There's Always a Way E-Book

Tony Little

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Seitenzahl: 368

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Praise

Title Page

Copyright Page

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 - There’s Always a Way to Success

Always

Tah Da, Tah Da!

Ways to Success

I Never Saw a Person Go Wrong by Taking the Right Road

“It’s Not Your Fault”

Chapter 2 - Why I’ve Been Such a Failure

Taking a Chance

Bad Me

Even Badder Me

Change Your Environment, Change Your Life

Impossible Possible Goals

Building Bodies and Bodies in Buildings

Look Both Ways Before Crossing

Not Too Cool

Last Bows

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me

Chapter 3 - Why I’ve Been Such a Success

Luck Is Not So Lucky

Luck Had Nothing to Do with It

What Jane Fonda Didn’t Do

Who Says You Can’t?

Setting Goals

I’m Here to Solve Your Problem

Where Does Success Come From?

Why Rejection Is Good

The Sound of One Door Slamming

Always Take Yes for an Answer

When All Else Fails, Tell Them a Story

How to Set Records

Onward and Upward

Chapter 4 - Change Your Mindset,Change Your Life

William Had the Words

Your Problem Is Always the Same

Hey, There’s a Cassette Recorder Running Inside My Head!

What’s Inside Your Head Is Inside Mine, Too

Chapter 5 - Change Your Life, Change Your Mindset

Here’s Where to Start

Become a Lean, Mean, Self-Observation Machine

Find Out the Things You Can Change and the Things You Can’t

Transform Problems into Solutions (Because There’s Always a Solution)

Transform Criticisms into Compliments

The Picture in Your Head Is Worth a Thousand Thoughts

How to Do a Power Visualization

Practice Positive Self-Talk (Or: I Like Talking to Myself. Sometimes I Even Listen)

Avoid Magnifying the Negative

Think You Can

Replace the Word Should with Will

Negative People Suck!

The Past Is the Only Dead Thing That Smells Sweet

Think Positive for Your Health’s Sake

Read It! Be It!

Chapter 6 - Beyond Thinking Outside the Box (What Box?)

Where Were You When 9/11 Took Place?

Think What Others Aren’t Thinking

Beyond Thinking Outside the Box

Think “Improvement” as Well as “Original”

Time to Go Beyond

More Beyond the Boxers

Chapter 7 - You Gotta Step Out to Stand Out

How to Step Out of the Chorus Line

Learn the Power of Small Steps

The Goldest Is the Boldest

Who Are These Guys?!

Use Whatever Works

Go Ahead, Try It

Sometimes You Need Shoes to Step Out

Yep, Drop Names!

Chapter 8 - Self-Brand Your Way to Success

All You’ll Ever Need to Know about Self-Branding

How to Sell Yourself and Your Product

Don’t Be Bland, Be a Brand

The Long Arm of a Personal Brand

Chapter 9 - The Greatest Selling Secret of All Time

How to Succeed in Business by Really Trying

Per-Sis-Tense

The Most Powerful TV Sales Tool of Our Time

The Number of the Beast Gets My Number

What’s It Like Not to Have a Nose?

Not!

What Do Americans Believe In Most?

Chapter 10 - Give It All You’ve Got!

How to Master Any Situation

Everything You’ve Got!

The Cosmetics Warrior

“Anna Nicole Smith Loses Weight ... Trainer!”

Harnessing the Power of Purpose

Chapter 11 - Tell a Tale, Make a Sale

Do You Mind If I Grab Your Mind?

You’re Under My Spell!

Sales Lessons from Old-Time Musclemen

How to Create the Desire to Consume in a Sentence

Think Story in Everything You Do

Chapter 12 - Be Smart: Keep It Simple

It Pays to Be Simple

Tony’s “Three Strong Statements” Rule

Who Said Short Comes Up Short?

Simple Doesn’t Mean Dumb

Don’t Let Them Think Too Much

Plain Speech

Chapter 13 - How to Thrill Your Audience into Buying

Food for Your Ears

She Did It with Music

Lyrics Count, Too

There’s Always a Way—with Music

Beat Me, Baby!

A Trip with the Kiddies to Wal-Mart

Do It with Music

Chapter 14 - Passion Sells

Change Your World

Fuel Your Fires!

Reclaiming

Fire!

