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Not too long ago, I had the opportunity to hear Jim Cathcart speak to a corporate audience. Jim is a good friend, and a great speaker. He told the story of how listening to a radio program over twenty-five years ago changed his life forever, and with his permission, I'd like to share it with you.

In 1972, he was working at the Little Rock, Arkansas Housing Authority, making $525 a month, with a new wife and baby at home, no college degree, no past successes, and not much hope for the foreseeable future.

One morning, he was sitting in his office listening to the radio, to a program called "Our Changing World" by Earl Nightingale, who was known as "the Dean of Personal Motivation." That day, Nightingale, in his booming voice, said something that would change Jim's life forever: "If you spend an extra hour each day in study of your chosen field, you will be a national expert in that field in five years or less."

Jim was stunned, but the more he thought about it the more it made sense. Although he had never given a speech, he had always wanted to help people grow in areas of personal development and motivation.

He began his quest to put Nightingale's theory to the test by reading books and listening to tapes whenever he could. He also started excercising, became better organized, and joined a self-improvement study group. He persisted through weeks of temptations to quit, just by doing a little more each day to further his goal.

Within six months he had learned more than he had in his few years in college, and he began to believe he could turn his goal of becoming a motivational speaker into reality. All the hard work, the discipline, and study paid off. Jim now has delivered more than 2,500 speeches worldwide and has won every major award in the speaking industry.

Just like companies have market value, so do people. In the simplest terms, your market value increases by knowing and doing more. Knowledge is power, not only for your career, but also to improve your family and spiritual life. I once heard a quote that sums it up well, "Knowledge is like climbing a mountain; the higher you reach the more you can see and appreciate."

When I was a freshman in college I learned an unforgettable lesson.

I was having a rough week when there was a lot to do and very little time to do it. I was overwhelmed. I panicked.

That night a friend stopped by my dorm room. When I told him my problem, he said, "Mac, I'll share something with you that my grandmother told me a few years ago. She said to always remember: 'Inch by inch, life's a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard.'"

I said, "Bob, come on. Here I am drowning in work and your lifeline is a quote from your grandmother."

After he left, however, those twelve little words kept dancing in my head. I took out a piece of notebook paper and listed all the things I had to do in the next three days. That night I began knocking them off one by one.

Three days later I took out that paper and marked through the last thing on the list. It felt great! And then I took out another piece of paper and wrote down the words: "Inch by inch, life's a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard." I then folded the paper and put it in my wallet. As many of you know, I've been collecting quotes ever since.

You see, success doesn't come cascading like Niagara Falls; it comes one drop at a time through short-term, realistic goals.

Experts on motivation disagree on a lot of things, but one thing they all agree on is that your levels of motivation are directly tied to your expected probabilities of success. In other words, if you believe you can do something (the goals are realistic), you're likely to be highly motivated. If, however, you think you can't (because the goals are unrealistic) your motivation level falls greatly.

The lesson here is to continue to dream big dreams, but realize that the short-term goals that take you to the next plateau are the real keys to success.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "One of the greatest compensations in life is that no person can help another without helping themselves." How true it is!

Mary Kay Ash was the inspirational founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics. Many years ago I heard her speak to a group of executives, and she told of her first sales job when she was in her early 20's. She had been excited because she was attending her first convention, and was going to get to meet the top sales person of the company. At a reception, she made her way through the crowd, introduced herself, and asked th man to please share some of his secrets to success. And, do you know what he said...nothing. Absolutely nothing! He just walked away.

Mary Kay said it was a defining moment in her life, and she promised herself that if she ever enjoyed any success in her life, she would share it with others. Once she started her own company, she said, when she walked into a room she would pretend that everyone had a sign around their neck that said...MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT.

We all want to feel important, and one of the simplest acts of kindness, one of the simplest ways to make anyone feel important is to sincerely listen to what they have to say.

In my opinion, there is no real success, in any life, until they can discover the beauty of simple, random acts of kindness.

It is emblazoned on my brain forever. I simply refer to it as the "fall of '94." From 1990 to 1993 Successories grew over one hundred percent each year. We were mailing more than ten million catalogs annually and had opened more than sixty retail stores. We were on a roll. The simple concept o "decorate your walls with great ideas" had taken off.

Then Murphy's Law hit us like a ton of bricks. Everything that could go wrong, did. In June, Jim Allison, our CFO, was diagnosed with brain cancer at 47 years old. I was devastated for Jim and his family, and because of Jim's illness, software and fulfillment projects critical to our holiday success were delayed.

As hard as we tried, we couldn't catch up. The rapid growth had outstripped the company's infrastructure and our ability to manage it. It was every entrepreneur's nightmare, and when the dust settled in February, we discovered that our losses were significant. I must admit that for a guy in the attitude business, mine was pretty lousy for a few weeks.

Help came from Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary, who had joined our board of directors the previous year. He recognized the problem, walked into my office, and closed the door. He said, "Mac, I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm going to say. This is only a bump in the road, and there is no doubt in my mind that you can fix what's broken. We've grown over one hundred percent each year... and I'll guarantee you one thing- it didn't happen by accident."

As Mike continued to speak, I could feel the goose bumps. I could feel my spine begin to stiffen. I could feel the belief and the courage returning. It was a pivotal moment in my life.

What did I learn about Mac Anderson- and my team- from that failure? I decided my strengths were my people skills and my creative abilities, while my weaknesses, like many entrepreneurs, were in the details- accounting and operations that were critical to success. I needed help in those areas. I needed people who had done it already, people who could rebuild our infrastructure to grow the business again.

It was a painful wake-up call. I had failed greatly...but from that failure came valuable lessons.

Failure is a big part of life, but it's how we react to failing that will determine our destiny. If we learn from it and move on, it can help to make us all we can be. If you fear it to the extent that you never take risks, you'll never grow.

Laughter is to the soul what soap is to the body. In fact, researches suggest that we need a minimum of twelve laughs a day just to stay healthy. It can affect our brain chemistry and immune system in very positive ways. It also can be powerful in providing positive energy that can fight off negative thoughts.

Here's an exercise I want you to try the next time you're in the car alone and feel a little down in the dumps. When you hit an open stretch of road- or you might prefer to pull over and park- start laughing as loud and hard as you can for one solid minute. Not thirty seconds, but a full minute. Once you start it becomes easy to keep going because your brain is thinking...this is one of the nuttiest things I've ever done.

When you finally stop you will feel like a new person. The frown will have been transformed into a smile and the endorphins in your brain will have kicked in. It works. I guarantee it, because I've done it many times. Now here's a little tip...don't do it at stop lights, because a big, sensitive guy in the car next to you might think you're laughing at him. If that were to happen it could affect your "health" in a negative way.

Southwest Airlines does a wonderful job of laughing with their team, with their customers, and at themselves. About six months ago I was on a flight when the flight attendant announced over the P.A.system: "Today we have a gentleman on board who's celebrating his 99th birthday, and this is the first time he's ever flown." As you can imagine, the cabin broke out in light applause. Then she said, "Now on the way out, stop by the cockpit and wish him 'happy birthday'." Beautiful! It made my day. Everyone on board roared with laughter.

Laugh loud and laugh often. It'll keep you happy, keep you healthy, and keep your attitude headed in a positive direction.