“I have great news for the reader—Tommy Newberry has written an incredible book! And he is absolutely right: What you think about yourself determines who you are; therefore, think strategically. Success Is Not an Accident helps us understand why success can be achieved by any person, in any situation, under any circumstance, but never by accident! You should read this book if you are setting big goals for enhancing your life and intentionally charting the path to make those big goals a reality. Let’s impact our world!”
Dan T. Cathy, president and COO, Chick-fil-A, Inc.
“Tommy Newberry provides a powerful approach for attaining personal success in all of life’s arenas. The philosophy and methods outlined in Success Is Not an Accident focus on the direct ways individuals can achieve their God-given potential. Tommy represents the very best in the crowded field of life coaching, and I have benefited tremendously from his work.”
J. Rex Fuqua, president and CEO, Fuqua Capital Corporation
“This enjoyable, fast-moving book is full of great ideas and insights anyone can use to enjoy a better life.”
Brian Tracy, author of The Way to Wealth
“If you are tired of responding to life and ready to start creating it, then I encourage you to read this book. Success doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by making the decision to be the driver of your bus and charting your course to a destination called Success. Thankfully, Tommy Newberry provides us with a map that will take us where we want to go.”
Jon Gordon, author of The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy
“Success Is Not an Accident overflows with life-changing, practical wisdom. I really like the stories, the succinct lists of action steps, and the powerful principles that translate purpose into practical reality. Read this book and you’ll have crystal-clear strategies and tools for unlocking your God-given potential.”
Dr. Tim Irwin, corporate psychologist and author of Run with the Bulls without Getting Trampled
“Authentic success happens only through focus and intentionality. I learned this truth from Tommy Newberry. We all have a responsibility to push beyond our comfort zones and maximize our positive influence at home, at work, and in the community. This book is easy to read and clearly shows you how to get from where you are today to where God wants you to be. I’ve benefited directly from working with Tommy, and you will too when you read and apply the lessons in Success Is Not an Accident.”
Dr. Vic Pentz, senior pastor, Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia
Visit Tyndale’s exciting Web site at www.tyndale.com
TYNDALE and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
The 1% Club, Success Is Not an Accident, and America’s Success Coach are registered trademarks of The 1% Club, Inc. All rights reserved.
Success Is Not an Accident: Change Your Choices, Change Your Life
Copyright © 1999, 2007 by Tommy Newberry. All rights reserved.
Cover photo copyright © by Matthias Kulka/Corbis. All rights reserved.
Author photo copyright © 2006 by Ted Domohowski. All rights reserved.
Designed by Jennifer Ghionzoli
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NKJV is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Published in association with the literary agency of The Knight Agency, 557 S. Main St., Madison, GA 30650
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Newberry, Tommy.
Success is not an accident / Tommy Newberry.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4143-1311-5 (sc : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-4143-1311-X (sc : alk. paper)
1. Success. 2. Success—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.
BF637.S8N435 2007
158.1—dc22 2006103497
This book is lovingly dedicated to
Mom and Dad and
my sisters, Cindy, Suzanne, Jenny, and Beth
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Lesson 1: Choose Success
Lesson 2: Choose Who You Want to Become
Lesson 3: Choose to Write Down Compelling Goals
Lesson 4: Choose to Invest Your Time Wisely
Lesson 5: Choose to Get Out of Your Own Way
Lesson 6: Choose Positive Visualization
Lesson 7: Choose a Maximum Energy Lifestyle
Afterword
Appendix
About the Author
Notes
Acknowledgments
Writing a book is a monumental project. Although the author’s name appears on the cover, it requires a team of dedicated people behind the scenes to make the undertaking a success. As I’ve learned over the years, few significant accomplishments can ever be completed alone, and this book is no exception. Though it would be virtually impossible to list all the people who have influenced me and contributed to Success Is Not an Accident, I want to recognize a special few who helped make this book possible.
First, I must thank the members of The 1% Club for their many suggestions, observations, and insights over the past fifteen years. I may hold the title of coach, but in reality I am still very much a student.
Thank you to Dick Parker, who helped me develop the original version of this book. Special thanks to my agent, Pamela Harty, who believed in me and in this project and helped make it all happen. Thanks to Carol Traver and Dave Lindstedt, from Tyndale, who caught the vision for this project and patiently provided productive feedback and sound advice. Thank you to my business partner, Steve Cesari, whose perspective and life experience added a new dimension to this updated version of Success Is Not an Accident.
Thanks to my parents, whose unconditional love, encouragement, and affirmation freed me to chart my own course and follow my dream. As the years go by, my appreciation grows for the example they set and the wisdom they passed down.