Passion Sells

Chapter 15 - The Neglected Keyto High-Performance Selling

What You Absolutely Must Do to Develop the Selling Edge

Tony’s Nine Reasons Why Working Out Makes Things Work Out

Tony’s Exercises for Staying Fit at Your Desk

Chapter 16 - Tony’s Top Selling Secrets101

That Famous Extra Mile

The Secret of Asking the Right Questions

A Question Should Also Be a Solution

Drill More Oil Wells

Love What You Sell and Sell What You Love

Use Repetition in the Right Way

Make It New

Pay Attention

Chapter 17 - Tony’s Advanced-Standing Selling Secrets

Show Up

Hey, You’re Onstage Anyway; Might as Well Act That Way

Make ‘Em Laugh!

Why Not Have Fun at It?

How to Get a Lot Back for a Little (No Pun Intended)

Say It without Saying It

Chapter 18 - Tony’s Totally Stupid,Idiotic, Useless Sales Secrets

Made You Look, Made You Look!

Study Your Customers, Study Your Competition

Make Your Customer the Star

Criticism: File It, Use It, or Forget It

Success Is in the Details

Have Your Sizzle and Eat It, Too

“You Gotta Know the Territory!”

Niche Marketing

Chapter 19 - Begin It Now!

Time to Go to Lunch

Let’s Sum Up

Going Proactive

The Best Advice I Ever Received

Chapter 20 - PS˿Watch and Shop: The Inside Story

Praise for Tony Little’s

There’s Always a Way

“For decades, Tony Little has inspired millions to improve their lives via direct-response television and home shopping. Now, with the inspirational messages and life tips included in There’s Always a Way, he’s doing the same in print. By sharing stories from his life and openly discussing the obstacles he has overcome to create a successful life, this book is Tony’s greatest inspirational achievement yet!”

—Thomas Haire Editor-in-Chief,ResponseMagazine

“In four short years, Tony has taken the HoMedics Micropedic pillow to its position of being the #1 pillow sold in the history of the Home Shopping Network. However, his mindset is that he would rather this be considered significant, as opposed to successful. His significance, of course, is that he has positively impacted others with a healthier lifestyle. His significance comes from improving others’ lives.”

—Doug Petty Director of Sales, HoMedics, Inc.

“I love Tony’s style and upbeat approach. His simple steps make things happen. This is a fun must-read for life and business success.”

—Steve DiAntonio Chairman and CEO, Color Me Beautiful, Inc.

“Tony Little is the consummate professional for our business. He would be the first person I would go to with a new and innovative product to showcase. I am proud to have been involved with Tony in the beginning of his career and helped start it in some way.”

—George Simone President and CEO, Geo Management Corp.

“Tony has climbed to the top of both the fitness world and now the business world, despite numerous obstacles. He has achieved his loftiest goals and now shows you how you can achieve yours as well. If Tony says, ‘You can do it!’—you can count on it.”

—John Figarelli Executive Director, National Fitness Hall of Fame

“This is an outstanding self-help book—vintage Tony Little. Its title defines its clearly articulated message, and it reads the way Tony sells: with enthusiasm and simplicity, dedication and commitment, humor and energy. Take note of the many parables and vignettes about great poets, statesmen, scientists, artists, and athletes. I believe the message Tony conveys extends beyond salesmanship to provide a philosophy for successful living and a road map for motivation, attitude, and positive self-esteem. An easy read written by an honest, unique, and special person.”

—Herbert Goldstein, PhD, ABPPPsychologist, author, and immediate Past-Chair of the FloridaBoard of Psychology

“Tony Little is one of the most interesting and caring individuals I have ever had the opportunity to know. He is also one of the greatest entrepreneurs and salespeople of this century. This book is a road map for anyone who would like to know how to travel down their own path to success.”

—David OkerlundCommunications coach, professional speaker, and founder ofThe Creative Communications Institute

“Tony has built a billion-dollar brand. Everything he touches turns to gold! Make that platinum!!”

—Kevin Harrington CEO of TVGoods.com

“You should read this book today—right now! If you have a need to succeed and refuse to lose, Tony shows you ‘there’s always a way.”’

—Thom McFadden Actor, coach to the stars, and author ofActing for Real

Copyright © 2010 by Tony Little. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Little, Tony, 1956-

There’s always a way : how to develop a positive mindset and succeed in business and life / by Tony Little with David L. Carroll.

p. cm.

eISBN : 978-0-470-59764-4

1. Success in business. 2. Success. 3. Change (Psychology) I. Carroll, David L. II. Title.

HF5386.L73 2010

650.1-dc22

2009041769

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank my family, my most prized asset in this wonderful, crazy world. Tara and Trent: You have been nothing but the greatest experience of my life. You’ve stood by me through all my ups and downs, and I’m proud of your good hearts, hard work, and individualism. I love you.

