what he had

If

pete,

to do.

nothing

else.

At

wouldn't

so, kill

knew

Rick wanted to become an athlete and com-

Dick would loan him his arms and

But to do

that point, Dick

legs to

make

it

happen.

Dick needed to design a lighter running chair so he himself in the process.

unstoppable*

99

characteristic three

Over the next two

years, while

Dick and an engineer designed

Rick and his father continued training

and

built the special chair,

and

racing locally using the old chair.

When

the

new

ready in September 1979, father and son entered their race, a five-mile race in Springfield, Massachusetts.

One

Marathon

—

of those

races

first official

They

150th out of 300 runners. They ran races in different

weekend.

chair was

finished

every

cities

was the world-famous Boston

a grueling 26.2 miles. Rick

and

his father applied in the

wheelchair division, where paraplegics had been racing on their

own

for years.

But Rick, a quadriplegic who required a racing

part-

was turned down. The Hoyts joined the race anyway, lining up

ner,

behind the wheelchairs. Neither the sponsors nor the organizing

committee would acknowledge their presence, but the spectators along the city streets did and they applauded and cheered them on.

When the Hoyts finished, ners, the

the crowd was jubilant.

Hoyts finished in the top 90 percent;

Out

of 7,400 run-

this race

of many Boston Marathons they would enter and

was the

Ehiring these years. Rick also proved himself to be

more than

just

an unusual

athlete.

He

first

finish.

much

earned a degree in special

education from Boston University, becoming the

first

"nonspeaking"

quadriplegic to graduate from college.

By 1984, Dick had become an accomplished runner and was invited to race in triathlons. Triathlons are the Herculean races

combine long-distance swimming, long-distance

bicycling,

and cross-country running. The organizers wanted Dick

—but only

that

if

he would compete alone.

nizers

made

the same

offer,

He

refused.

The next

year the orga-

but again Dick refused to participate

without his son. Dick told the organizers, "Rick was the one that got

me

into this;

1

have no

desire to

compete alone.

that drives me. Besides, without Rick, to

do with

100

my

I

He

wouldn't even

arms."

unstoppable

is

the one

know what

— belief sustains the journey

Finally,

the race officials approved Rick's participation

Dick could devise

safe,

if

durable equipment that would enable both

mind

of them to compete. Never

know how

that Dick didn't even

to swim and hadn't been on a bicycle since he was

six years old.

After what his son had already accomplished, those seemed like small details to overcome.

Dick started training and devising the equipment that would help

him tow Rick through water and pedal him by

—

that would be

320 pounds moving up and down

ing relentlessly across agonizing physical

The

and Dick weighed

bicycle weighed 60 pounds, Rick weighed 90,

170

bicycle.

and mental

hills,

push-

barriers.

Rick

and Dick completed that triathlon and every subsequent triathlon they entered, usually finishing in the top half of the competition.

Along the way, Dick developed

we cannot do

together."

Dick was

"There

is

nothing

right. Together, father

and son

a motto:

completed the infamous Ironman competition, a race most people are

happy

bike,

just to survive

—

2.4 miles of

swimming, 112 miles on

a

and 26.2 miles of running. Because of the extreme condi-

tions of the

Ironman race located on the big

island of

100-degree heat, high humidity, and unrelenting required special preparation. races every

weekend

for a year.

To

train,

hills

Hawaii

—

this race

they competed in local

During the week while Rick was in

school, Dick trained alone daily.

He swam up

to

two

miles, ran

eight miles and hiked thirty-five to forty miles while pushing a

100-pound bag of cement

in Rick's

running and biking chairs.

Dick and his son have since competed

in

and finished four

Ironman competitions.

They have

also hiked

and run across the United

States,

from

Los Angeles to Boston, covering 3,735 miles in forty-five days,

without a single day

marathons

—the

off.

And

after

completing fifteen Boston

race where they were initially rejected back in

unstoppablea

101

characteristic three

1981

— they were honored on the marathon's 100th anniversary

as

the event's centennial heroes.

Dick don't

still insists it's

know what

it

is,

his son, not him,

but

when

something that happens. Rick loan

him my

body, but

it's

is

1

who

is

the athlete.

"1

get behind his chair, there's

the driving force of the team.

I

Rick's spirit that keeps us going."

Rick and Dick Hoyt have been competing for twenty years

and say

there's

important.

What place they finish is not all that moment they took the starting line, every

no end

From the

in site.

race has been a victory.

can remember, people said would never be able to do anything.

"For as long as I

My

I

and believed could, and we've been proving them wrong ever since." parents

I

I

—Rick Hoyt

'-^m 102

Bunstoppabie

NoPPq. ii J[

claim to be no more

than an average

below average

with I

man capabilities.

have not the shadow

that any

man

or

of a

doubt

woman

can achieve what have I

if

he

or she

would put

the

some

the

same hope and

effort

and

forth

cultivate faith."

—Mahatma Gandhi

What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You It

Can

Your

Life!

In Fact,

E

am

perienced and had about as schoolgirl.

No wonder

She asked istic

goals

Save

Lontos was uninformed and inex-

much

business savvy as a young

she's a success story.

for jobs she

had no

and then pursued them

right to ask for. in

She

unconventional ways. Over

and over she placed her bets where the odds were the simply didn't

She

know any

didn't

set unreal-

worst.

She

better.

know any

better because for

much

of her

life

she

was controlled by other people. Growing up, her parents warned her against taking any kind of

risks.

