If you were in the business of selling success motivation tapes to make a living, you would want to look successful, right? Well, me too. When I got in this business back in 1970, one of the first things I did was go out and buy myself a new Cadillac. In fact, I bought a new one each year for the next three years, and even got the third one paid for. Back in those days you could get a new Cadillac, without all the bells and whistles, for about $13,000. Since I was selling cassette tapes, and wanted to listen to them, I had a cassette player installed in my car.

Now, this background is just to set the stage for a very interesting and important concept that I want to share with you today. On May 1, 1970, I went into business with the late Bob Gannaway, who had been my Dale Carnegie instructor, to market the Earl Nightingale Success Motivation Programs that were produced on cassette. Of all the motivation messages we were selling, and by far the most important, was called “The Magic Word,” and the magic word was, and still is, “Attitude.” We soon learned that schools were our best prospects, as “Attitude” had become the buzz word for educators back in those days.

This series of events is something that changed my life for the rest of my days. When I began to call on schools across our state, and later across the nation, I spent a good deal of time in my car. Since I did not know a lot about the motivational messages, I listened to them as I drove along. Here is what was on the cassettes. Earl Nightingale was on the battleship Arizona when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and was one of the few who survived. He was an avid reader, had a golden radio voice and would later begin a radio program called “Our Changing World” that would be carried by more than 1,000 radio stations coast to coast.

What Earl was sharing with his radio audience was the “Wisdom of the Ages” from his reading, and this was the basis for his success motivation programs that I was selling. Over the next 10 years, I would listen repetitively to each of these recordings, some 50 to 75 in all, and would in time get the equivalent of a college degree in these various and important subjects. Now, to be sure this is the foundation for what I have been doing for the past 50 years.

The point of what I am saying today is simply this. There are all kinds of informational and motivational messages on cassette out there, and instead of listening to the radio as we travel, we can get a great education.

Our car can literally become a “Classroom on Wheels,” and by listening to quality and helpful messages as we travel, we can have an even better future than just passing time and being entertained. Make sense? I hope so, because the sooner you get started the more promising your future will be. As I am sure you know, repetition is the key to learning and by listening over and over again to the same message, it will stick and become your knowledge. Learning is fun, and I shall forever be grateful to the late Bob Gannaway. He sure made a difference in my life.

—

(Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in the Log Cabin Democrat in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated in over 375 newspapers in 35 states. For a personalized copy of “Your Future Begins Today” send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)