To Melissa, my wife. Your positive attitude, goal setting, and unselfish support of me sitting on the back porch every night working on this book, then coming out every time I needed you to read over some part of it, were really important to me, and contributed to my excitement in writing it.

To my brothers and sisters, who have always been there during my hard times. I don’t say it enough times, but I love you. To all members of my staff who make me laugh and who support me with their incredible ability to work hard and smart, and to always be there for me, even though sometimes I am too much of a perfectionist. To Steve, Elliott, and their entire crew from SSA, who, though a big PR company, have always acted more like family toward me. To all my best friends who supported me during the good and bad times, which were many. Thank you—you know who you are, and that I will always be there for you. I promise.

To all the people at the different shopping channels and infomercial companies that gave me so many opportunities in the wonderful world of watch and shop. To Kevin Harrington, judge on ABC show Shark Tank.

To all the manufacturers and vendors that supported me with hands-on product development and concepts for this book. You are the best of the best.

To the Waxman Literary Agency, especially Holly Root and Scott Waxman, who believed in me enough to represent me. To the prestigious and magnificent John Wiley & Sons publishing company, which is at the highest level of its literary game. Shannon Vargo, Matt Holt, Beth Zipko, Linda Indig and team, who worked hand in hand with me, and who believed in me enough to give me the wonderful opportunity to bring my story to the world. As crazy a story as it is.

To David L. Carroll, who coauthored this book with me, and who has to be the best writer in the world. Without him there would be no book called There’s Always a Way. Even though there’s always a way.

And, of course, to all my customers who have put their trust in me and in my products. And who, by word of mouth, have truly made me who I am today. To all of you, I can never say “thank you” enough. You are positive, courageous people.

Finally, this book is dedicated to my mother, Viola Ruth Little, who was strong enough to change my environment, and this decision changed the course of my life forever.

Best in health and life always, and always believe in yourselves.

Tony Little

ADVERSITIES OF MY LIFEVICTORIES OF MY LIFEAlmost drowned twiceDidn’t drown twiceShot at twiceMissed twiceElectrocuted twiceStill here today (more creative)Four car accidentsSurvived all of them—barelyMy mom divorcedBut she helped me grow up sane anywayMy dad kills himselfBut found happiness before his medical issuesIn trouble with policeLater inducted into the Fitness Hall of FameDrugged and kidnapped by predatorSurvived unharmed and unmolestedFour herniated discs in backWon Mr. Florida and Mr. Junior AmericaOne herniated disc in neckPlaced fifth in Mr. America contestThree surgeries on right kneeJay Leno refers to me as “America’s Personal Trainer”One surgery on left kneeFirst celebrity to sell on the Home Shopping NetworkDouble hernia surgeryMy first infomercial sells over seven million videosHad walking pneumonia twiceLater sold over seven million Gazelle GlidersAlmost died from spinal meningitisLived to tell the taleVery sick from bacterial meningitisLater made first Gazelle Glider infomercialDepressed and out of a jobLater won 14 Platinum Video AwardsStill depressed and out of a jobLater won nine Gold Video AwardsTotally brokeLater became Florida Entrepreneur of the YearStarted my own business on aBecame the most successful TV salesman of all timeshoestringwith three billion dollars in salesFour reconstructive face surgeriesPublished three books on fitness, and still look pretty goodBurned my buttocks in a pool of acidBecame all time record breaking infomercial kingLived through abusive marriageSurvived abusive marriageOwed IRS 1.1 million dollarsPaid back every cent in half the allotted timeForced to auction off my mansion to pay the IRSBought a new and better mansionMy son gets hit by a carMy son survives (I love my son)My daughter has head surgeryMy daughter survives (I love my daughter)I never went to collegeBoth my kids go to college (almost finished ☺)One lonely guy for many yearsNow married and in love with twins on the way(P.S. Did I tell you I was held back in first grade? Who gets held back in first grade???Nothing was ever easy for me!)

But remember: There is Always a Way!

Tony Little

1

There’s Always a Way to Success

“Life is either a daring adventure—or nothing.”

—Helen Keller, deaf and blind writer and lecturer

“I had learned, from years of experience with men, that when a man really DESIRES a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win.”

—Napoleon Hill, motivational business writer

“If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won’t, you most assuredly won’t. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.”