She couldn't go

because "she might drown"; she couldn't shop friends because

it

was "too dangerous."

husband convinced her

to give

to the

beach

downtown with her

When

she married, her

up studying psychology, the college

major she loved, to study teaching, a profession that was more secure, but in

which she had no

After three unfulfilled years,

interest.

Pam quit

teaching and hoped that

being a full-time mother and homemaker would bring meaning to her

life.

Instead,

something

else

took control

104

—her own

despair.

belief sustains the journey

It

has happened to milUons ot

women. Pam Lontos, with two

children, a nice house in the suburbs, tionally distant husband, felt

surviving and realized

it,

felt

and

empty and

a successful but

useless.

She was merely

she was making no contribution.

The more

she

the more depressed she became.

Some

People deal with depression in different ways. medication. Others resort to alcohol or drugs.

bed

emo-

—and spent most of the next

Pam

five years there.

take

simply went to

She

rose every

morning, took the kids to school, then went back to the

blissful

oblivion of sleep.

By the time Pam was

m

her

thirties,

she was sleeping eigh-

teen hours a day and was forty pounds overweight. Her

and reason

respect, confidence,

for living

self-

were completely gone.

In her few hours of wakefulness, she contemplated suicide but

could never actually do

it.

Her depression got

so bad she was left

with only one option. If life

was unlivable and

only choice was to change.

someone

else to

do

it

for

miraculously appeared."

Pam was committed

first

she couldn't

"I

spent

club, she

vidual

who

life

then the

waiting for

a task as change might seem,

had

cre-

life.

step back to the world was to join a health club in

moment

in shape.

It

seemed

like a small

she walked through the doors oi the health

walked into a new

Jim, the

entire

to crawling out of the black hole she

hopes of getting her body back step, but the

my

kill herselt,

me, and no knight on a white horse had

As daunting

ated to find a meaningful

Pam's

if

owner of the

sensed that

life.

club,

was an energetic, positive

Pam needed

promising she would see results

if

support.

she stuck

indi-

He encouraged with it. He also

her,

lent

Pam

listened to the tapes

unstoppable"

105

her motivational tapes for inspiration.

dozens of times.

characteristic three

As eral

the pounds sK^wly dropped, so did Pam's

months,

Pam had become

great results at the health club

thought,

why not

want

\

to

As

Jo?

a

to help her family. Perhaps a career in

had sold shoes

And

would be something she'd enjoy.

sales

After sev-

brave enough to ask herself the one

question she had never dared to ask: What do teenager, she

fears.

and

since she experienced

really believed

in

it,

she

start at the club?

Although she had no experience or training

membership

in

she asked Jim for a job selling club memberships. "You're

sales,

the guy

who

something with to hire me!"

me

gave

my

He

the tapes and got

to

driven

"now you have

gave her the job, but that wasn't

overcome her

downtown

motivated to do

she challenged him,

life,"

also shared his optimistic philosophy

Pam

me

about

When Pam

fears.

life

said

all.

Jim

and prodded she'd

never

before and was afraid, Jim put her in the car,

sat in the passenger's seat,

gave her directions, and made her

downtown.

drive

As her confidence was driving

all

grew, so did her sales.

over town, outselling

surprisingly short period, she'd

all

come

became her foundation: "Don't

.say

Within weeks, Pam

the other salespeople. In a

a long way. Jim's philosophy

you can't do something until

you've tried!"

Pam's success that year prepared her ior a

new radio station opened ager to hire her to

sell

in town.

new

challenge.

A

She c(3nvinced the general man-

advertising air time with the understanding

she would receive no salary and work entirely on commission.

She didn't know that new since they have

stations are the toughest to sell

no established

listening audience.

She

didn't

only to small companies because

know

she was supposed to

larger

companies demanded bigger audiences. Because she didn't

sell

know, she boldly called on companies

106

large

unstoppable

and small and sold

— belief sustains the journey

them based on the quahty and buying power

of the station's

Ustening audience, rather than on the number of Usteners.

Pam bad

know

also didn't

that post-hoUday January

month. So she put

sales

into any other

as

much

effort into

is

always a

January as she did

month, while the other salespeople slacked

off,

waiting for February. She earned one of the largest January com-

mission checks ever written for radio sales in Dallas. From that point on, as

much

Pam was

as six

consistently the top revenue producer, selling

other salespeople combined.

Pam's confidence grew and gave her the strength to confront her marital problems. After several attempts to work things out, she and her husband parted. Life at the station also station's ratings

Pam

its

ups and downs,

literally.

The

dropped almost to the bottom of the market. But

know

didn't

had

it

was customary in the business to

bail out in

rocky times. While everyone around her was quitting, she asked for the

now

vacant position of sales manager. Her boss, too

stunned to argue, agreed. She had ble

and was actually excited about

At her month on

first sales

meeting,

the board: $100,000.

just

taken the worst job possi-

it!

Pam

wrote her projection for that

Mouths

fell

open.

averaging $35,000 in sales every month.

Pam had been

She thought the

other three salespeople could do about the same.

manager

called her into his office after the meeting

The

general

and explained

that the station had only been averaging $42,000 per

month

her $35,000 plus $7,000 from the other three salespeople

combined. To

set a goal of

$100,000, he told her, was completely

unrealistic.

That evening, Pam considered dropping the goal

to $50,000.

