INTRODUCTION
THE AGE OF INSPIRATION
I have ended all of my books with my favorite mantra: THANK GOD FOR GOD. This one begins with it, because if I have learned anything in my sixty years, it’s that if you believe in something greater than yourself, you will create the greatest self you can be.
All you need is a hands-on approach in order to live a really meaningful and successful life. In fact, success is right at your fingertips and in your hands.
I define true success as waking up excited and going to bed feeling safe. There are thousands of handbooks available on success but only one is attached to your arm—the only one you can count on. It’s your hand. God gave us hands to hold what is dear, grab what is exciting, and pick up what is needed. Whether those objects are love, money, or health, this little book will show you how everything you have ever dreamed of is right at your fingertips.
In 1986, I was asked to give a speech in Tampa, Florida, to a crowd of five hundred people. As a former ad guy, I was going around the world sharing my message that we are walking ads for ourselves. The image we create changes the way people look at us and act toward us. Like most advertisements, we, too, have headlines, visuals, copy, and unique selling propositions.
I inspired generations of people to ask the simple question, “What is your headline?” Positive advertising sells positively, and nobody wants to buy a negative image. I offered insight into how to sell the most important product in the world . . . you! I called it Youvertising.
When I landed in Tampa, my driver commented on how much he loved a speech I gave years ago called “You Are an Ad.” Oh no! The moment I heard that, I realized that this audience was the exact audience who had already heard my speech a year ago. Panic took over. My mind was racing. The river below the bridge we were passing looked like a better alternative than the embarrassment I would face by delivering the identical speech. With two hours until show time, I had to write a brand new talk.
I checked into the hotel, walked out onto my room’s veranda, looked out to the heavens, and asked myself, Why am I here? What is my purpose?
Mark Twain wrote that the two most important days of your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. This was to become my why day.
Suddenly a date came to my mind—June 11, 1975—the day I was nearly killed in a car crash in Rome, Italy. Was that accident the reason I was here?
HOW I TURNED A MESS INTO MY MESSAGE
While recuperating in an Italian hospital, I had learned five lessons. That morning in Tampa I wrote these lessons down with minutes to spare, went downstairs to a packed auditorium, and, with crib sheet in hand, delivered a talk from my heart that I would repeat hundreds of times throughout the years. So much for relying on canned speeches. This new one opened up my eyes to the real world. And every time I give it, I discover that people really do need a hand.
The story that sparked that life-changing speech became the basis for this book. The pages that follow are a narrative that shares the story of my recovery after my right hand was paralyzed in Rome, and the liberating discovery I made that morning in Tampa: Success is in everyone’s hands. It’s always there and as simple to use as counting to five. Thumbs Up is a simple roadmap that will guide you to a happier life. The steps, and the five chapters of this book, go like this:
1. Give the world a thumbs up. Regardless of your situation, when you raise your thumb, you raise your chances of success. Being paralyzed presents one of life’s greatest challenges. It certainly did for me when I lost the use of my right hand. But when I gave my prognosis the thumbs up, my hand and my life were up and running within a year. I turned my optimism into a belief system called optimalism: the belief that optimism creates optimal outcomes.
2. Point to your purpose. Your pointer finger points to your purpose in the world. To say that you have a purpose means you are not here for yourself but for something greater. Mahatma Gandhi’s purpose was “to wipe every tear from every eye.” Purpose is your why, and when you discover your why, you can point at any what, where, and who and make your dreams happen.
3. Give your middle finger to fear. Fear is our most misunderstood emotion. Thousands of years ago it saved us from being eaten by tigers by creating a “fight or flight” response. Good news: It’s no longer needed today. But all too often that old “watch out” mechanism alerts us to dangers that are less life threatening, like public speaking. As you will learn, giving fear your middle finger sends fear back into its eons-old cave.
4. March forth. The best way to rid yourself of dissatisfaction is to take action. That is what our fourth finger calls us to do—march forth! Action is the great divide between winners and whiners. Action gets things done. For thirty years I have closed all my businesses on the fourth of March so that my employees would make it their business to march forth on their dreams. They use this day off to take the day on. What will you do this March 4th? By the time you finish this chapter you will know.
5. Little is the new big. Your fifth finger is a reminder that the little things in life bring us the biggest joys. I call them peak moments—small in time but giant in spirit. A little thank you, a little hug, a little prayer, a little help, a little walk, a little time, a little thought make the biggest contributions to a world that has become a little crazy.
The biggest untapped resource in the world is your purpose. I ought to know. I wrote my last book, The Story of Purpose: The Path to Creating a Brighter Brand, a Greater Company, and a Lasting Legacy, on how companies’ brands and leaders with purpose in hand could reach new heights never imagined. Now I am sharing an even more important story—yours.
A life of purpose begins in the palm of your hand. For thousands of years, fortune-tellers looked at peoples’ palms and foretold their future. Called palmistry, this art was popular probably because what you heard became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Today, superstition aside, what you tell yourself is what you sell yourself. That’s why Thumbs Up works—because your purpose is all about your unique gifts and talents. To find your best self, you need to start with your best Thumbs Up thought. A life of purpose begins to build when you give yourself the thumbs up. The rest will follow.
This book is not about the pursuit of happiness. It’s about the result of happiness that comes from giving yourself the GO sign.
The word “inspire” is from the Latin inspirare, which means to breathe in. In a world that is out of breath, this story is an invitation to the Age of Inspiration, a time when we will look to the greatest resource humankind has—the human spirit.
With the right mind-set, everything is in reach. Even peace. Imagine for a moment a world in which people smiled upon one another, pointing to greater community, putting fear aside, and marching forth hand in hand, all doing just one little thing for another. Ultimately, our human attitude will determine humanity’s altitude.
Success in business, as in life, comes in many shapes. How do you grab it today and make it yours? This handbook will teach you how to use your hands to pick up more than you ever dreamed was possible. Deeper love, more meaningful work, better health, greater wealth, and richer faith are all within your grasp.
It begins with giving yourself a hand. Now take my hand and let’s begin the journey.