—Denis Waitley, motivational business writer

“Whenever I hear it can’t be done, I know I’m close to success.”

—Mary Kay Ash, entrepreneur

There’s Always a Way to Success

Always

Always?

Did I say that?

Always a way to success? No matter how hopeless or risky or impossible your situation seems to be?

Well, yeah, from my experience, and from the experiences of tens of thousands of successful people, that’s pretty much the way it works. But only if you know how, as Star Trek’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard liked to tell his crew, to “make it so.”

Hi! I’m Tony Little, that hyper guy you see every time you turn on your TV set—the one with the blond ponytail and baseball cap.

I’m the fellow in the infomercial manically scissoring back and forth on my Gazelle Glider exercise machine and insisting that “You can do iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”

I’m also the guy who’s been bellowing at you on the Home Shopping Network for several decades now, selling everything that’s not nailed down, including my own company’s line of exercise tapes, fitness items, and wellness products.

Selling is my game—and my passion. I’m confident, enthusiastic, energetic, positive, and successful. I’m always brutally honest with myself and others. I never go backwards; I move straight ahead. After living in this world for 52 years, and after battling my way up from poverty and juvenile delinquency to become the most successful TV salesman and personal trainer of all time, experience has shown me one of the few sure things in life: No matter what obstacles you’re facing, and no matter what it is you crave the most—financial success, personal success, job success—there is always a way to achieve it. That’s right, always a way. As long as you’re willing to look for it and work for it. As long as you refuse to lose.

In this book I’m going to prove it to you.

I’m going to give you hassle-free, everyday advice that will make everything you touch turn to gold. I want you to be the best business head you can be. And not just business, either. The best you can be, period!

Because everything that applies to selling applies to life as well. If you’re an enthusiastic, successful executive or retailer or manager or worker, you’ll be an enthusiastic, successful partner, friend, and family member, too. Apply the tricks and tracks of salesmanship I tell you about in this book, and these lessons will flow over into everything you do.

I’ll start by telling you my own saga of adversity to victory. Then I’ll tell you stories of both ordinary and famous people who have overcome the most horrendous obstacles in life and gone on to achieve the seemingly impossible.

“A great many years ago I purchased a fine dictionary. The first thing I did with it was to turn to the word ‘impossible,’ and neatly clip it out of the book. That would not be an unwise thing for you to do.”

—Napoleon Hill, motivational business writer

This book will motivate you, energize you, and inform you. It’s full of commonsense strategies you can use to find your own tailor-made path up the mountain of success to the wealth and well-being you desire and deserve. This book is a no-BS solution to revitalizing your life, and to getting what you want, when you want it. I hope you enjoy it and that you’ll pass it along to people you care about when you’re finished.

Tah Da, Tah Da!

I once knew a guy who’d just lost an executive position at a big New Jersey pharmaceutical company, and was having a tough time finding a new job. He was so dejected he seemed to have sewn himself into a cocoon and wasn’t making any efforts to get out.

I remember exactly the way this poor guy described his brain freeze. “I feel like an itty-bitty little boat stalled in the middle of the ocean,” he said. “I’m looking around, but there are no Coast Guard rescue ships steaming in my direction to save me. Where are my friends? Where’s anybody to help? I’m in it alone, man, and I’m feeling totally screwed.”

Friendless. Alone. Screwed. You feel like quitting. Maybe you’ve even quit a little bit already? Maybe you’ve ...

Yeahhhhhh! Stop right here!

These tough luck stories and a million like them are hard, sure. You’re certain there’s nothing you can do to pull yourself out of the hole. Doom and gloom.

But wait a sec, my people. Tah da! Tah da! Coast Guard ship to the rescue.

“Success is getting up one more time than you fall down.”

—Anonymous

The fact is, the reality of these tough situations can turn out a whole lot different.

How so?

Because no-win situations and no-exit scenarios, even the worst ones you can imagine—a broken back, a career-ending car accident, a smashed-in face, a drug and alcohol habit (all of which, as you’ll see, I’ve lived through)—can one day turn out to be your million-dollar jackpot in Las Vegas.

I’ll tell you why I think this is true.

Because there’s always a way.

You may not believe this claim. My advice is to give it a shot. Try living with this thought constantly in your mind: There’s always a way. You’ll be amazed how a simple phrase can exert so much power for change over so many aspects of your life.

Ways to Success

What are these mysterious ways I’m talking about? Here’s a taste:

• You’ll find a way to success in life and in business when you start thinking outside the box.