But on her way to work the next morning, she listened again to one of her favorite motivational tapes.

She committed

unstoppablGB

to hold strong to

107

characteristic three

her "unrealistic" goal of $100,000.

When

she met with her team

do

that morning, she restated her belief that they could

By 4:30 P.M. on the

last

day of the month,

totaled $100,018. By December,

Three months

later,

November, Pam's unprecedented

sales for

team

set

her team

had climbed to $140,000.

The

the figure was $180,000.

sales

results

sales

it.

following

a record of $272,000.

These

occurred despite the fact the station's

lis-

tening audience grew only marginally.

After only two years of working at the station as a sales manager,

Pam was promoted

to vice president of sales, leapfrogging

over the next logical position, which would have been general manager. She didn't

know

that

normally takes a

it

to ten years to reach that position

and no one

is

minimum

of five

ever promoted to

vice president directly from a sales manager's position. "I'm glad didn't know," said

Pam, "or

1

might

still

be a

sales

manager."

After four successful years at the radio station, start

something new. Today

tional speaker, author, inspiring others to ties,

sales

Lontos

to

—believe

who

is

in possibili-

not limitations.

her a goal

is

whenever someone

a slogan that she uses

impossible and she offers

"You look them straight 'Don't

it

to you:

in

tell

until after I've

the eye

nne

it's

and

unstoppable

say,

impossible

already done

—Pam

108

left

well-known motiva-

a

is

Pam

and marketing consultant

do exactly what she did

She has adopted tells

and

Pam

1

It.'"

Lontos

S

1

996 by Randy Glasbetgen

E-mail (BfidygSnorwich net

(9lA88EPkaEA

"These motivational tapes hove really inspired me! I'm going to

company and novel

make a

million dollars,

retire early. Ttien I'm

and a symptiony and give Then next month,

I'll

buy

my own

going to write a

all ttie profits

figure out

how

to

to charity.

do

it!"

Something Maik Sheppard,

to Think

president id Texas Instruments, explained his

trtumf^ in die 1970s over industry giants

and RCA. "Those companies knew possible,"

he

said-

About

**We didn't.

all

like

Westinghouse, GE,

the things that weren't

We were stupki"

From Zero

to

$15 Million

—

She Believed

Not

in Herself

the Experts

w

hen Maria Elena Ibanez was

teenager in Colombia, her father enrolled her in a course

on

a

pro-

gramming minicomputers. Computers were becoming more

common

in Latin

despite their $100,000 price tag,

this revolutionary technology. In 1973,

taken with

America,

and Maria Elena was instantly

United States to study computer science

she went to the

at the college level.

After

graduation, she had an idea.

Personal computers were selling in the United States for

—a

$8,000

fraction of

what Latin American businesses were pay-

ing for their minicomputers.

Why

not set up distribution of personal

computers south of the border, she thought, where a fertile market was just waiting to be tapped?

1980 and asked

companies

in

ucts in her

home

"They

She took her idea

told

for a

to the

chance to

major computer

distribute their prod-

country.

me

to forget

it,"

Maria Elena

recalled.

"The com-

puter executives said Latin America was in the midst of an eco-

nomic

crisis.

Latin America countries are poor, they don't have

111

characteristic three

money. The executives considered

it

them

too small a market for

to pursue."

Maria Elena saw the situation

opportunity where others saw limitations.

market was only $10 million,

make money

in

it

was

And nobody

it.

still

else

She perceived

differently.

big

"1 figured,

even

if

enough

me.

could

would go

for

after

it

I

the

because

it

was too small."

She was twenty-three

years old, a

woman, and had no

sales or

marketing experience, things the executives she encountered saw as three strikes against her. But she

cheap

United

in the

knew two

computers were

things:

and Latin America needed them.

States,

Hopeful and optimistic, she approached a banker and requested a line of credit.

He wanted

never heard of such a thing.

The second banker

asked for her marketing plan. She didn't

Then

Maria Elena had

to see her business plan.

she approached

know what that was,

either.

she tried to go directly to the distributors. Most wouldn't meet

with her, but two listened skeptically. She asked,

"How much

ness are you currently doing in Latin America?"

"None." Maria Elena

Computers

—with

They responded,

$10,000 of your product a year

Maria had to agree that

in Latin America."

prepaid. Altos

said, "I will sell

busi-

all

her orders would be

nothing to lose

—gave

her an

exclusive distribution agreement for nine months.

Her next

step was to call a travel agent. Maria Elena's instruc-

tions were simple:

"Book me on

stopping in every major city

I

a flight

from Miami to Argentina,

can without having to pay extra."

That was how Maria Elena designed her marketing added, "Ignorance can be

know what

1

and sometimes

was getting myself

With no became her

bliss

pays

experience, belief in her goal and

guides.

She landed

off.

I

She

didn't

into."

in

common

sense

Colombia, checked into a hotel,

opened the Yellow Pages, and began

112

it

plan.

calling

BunstoppableB

computer

dealers. "I

belief sustains the journey

company. So

figured, the bigger the ad, the bigger the

companies that had the biggest ads

The next

I

chose the

first."

day, fully scheduled with appointments, she hit the

pavement running. In the 1980s a woman engineer was

many

rare

and

Latin American businessmen were not used to dealing with

women

—

eighteen.

particularly a petite,

young blonde who looked about

She turned what might have been

a disadvantage into

an

advantage by balancing her youthful enthusiasm with education

and

Maria Elena described her prospective customers'

expertise.

reaction to her: "They were fascinated by a young

about the

latest technology, things

ed very favorably because fantastic,

A

and

it

I

they didn't know.

woman

talking

They respond-

had a tremendous product, the

price

was

allowed them to compete with the big guys."

whirlwind three-week

trip

through Equador, Chile, Peru,

and Argentina followed. In each country, she used the same Yellow Pages approach to market her product.