Boundless thanks to my wife, Kristin, who never let me forget how much she believed in me as I worked through the original manuscript, and more recently, as I completed the updates for this book and at the same time finished my next book, The 4:8 Principle.
Foremost, I want to thank God for my special combination of talents, gifts, and life experiences, as well as for the inspiration and creativity that allowed this book to become a reality.
Introduction
If you want to take your business, your marriage, or your entire life from good to great, Success Is Not an Accident will help you get there, perhaps faster than you ever dreamed possible. This book provides the launching pad you’ve been looking for. Whether you are seeking to grow your net worth or rebuild your self-worth, these principles and strategies will help you do just that. How can I be so sure?
The seven lessons in this book represent the foundation curriculum that I have been using in my coaching practice at The 1% Club since 1991. Together, the seven lessons represent a complete system for managing your life more effectively. In this updated and expanded version of Success Is Not an Accident, I have distilled and incorporated the most valuable insights from my clie
nts, as well as the lessons I have learned in the process of coaching them. If you like, think of these lessons as the secrets of the top 1% of successful people. They’re not really secrets, though. They just appear to be secrets because so few people pay attention to these principles or seriously set out to practice them. While the principles are quite simple, the results you can expect to achieve are quite remarkable!
The book you hold in your hands contains the absolute best ideas for getting from where you are now to where you really want to be in life. Just as professional and Olympic athletes have coaches, I want to be your success coach, your trainer for life. My passion is to help you become a world-class human being, someone who pulls out all the stops in each area of life.
Success Is Not an Accident is not a book about living the way most people live. You don’t need a book to do that; it happens by default. If you live your life like most people do, you will get what most people get and settle for what they settle for. Here’s a taste of most people’s experience:
• Currently, 49 percent of marriages end in divorce.
• More than 80 percent of people working today would rather be in another line of work.
• More than 50 percent of Americans are overweight.
• One out of three Americans will get cancer, and two out of five will suffer from heart disease.
• More than 60 percent of Americans, who live in the richest, most abundant civilization in history, will retire with little or no savings and will become dependent on so-called entitlements for survival.
No one plans to become mediocre. Rather, mediocrity is the result of no plan at all. Let me give you a simple but true formula: If you want to lead an extraordinary life, find out what the ordinary do—and don’t do it.
When I first wrote and self-published Success Is Not an Accident in 1999, I was certain that the principles I was teaching would be helpful and exceedingly practical to any reader committed to putting them into regular practice. At the time of my initial writing, I had been coaching successful entrepreneurs and their families for more than six years. When I wasn’t coaching, I found myself obsessed with researching the life stories of men and women who had put these timeless principles into action in their own lives. I consumed everything I could read or listen to that might help me better understand what makes some people unusually happy and successful. On the personal side, I had been married for three years and had been a dad for just two.
Since its initial release, Success Is Not an Accident has sold more than one hundred thousand copies, primarily through old-fashioned word of mouth, and it has now been translated into three languages. For the most part, this has happened quietly, gradually, and virtually unnoticed in the world of books and self-improvement. This “best-kept secret,” as many of my clients refer to it, has slipped under the radar and positively influenced thousands of lives with its simple, direct, and no-nonsense approach to maximizing one’s full potential. Now, ten years later, I am in my sixteenth year of what is commonly referred to as life coaching, and I’m loving every minute of it. I just celebrated my thirteenth year of marriage to my wife, Kristin, and together we are raising three boys—eleven and nine years old, and eighteen months. The challenges of life are more fun than ever. I feel very blessed indeed.
I have invested my entire adult life in studying and teaching the causes of peak performance. Since first writing this book, however, I have learned far more than I have taught. In working with entrepreneurs, CEOs, and business leaders in more than thirty different industries, as well as coaching hundreds of happy couples from numerous backgrounds, I have learned what it takes to turn around a business, a marriage, and a life. I have learned what it takes to get rid of the mental, emotional, and physical clutter that bogs down most people and robs them of the life satisfaction they crave. I have learned what it takes to experience the fulfillment that comes from living in sync with one’s God-given purpose. I have learned what it takes to double, triple, or even quadruple your income in as little as two or three years. Better yet, I have learned what it takes to work less and still earn more. Most importantly, though, I’ve learned that success is most definitely not an accident! With another ten years of field experience under my belt, I am more convinced than ever that success is absolutely predictable. Success happens for a reason!