• You’ll find a way to success when you change your mindset from negative to positive.

• You’ll find a way to success when you get negative people out of your life. Negative people suck!

• You’ll find a way to success when you stick to your principles, and do what you know is right.

• You’ll find a way to success when you learn to stop saying “I can’t” and say “I will.”

• You’ll find a way to success when you realize that every failure comes with a toolkit for success built in. As famed motivational counselor Denis Waitley puts it, “Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker.”

• You’ll find a way to success by setting goals and pursuing them with passion and dedication. “The person who makes a success of living,” remarked Hollywood mogul Cecil B. DeMille, “is the one who sees and sets his goal steadily, and aims for it unswervingly.”

• You’ll find a way to success when you learn to take the initiative, the bold, daring step, in every challenging situation. He who hesitates is not only lost. He’s a loser.

• You’ll find a way to success in life and in business when you learn to come at the competition with everything you’ve got, all the time—when you become a lean, mean, single-minded selling machine.

• You’ll find a way to success when you learn to sell yourself.

These and many other action formulas are the tools in my own personal success kit. They are the methods that have helped me over the past 23 years to reach 45 million customers in 81 countries, and to sell them more than $3 billion worth of merchandise. They’ve guided me in my personal life to become a better husband, a more attentive father, a kinder friend. They’ve brought me health, wealth, recognition, and self-esteem. They’re my personal techniques for success, and I’m going to tell you about them in the following pages. They come with my personal guarantee.

Which is this: I promise you right now, with all my heart, that if you use the techniques in this book at the right time, in the right place, in the right way, they will make you a better salesperson and a genuinely more effective human being.

Guaranteed.

I Never Saw a Person Go Wrong by Taking the Right Road

Here’s a way of looking at life and success that has always motivated me.

Imagine you’re standing at the foot of a 20,000-foot-high mountain, looking up. You’re determined to climb this mountain and to plant your banner of success at the summit.

But the mountain is very high and very steep. From your vantage point below you see a number of trails winding their way to the top. Some follow a steep ascent straight up. Some zigzag along the sides of the mountain. Some disappear into the woods and reemerge thousands of feet above.

These trails, symbolically speaking, each represent a different pathway—a different way—to achievement, riches, and happiness. Some of the trails are narrow; some are broad. They all eventually lead to the top. Your job standing here at the foot of the peak is to use your intelligence, skills, and goals—along with the strategies I’ll tell you about—to find the path that works most effectively for you on your journey to success. Then, follow it.

And when you’re on top, believe me, the view is great! The famous theatrical producer Billy Rose once remarked, “I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich. Rich is better.”

It’s the same for the mountain. I’ve stood at the bottom of the mountain and I’ve stood on the top.

The top is better.

“It’s Not Your Fault”

Nope, I’m not going to let it go yet.

I’m going to tell it to you again and again, until it percolates into the bottom of your brain, and prepares you to get the absolute most out of the techniques featured in this book.

Remember the movie Good Will Hunting?

Robin Williams is a psychiatrist, and Matt Damon plays Will Hunting, a troubled young man who also happens to be a world-class genius.

Remember the scene where Williams keeps assuring Damon that the terrible things that have happened to him in his young life are not his fault?

Williams says these words to his young patient quietly at first: “It’s not your fault.”

Damon nods and smiles.

Williams repeats them.

Damon looks on patiently, assuring Williams that he understands.

But Williams keeps at it. He continues to repeat the phrase “It’s not your fault” over and over again, relentlessly, almost fiendishly.

For several minutes Damon listens to this monotonous mantra with passive agreement. Then he starts to get annoyed. Then he gets angry. Then he gets really angry.

Finally, he breaks down and begins to sob.

By repeating a truth that the young hero does not consciously know or believe, or even want to believe, and saying it over and over again, the message pile drives its way through his turtle shell of defenses. As a result, young Will Hunting has a breakthrough of self-understanding that changes his life.

So, for the record, let me repeat the lesson that can change your life—and that you, I, and all of us should repeat to ourselves a gazillion times a day. If I could shout this advice to you I would. Since I can’t, I’ll shout it on the page:

Recite this phrase 10 times when you get up in the morning, and recite it 20 times before you go to bed at night.

Work with this phrase. Dance with it. Make love to it. It’s got magic in it, and music. Keep it running in the back of your mind like a motor at low idle. Remember it when you’re facing a challenge—especially when that negative person at the desk or across the counter or over the phone tells you, “No ... you can’t ... that’s impossible ... you’re screwed!”