"I

had projected

sales of

$10,000 a year and returned to the United States, only three weeks with $100,000 worth of orders

later,

checks in hand." For someone

—prepaid—with

who earned $6 an hour

cashier's

tutoring at

the university computer lab, the checks seemed like millions. Eventually, Maria Elena's sales

—many

would be millions

mil-

In the next five years, Maria Elena's sales grew to an astound-

lions.

ing $15 million.

In

1987, Inc.

International Micro Systems,

magazine ranked her company.

number 55 on

its list

of the 500 fastest-

growing businesses. In 1988, Maria Elena sold the company and stayed

on

for

another three years until

sales

reached $70 million.

Maria Elena has since started a new company puters to Africa.

Once

selling

com-

again, the marketing experts told her

Africa was too poor for personal computer products, especially

they were sold by a ture.

non African female

By now accustomed

in a

male-dominated

to negative responses,

unstoppable"

Maria Elena

if

culfelt

113

characteristic three

the experts were shortsighted. She beUeved in her

own

vision o{

the future. In 1991, she flew to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya,

armed only with a catalog of products and

a

into a hotel and picked up the Yellow Pages.

Two weeks

home

flew

map. She checked later,

she

with $150,000 in orders.

Working

first

out of her garage, then out of a small ware-

house, she began shipping products.

More

orders

came

in.

In four

months, she shipped $700,000 worth of computers. In her second year sales totaled $2.4 million, a figure that doubled the following

and again the next. With

year,

sales averaging

year through the early 1990s, International

made is

Inc.'s list

$13 million each

High Tech Marketing

of the 500 fastest-growing businesses. Maria Elena

the only person in the magazine's history to

make the

prestigious

with two separate companies built from zero capital.

list

Maria Elena Ibanez had good products to

was

built

upon

belief in herself

sell.

But her success

and determination. There

isn't

a

marketing plan in the world that can give you those.

"Everybody is an expert in giving advice on how you cannot do something. So forget about everybody. And then, when you encounter a hurdle— and do that every weei' Wills?" was their response.

said.

been around

"He

can't play. He's

forever."

"Yeah," Bobby said. "But he's a different player now."

The Dodgers search.

A

week

ignored Bobby's advice and continued the

later,

out of desperation, the

home

office called

Maury, and he flew to join the team in Milwaukee. In the next couple of games, Maury came to a painful realization in the

major leagues was

minors. Although

Maury was

wasn't major league caliber.

times each

and put

knew

if

different

—playing

from playing in the

a fine shortstop, his hitting

The managers

let

him

still

bat a couple of

game then took him out around the seventh inning

in a I

much

pinch

hitter.

"The handwriting was on the wall and

didn't learn to hit better,

1

was going back to the minors,"

1

Maur>' remembered.

But

now

that

Maury had

finally tasted his

dream, he wasn't

about to go back to the minors.

Maury went

to the first base coach, Pete Reiser,

help. Pete agreed to

meet Maury

and asked

for batting practice

before the team's regular practice session each day.

for

two hours

Maury

prac-

ticed hitting day after day, in every kind of weather, until his

hands were blistered and bleeding. Yet ting

still

wasn't strong enough.

He

the seventh inning. Discouraged,

for all his efforts, his bat-

continued to be taken out in

Maury

finally considered quit-

ting baseball.

Pete wouldn't

let

Maury

quit. Pete realized that a crucial

piece of Maury's preparation had been missing. All this time,

Maury had been working on through.

Pete wondered

if

his hands, arms, posture,

and swing

perhaps the biggest obstacle was

Maury's confidence. So Pete changed the training. Each session, Pete and Maury spent thirty minutes hitting the ball and ninety

minutes working on Maur>''s mental preparation. Sitting in the

154

unstoppable

preparation builds the foundation would focus on Maury's thinking and

outfield, Pete

assured

Maury

that he

took and that

it

work would eventually pay

his training, the "It

had what

if

attitude. Pete

he persisted in

off.

was tough to continue to walk up to that plate having no

Maury

hits in ten times at bat,"

said.

"However,

learned that con-

I

fidence comes only after a measure of success, and success comes after a

whole

game two weeks

In a bat.

And

inning,

lot of practice

for

Maury

call

day

him back

now-dreaded seventh

to continue.

to the dugout. Instead, Alston

Maury responded with another hit.

frustrating years,

The next day Maury

Maury

finally

found

got two hits, and four hits the

His batting average soared.

after that.

In his

a hit his first time at

his shoulder, waiting for the manager,

After eight and a half his "groove."

Maury got

at bat. In the

Maury looked over

Walter Alston, to

nodded

later,

second time

his

and preparation."

first full

season in the majors, Maury finally established

himself as a major league shortstop and hitter, but he didn't stop there.

He had

yet to unleash his

most natural talent

—

God-

his

given speed. Studying the motions of opposing pitchers, timing the throws of opposing catchers, practicing powerful takeoffs and

deceptive

slides,

history of the

By

his

Maury

started stealing bases like

game except

for the great Hall of

no one

in the

Famer Ty Cobb.

second season with the Dodgers, Maury led the league

in base stealing.