When you incorporate the principles from each lesson of Success Is Not an Accident into your daily life, you will begin to experience the same explosive results my clients have repeatedly experienced. I have seen this happen over and over again, yet from time to time it still amazes me. I’ve seen the concepts you’re about to learn work for busy sales executives as well as stay-at-home moms. I’ve seen the principles work in golf, baseball, martial arts, and other athletic endeavors. I’ve seen them work for ambitious high-school students, those fresh out of college, and those earning six- or seven-figure incomes. I’ve seen the system work for both male and female clients. I have seen it work for my single clients as well as my clients who are married with kids. I can assure you that this life-management system will work for you to the exact degree that you apply its principles consistently in your day-to-day life.
This book, in essence, contains a formula that has been proven to generate positive, predictable results. I encourage you to blend my formula with your personality to create your own unique personal-success system. I want you to put your own slant on the concepts in this book, as long as you strictly abide by the principles. In other words, focus on the spirit of the law rather than just the letter. Whether your aspiration is to start your own business, earn straight A’s in school, move into your dream home, get lean, run a marathon, become a schoolteacher, generate millions in sales, put your faith into practice, or set a better example for your kids—the principles are still the same. And these principles of effective living are nonnegotiable. Universal principles work in our lives whether we like them, understand them, or even know about them. You can be confident that the principles taught in each lesson are built upon the firm foundation of truth. They are not untested theories or my particular opinions; instead, they are based on personal experience and extensive observation. The concepts that underlie this system are proven steps to both enjoying and succeeding in the game of life.
I’ve observed that when individuals stray from timeless principles, adversity of some kind is never far behind. You can discern this for yourself with children and adults alike. Unwavering principles govern each area of our lives. When we attempt to bend, stretch, or otherwise pervert them, we set ourselves up for inescapable pain and regret sooner or later. The most successful individuals who ever lived have resisted the natural human tendency to make up their own laws of life. Likewise, if you want to develop all your potential, you must avoid the trendy “principle of the day” mentality that has permeated our society. The Bible gives a clear promise for those who remember God’s universal principles: “Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the LORD” (Psalm 119:1, NLT).
The good news about universal principles is that they will always be there for you. No matter how often you abandon or slander them, they will still welcome you back, like the father of the Prodigal Son, with open arms. Naturally, you will still experience the repercussions of getting off track, but the right course will be only a principle or two away.
The principles supporting each lesson in this book can be compared to the fundamentals in baseball—moving the runner along, hitting the cutoff man, throwing strikes. The baseball team that adheres to the fundamentals most consistently wins most consistently. It is really no mystery. Even a talent-packed team of superstars will stop winning when they fail to execute the proper fundamentals. By refocusing on the basics, individuals as well as teams can break out of slumps.
View the lessons in this book as your playbook for successful living. They describe the essentials for living a remarkable life. Putting them into practice consistently is the prerequisite for designing a life worth living.
This playbook also includes a variety of drills and exercises that will sharpen your understanding and application.
For the rest of Success Is Not an Accident, allow me to be your personal life coach. As I tell my clients, my job is to help you get the most out of yourself. My goal is to help you reach your goals. Throughout each lesson in this book, I will challenge you to be the best you can be. I’ve tried to write with an underlying tone of encouragement and accountability. Sometimes, like any good coach, I may appear blunt or even harsh. Don’t take it personally. I just don’t want to let you off the hook. I do not want to see you cheat yourself and your family out of the fruits of your full potential.
Throughout this book, I will give you new information, new perspectives, new strategies, and new skills. I will break down the complex into the simple. Each lesson includes practical and usable methods for improving your performance. Sometimes, though, I won’t be teaching you anything new; I’ll just be reminding you of what you need to do and exactly when you need to do it.
I hope you will implement the entire system laid out in this book. If you do, it will change your life forever. Each lesson is a component of the entire system. While you will make significant gains by applying only one or two lessons, you will amaze yourself and others if you put the complete system into action. When you fully integrate the system into every area of your life, you will experience a surge of confidence, competence, and unparalleled optimism for the future. The responsibility for implementing it, though, is all yours. I cannot do it for you, and you cannot hire anyone else to do it for you. It is completely up to you.
Finally, in writing this book, I hope to further my personal mission of positively impacting people’s lives by teaching the timeless, proven principles of successful living. I do not claim to be superior in any way. In fact, you probably have many natural talents and past accomplishments that are greater than my own. I simply have a burning desire to share the truth about success with others. These truths existed long before I came into this world, and they will survive long after I am gone. Even though others may call you lucky, if you put into practice the principles that follow, you need not be surprised when you succeed. Success is in your hands. The seeds of greatness lie within us all. It is only when we stop believing that a better life is possible that we begin to settle for less.
Success Is Not an Accident Page 1