Base stealing had become Maury's

own

special

weapon, distracting pitchers, causing wild throws by catchers, and drawing thousands of extra fans to the stadium to watch his magic.

Most important, Maury was helping the Dodgers win games.

Even then, Maury wanted be

satisfied.

In 1915,

He

set his sights

Cobb had

to accomplish more.

on Ty Cobb's record

stolen 96 bases in 156 games.

He

wouldn't

for stolen bases.

Even though the

regular baseball season in 1962 included 162 games, Maury's goal

unstoppable*

155

characteristic four

was to beat the record began running

like a

in 156 games, as

man

possessed.

He

Cobb had

done. Maury

slid into bases so

many

times he peeled the skin off his legs from hip to ankle. Bloody, bruised, bandaged, ignoring the pain,

Game number Maury needed one

155 was in

St.

he never slowed down.

Louis against the Cardinals.

steal to tie the record,

two

to break

it.

With

every eye in the stadium on him, and the eyes of the nation

watching on television, Maury got two

hits

and two

steals.

He

broke a major league record that had stood for forty-seven years.

At

the end of the season,

Maury was named the Most

Valuable Player in the National League, alongside Hall of giants like Willie Mays,

The

player

Drysdale, and

who had once seemed

leagues, destined to

end

himself into a bona fide after rejection,

Don

Sandy Koufax.

stuck forever in the minor

his career in mediocrity, star.

Fame

had transformed

All because, year after year, rejection

Maury Wills

persisted, preparing himself.

when his moment came, when he had

his

And

chance to shine, he was

ready.

"Luck

is

opportunity meeting preparation."

—Maury

156

unstoppable

Wills

Something

to Think

About

During the 1984-85 season, the Los Angeles Lakers

championship over their great

won

the

NBA

the Boston Celtics. But the

rivals,

next season, they suffered what Coach Pat Riley referred to as "the insidious disease of complacency,"

Western Conference the

finals, losing to

summer with the coaching

team's weaknesses were and

where they needed

and they

to

staff

why

self-destructed in the

Houston. Coach Riley spent analyzing exactly what their

they had

lost,

defining the areas

make improvement.

During the training camp

for the

new

season, the coaches

challenged each player to improve one percent above their career best in the five areas they identified

most

essential in playing the

game of basketball. One percent may not sound

like

much, but

if

you take a dozen championship players and each one improves

one percent

in five key areas, the overall efficiency

improvement

adds up to 60%.

Because they focused on small,

responded very positively. In

fact,

realistic goals, the players

most players improved their

games much more than one percent

—some

as

much

as 15, 20,

even 50 percent. The Lakers won 67 games that season ing another

the

first

NBA

team

championship

—

includ-

—and the next season became

in nineteen years to

win back-to-back

NBA titles.

J[

hated every minute but

and

I

of the training,

said, ^Don't quit. Suffer live

the

rest of

your

now

life

as a champion.'"

—Muhammad AH,

Professional Boxer

Being First Is Second Nature to This High Court Judge Her Motto: Dogged Preparedness

M about law school

as college

lawyers

future

»ost

undergraduates.

A few of the more far-

sighted start planning ahead in high school. But

her sights set on a law career at an age ing about a

new

Looking

first

Leah Sears had

when most

bike or a pair of roller skates.

seven, she sent away for her

kids are think-

When

at the pictures in the catalogs, especially in those

Her skin was

black,

"I felt like

1

and almost every student she saw

was a second-class

moment, a determination if

that was to happen,

but for others

I

set in. "1

in the

who needed more

majority,

who

At

that

to be somebody.

And

citizen," she recalled.

knew I had

had to make things change." Not

who had

middle-class military family. ple

anyone

like

was not only white, but male.

pictures

herself,

Leah was

law school catalog.

from Harvard and Yale, Leah noticed she didn't look there.

thinking

start

less

She wanted

opportunities in

to

life,

make changes

who

if

for peo-

weren't part of the

looked in the mirror and might see

She knew

just for

than she had growing up in a

just a

"nobody."

she was to succeed, she had to start now.

159

characteristic four

Supported and encouraged by her parents, Leah developed the confidence and drive to excel in school and participated fully in school activities.

American

Her high school had never had an African-

cheerleader, but that didn't hold her back.

She

dili-

gently rehearsed the routines and broke the school's color barrier

when

she was selected for the cheerleading team. Always, though,

academics came

first.

"Getting degrees from the best schools would be important to achieve to send

my goal," she noted. "Because my parents couldn't afford me to those types of colleges, was committed to getting 1

an academic scholarship."

Her devotion paid

off.

She earned a

full

scholarship to

Cornell University, graduated with honors in June of 1976, then

completed her law studies 1980.

At

at

Emory University Law School

in

twenty-five, she joined the prestigious Atlanta law firm

of Alston and Bird, and although she found the experience

involved "too

rewarding,

it

ple work."

The

much paperwork and not enough

job was too far from her original goal. After two

years, she left the firm to accept a

much

a traffic judge in an Atlanta city court. "1

rights

grew up

peo-

lower-paying position as

The

step felt right.

at the intersection of the civil rights

movements and

and women's

saw the law making many changes

1

for

people like me," she commented. All her days of preparation had

Now, with every

step, she realized she

would be breaking

paid

off.

new

ground. "There were very, very few black lawyers, and

knows no black female model myself

lawyers, so

1

had no mentor, no one

did.

When

as

hard at

she and her husband became parents in

1983 and again in 1986, she didn't

motherhood slow her down. 160

to

after."

Because o{ her unique situation, she worked twice

whatever she

God

When

let

balancing her career and

she campaigned for a superior

unstoppable

preparation builds the foundation court judgeship in 1988, her approach was simple: four hours sleep a night from the time

I

announced

until the election." In a close three-way race,

youngest person and

first

"I

African- American

got three or I

would run

Leah became the

woman

ever elected

to the Georgia Superior Court.

Four years

Governor

she took the biggest step of her

later,

first

when

Zell Miller called personally to appoint her to the

Georgia Supreme Court. Leah was the

life

woman, and

thirty-six, the

youngest person,

the second African-American ever to

sit

on

Georgia's highest court.

Yet with

work,

many

didn't see

because

1

all

her education,

her preparation,

all

all

her hard

dismissed her achievements as tokenism. "People

me

getting this job because

was a

woman

or because

I

I

was a good judge;

was black," she

said.

was

it

She

set

out to prove them wrong but discovered yet another gap between her and the other justices: age. In one of her tice,

first

new jus-

an older male judge made a comment about "the war." Leah

remembered

asking,

"What

war?"

And he said, "World War II,

big one." In relating the incident,

Vietnam, and faced.

The

"It

it

was

Leah

said,

illustrated the type of a

judge leaned over to

damn young

to be clear,"

on

me and

peers

the

"My war had been

communication gap

I

said bluntly, 'You're too

a court like this!'"

Leah

recollected. "I

knew

and be more prepared than any of the others

my

days as a

I

had to work harder

to

win the respect of

and the lawyers who practiced before me."

Leah made at 5:30, before

it

a routine to arrive at her office every

anyone

else,

and

carefully review her cases.

morning

She and

her law clerks read every brief and met each morning to discuss

them. Before the weekly meeting of the judges, she prepared everything she wanted to say in writing, never "winging After each meeting,

it."

she had her staff candidly review her

unstoppablea

161

characteristic four

performance. Before the next meeting, Leah focused on areas

needing improvement. "I

was constantly talking to the other judges and asking them

questions, eager to learn.

I

know

Gradually, they started inviting

made

a

comment, they

and had something

I

was a pain, but

me

to contribute.

One

to lunch.

actually responded as

Then came

I

never day,

let up.

when

1

was intelligent

if I

the day

when

they

actually listened to me."

Today, Justice Leah Sears

wanted to make

is

as a child. She's

helping to

person at a time. "There's no doubt lifetime of preparation

and

at

my

and hard work.

any given point,

1

make

the changes she

changing the world, one success

It's

is

case,

one

the result of a

been a building process,

was prepared when the opportunity

came."

is no better way to dispel your critics tlian be \he most prepared and hove your croft together. Know what you're talliicker, Peter, 50, 142

l>YsJalc, l5on, 156

Dunham,

Lee, 147-50

dyslexia, 66, 197-99 E!

Entertainment Television, 290

Earth Day, 284 earthquake, 59-60 Eastern Michigan University, 272

Thomas, 66, 261, 296

education, 174-75

260

George, 196 emergency medical service, 238-42 Emmy Awards, 67, 290

Emory University Law School, 160 energy, 57

enthusiasm, 89, 94

Woman, 73

experts, 115, 141-43 failure,

261, 295-98

136 130-32

faith, 95, fear,

Federal Express, 143 Blondell, 280 Maxcy, 279-81,310 Club, The (Goldsmith), 119-21 flexibility, 260-62 Filer, Filer,

First

mves

Foch, Marshall, 77 Fonda, Jane, 31, 143 Forbes,

236

Ford, Betty, 179

&

Ibanez, Maria Elena, 111-14, "If

I

Can Stop One

Frankl, Viktor, 39

Free the Children, 188-89 Linda, 21-25,310 21-25, 310

Gallery of Unstoppable Role Models, 2 1

Gandhi, Mahatma, 103 Garcia Marquez, Gabriel, 196 Gates, Bill, 226 Georgia Supreme Court, 161-62 Georgia, 22

goals, 5, 52-53, 54, 57, 127, 131-32, 133, 294-95,

298

Golden Globe Awards, 290

181-84

Land of Giants (Bogues), 118

In the

114

public offering, 72

inner circle, 220-26 insurance, 236

Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, 81 internal language, 129-30 International

High Tech Marketing, 114

International Micro Systems, 113 International

Ironman

Olympic Committee, 205, 208

race, 97, 101

Jacobs, Irwin,

270

January, Pepper, 289

Jenner, Bruce, 294 Jet,

Tom, 165 Glennie, Evelyn, 85-86, 310 Global Sports, Inc., 74 Glagola,

310

Heart from Breaking"

(Dickinson), 13 illiteracy,

initial

Ford, Henry, 138, 261

Fuller, Millard,

Adolf 192

Holidaylnn, 41-42, 227 Honda, Soichiro, 296 Hopson Scally, 90 Horatio Alger Award, 181, 182 hotels, 41-42 Houdini, Harry, 262 Houston, Texas, 284-87 "how I want to be remembered," 49-50 Hoyt, Dick, 97-102, 310 Hoyt, Judy, 97-102, 310 Hoyt, Rick, 97-102 Hubbard, Elbert, 55 Hunter, 67 Huxley, Thomas, 296

Inc., 113,

Ford, Gerald R., 169

Fuller,

1

Helping Hands, 35-38 70 Hilbert, Stephen, 236 Hill, Napoleon, 134,226 Hilton Head, South Carolina, 245-46 Hitler,

Einstein, Albert, 66, 258, Eliot,

Entrepreneurial

Hegarty, Christopher, 2 hepatitis,

E(»n>, 134, 254 Edison,

Hands Across America, 83-84 Hansen, Mark Victor, 50-51 Harken. Melba, 182 Harken,Tom, 181-84, 310 Hams, Todd, 120 Hassclhoff, David, 298 Head, Howard, 297 health club, 106

254

Johnson, John, 134, 254 Jones, Nathaniel, 280 Jordan, Clarence, 22-23 Jordan, Michael, 229 Joyner-Kersee, Jackie, 130 Juan Doe Murders, The (Ayres), 166

Goldsmith, Olivia, 119-21, 310 Gore-tex fabric, 194 Grant, Amy, 297 Graves, Earl, 298 Great Depression, 41 Grogan, Barbara, 214, 310

Helen, 33 Kennedy, Robert, 132 Kersey, Cynthia, 6, 303, 308

Gumbel, Bryant, 248

Kielburger, Craig, 186-89, 216,

Gundersen, Ken, 212

Kingsolver, Barbara, 50

Kampala, Uganda, 16 Kariya, Legson, 14-18 Keller,

Kinko's

Haagen-Dazs, 246 Habitat for Humanity International, 23-25, 55, 3079 Hall, Arsenio, 140 Hall, Eula, 250-53,

310

Kirby

Inc.,

310

201-2, 219, 223, 227

Vacuum Cleaner Company, 182

Kodak, 201 Koinonia, Georgia, 22 Koppel, Ted, 298 Koufax, Sandy, 1 56

1

index

Kragen, Ken. 83-84, 89, 90, 310 Kuhn, Thomas, 142

New

York Stock Exchange. Sir Isaac, 295

1

39-40

Newton,

Nike, 70, 71.194 nonprofit organizations, 22

LaLanne, Jack, 140 Landers, Ann, 265 Landnim, Gene, 1 16, 142 Lansing, Shen^', 120 Latin America, 111-13 Lauder, Estee, 139

North Reading, Massachusetts, 98 nursing, 124-25

Nutty Bavarian, 246-48 Nyad, Diana. 212-13. 216. 311 Nyasaland. 14, 15, 16

lawyers, 159-62 Lear, Bill, 143

obstacles, 7

Leonardo da Vinci,

7,

262

Leven, Gustave, 141 Life Is a Conuict Spon (Kragen), 90 Lincoln, Abraham, 14, 15, 18

Olympics, 135, 204-10, 215. 218, 294 Ontario Federation of Labor, 188 Otfalea, Paul, 197-202,

219,311

Orlando, Honda, 245-48

Longfellow, Henrv' Wadsworth, 178

Lontos, Pam, 104-108, 217, 218, 311

Los Angeles Lakers, 157

Love

Letters, Inc., 11-12,

55

Parade magazine, 44 Paralyzed Veterans of America. 2 Park, Reg, 216-17

Lucas, Gerorge, 57

passion, 3, 57-94, 133. 301: identifying, 89-93

lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's, 9

patience, 298

Payne,

Mackay, Harvey, 219, 220 Mfl/cmg a Uving Wid\outa]ob (Winter), 90 Making Your Eheams Come True ( Wieder), 87 Mandela, Nelson, 132 marathons, 97 Mark 9:23, 129 marketing plan, 112 M(3rr\ing

Mom

(Goldsmith), 121

134-35, 204-10, 218, 311

Billy,

Peace Corps, 92 Peak, Dr. Norman Vincent, 136 percussion, 85-86

239-42 Pemer, 141 Perez, Joe,

perseverance, 3, 265-99. 301

Phelan, Sherry, 226, 304, 306 photocopiers, 199-202

The (Bunyan), 14

Marshall, Thurgood, 280

Pilgrim's Progress,

Marsten, William, 47 Masih, Iqbal, 186-87

pizza,

mastermind group, 226-28, 304-6: action plans, 305; meetmgs, 305, 306; pact, 305; team, 304, 306

planning, 54

mathematics, 117 Mfltt/ieu- 17:20, 95 Maucner, Anne, 245 Mautner, John, 245-48,311 Mayes, Andrav^, 79-80

Poe,Sheri, 70-75.89, 311 pole vaulting. 215-16

Mays, Willie, 156 McDonalds, 147-50

potential, untapped, 129

McLellan,

plan of action, 176-78

1

16,

play,

88

polio. 181 Porter, Bill,

267-70

Portland, Oregon, 192, 267-70

Powell, Sharlyne, 27-32, 311

Vem, 226

Mead, Margaret,

272-77

Pouier o/

309

Positii-e

T/urJang.

The (Peale), 136

preparation, 3, 131, 145-78, 301

medical services, 251-53 Mexico City, 59-61

professional associations, 221-22

Michener, James, 141

Profiles

Miller. Zell, 161

Profiles of Genius

Miller, Lauren,

280 Monaghan, Jim, 272-73

Proverbs 2i:7, 134

Monaghan, Tom, 218, 272-77, 311

purpose, 3, 7-55. 127, 133, 301: discovering, 49;

Princess Diarw, 74

Mother

quitting,

26 motivation, 87-88 motivational tapes, 105, 107, 109

Muldowney,

NASA,

integrating into daily

life,

54-55

quadriplegic, 34-38, 97-102

hotels)

Teresa,

Mud Creek Clinic.

(Landrum), 142

Pulicer Prize, 141

Moore, Laura-Beth, 284-87, 311 Morita, Akio, 143 motels (see

ofFerrwle Genius (Landrum), 116

251-53

Shirley, 292,

311

213 National Basketball Association (NBA), 118, 157 National Car Rental, 256 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), 291-92 National Speakers Association, 223 negative thoughts, 1 29-30 Negro Digest, 254 neighborhood cleanup, 43 Nelson. Ron. 194 networking. 218-25

299

radio station, 106-7

Raphael, Sally Jessy, 140 recycling, 284-87

Redenbacher, Orville, 246 ReeKik, 70, 71 Regaining One's Self-Esteem (ROSE), 74 Regional Organization of the Protestant Church, 23 regret, 261 regrets, 131

154-55

Reiser, Pete,

rejection,

138

relationships, restaurants,

Rice,

Helen

219-20

147-50 Steiner, 137

1

index

The Body Shop, 231-35, 261 Vmk and Grow Rich (Hill),

Richards, Boh. 215-16 Richie, Lionel, 84

Riptide, risk,

67

Rivers, Melissa, 290 Rohhins, Tony, 223

Rohinstin, Bnxsks, 297

Rohinson, Jackie, 152 Robinson, James "Rocky," 238-42, 311 Rohison, Suzan, 124-25,311 Rock/ord Files, The, 67 Roddick,Anita, 231-35, 261,311

Today Show, 248 Tomlin, Lily, 40 Toni^t Show, 289-90 Toronto, Ontario, 205 Torrence, Jackie, 170-72,311 Tough Times Never Last, but Towg/i People (Schuller), 249 Travis,

Randy, 298

97 84

triathkins,

Rohn, Jim, 297

Tritt, Travis,

role models, 216,

tuberculosis, 181

217

New England

Medical Center, 34, 35

Roosevelt, Theodore, 297

Tufts

Ross, Diana, 140

Tufts University, 35,

Royal Academy of Music, 85-86 Ryka, 71-75

Turner, Ted, 143

Salisbury, Ralph,

66

San Diego, California, 29 San Francisco, California, 60 Saperstein, David, 282

Roben, 249, 258-59

Schwarzenegger, Arnold, 139, 216-17 Scott, Willard,

248

Sear3,Leah, 159-62,311 ofSuccesifid Speakers (Walters), 131

98

TVGuzde, 133 unique calling, 53 United Nations, 207 United States Congress, 188 Universal Studios, 246-48 University' of Oregon, 66, 193 University of Southern California, 199, 255 unstoppable belief system, ten steps, 1 28-44 unstoppable people, seven characteristics, 3 unstoppable spirit, 2-3, 7 USA for Africa We Are the World, 83-84

Seeing Eye dogs, 36 Seeing Eye program, 38 Shakespeare, William, 262 Shaw, George Bernard, 132

Vancouver, British Columbia, 78 video, exercise, 31-32

Sheppard, Mark,

vulnerabilities, 127

10

1

shoes, women's athletic, 70-75 Short, Manin, 133 show business, 289-90

Skagit Valley College, 16-17 skills,

174, 176

Skinner, B. F, 35

Small Business Administration (SBA), 192 Smith, Fred, 143 Sony, 143 Speakers Library, 262 speaking, 131, 132 speech impediment, 170-72 Sprint, 175,

visualization,

201,219,222,223

Stanford University, 117

1

32-34, 288

WaldorfAstona Hotel, 148 Walkman, 143 Walters,

Horace, 206

Siebert, Muriel, 140

Lilly,

131

Warmerdam, Dutch, 215-16 Washington, Booker T, 14, 15, 18 Watkins Company, 268-70 Western Industnal Contractors, 214 Whitney, Eli, 261 Whitworth, Kathy, 69 Wieder, Marcia, 87 WiUard, Mary Joan, 34-38,311 William Morris Agency, 166 Wills, Maury, 152-56,311 Wilson, Kemmons, 41-42, 227, 311 Wilson, Ruby Lloyd, 41-42 Winfrey, Oprah, 73, 116, 151, 185,216

Stein, Ben, 145

Winter, Barbara, 90

Stewart, Martha, 196

Stone Age Present, The (Allman), 221

Storms of Perfection (Andrews), 290 storytelling, 170-72 Stradley, Carolyn, 256, 311

ReKKiumms, The (Kuhn), 142

Scnjcture of Scientific success, 134

Wiseguy, 67

Women

at Large Fitness

Xerox, 201

Tales of d\e South Pacific (Michener), 141

Yakima, Washington, 27 Yearwood, Trisha, 84 Young, Andrew, 206 Ypsilanti, Michigan, 272

TAP Turnaround

Zaire,

swimming, 212-13 Switcheroo (Goldsmith), 121

teams,

3,

Programs, 226, 306

179-228

Texas Instruments,

1

Thatcher, Margaret,

10 1

16,

244

Club, 29-31

work, 88 Wor/