“Success is getting up one more time than you fall down.”

—Anonymous

Use it and profit. Because, as you’ll see, when you change your mindset you change your life.

There’s always a way.

Tony’s Takeaways

• A wish changes nothing. A decision changes everything.

• Make a decision. Right or wrong, it’s still a decision. It will make things happen.

• Attitude equals altitude.

• The view from the summit is worth the effort.

• Success: It doesn’t come easy. The stars you see at the top in different fields from business to showbiz? You may think it came easily for them. But most paid their dues for 10, 20 years before they got there. You just haven’t heard their whole story.

2

Why I’ve Been Such a Failure

“Having been here and lost, to be here and win, I’ve got to tell you, winning is really a lot better than losing, a lot better.”

—Kate Winslet, British actress (receiving her Oscar on Academy Award night)

“Ultimately, success is not measured by first-place prizes. It’s measured by the road you have traveled: how you have dealt with the challenge and the stumbling blocks you’ve encountered along the way.”

—Nicole Haislett, Olympic swimming champion

“There is nothing better than adversity. Every defeat, every heart-break, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.”

—Og Mandino, sales guru

“Two men look out the same prison bars. One sees mud and the other stars.”

—Frederick Langbridge, English poet

Why I’ve Been Such a Failure

Taking a Chance

I’m going to tell you some things that hurt to talk about. Things that are a little embarrassing, even.

About what a loser I’ve been at certain moments in my life. About the self-defeating things I’ve done to myself and others. About how low I’ve sunk, and how desperate I’ve been. About how many times my back’s been pressed tight up against the wall.

This is probably not what you’d expect to hear from a guy who shouts “You can do it!” to so many people—from a man whose life seems to be a public testimonial to making money, developing self-esteem, and charging people up with super-positive energy.

But here it is.

I’m telling you these things not because I want you to feel sorry for me, or because I think I’m worse off than any other guy.

I’m telling you because I believe that each person’s life contains valuable lessons in living—and I want to tell you mine. And also because I’ve learned that it really doesn’t matter what the odds against you are when you’re trying to succeed. If you have the will and the drive and the hunger, you’ll always find a way.

Look, I have weird hair—a long, teased ponytail. I’m just an ordinary guy. I’m short. I’m loud. I’m hyper. I never went to college. I struggle with my weight. I have a bad back. A lot of times I fall flat on my butt. To be brutally honest, there are really only a few qualities that separate me from all those sad-looking men and women sitting over there on the losing team’s bench.

What are they? Just these:

• I believe in myself wholeheartedly.

• I believe that hardships, failures, and obstacles are put in our way to make us stronger—and to help us succeed.

• I believe in doing things a little differently than everybody else, and in looking for simple, commonsense solutions hiding in the complexities.

• I believe that in order to fulfill your true destiny you must use every tool and resource at your disposal. If there are none handy, figure out where they’re hidden. They are always there. ’Cause there’s always a way.

• Finally, I believe that you have to know where you’re going in order to get there. Remember the scene in Alice in Wonderland when Alice arrives at a crossroads and asks the White Rabbit which road she should take? The Rabbit asks where Alice is going. Alice admits she doesn’t know. “Well then,” the Rabbit shoots back, “I guess it doesn’t make much difference which one you choose!” Moral: Whatever you do, and wherever you’re headed, have well-defined goals. Then pursue them with intention, gusto, and hellacious persistence. You can do it!

“Birds make great sky circles of their freedom. How do they learn it? They fall, and by falling, they are given wings.”

—Rumi, Sufi poet

Bad Me

When I was a young man growing up, I went from failure to failure and flop to flop.

Every new scheme I tried blew up in my face.

Every time I was about to climb out of the black hole, something pulled me down.

I had a tendency to hurt myself physically as well as socially. My body was violently smashed up in four serious auto accidents. I was nearly electrocuted twice, once while playing with a generator in the bathtub, another time when a short from a hot water heater blew me out of the shower and through a glass door. I fell through the ice twice, almost ending up sleeping with the fishes both times. One day at work I unknowingly sat in a puddle of flesh-eating acid. A few hours later I ended up in a pool of my own blood.

I was born in Fremont, Ohio, a small town in the middle of the farm belt. At 11 years old, when a lot of kids were over swimming in Pete’s Pond, I was picking cucumbers nine hours a day in the Ohio sun and pulling cables of copper wire out of broken washing machines for resale. This work seemed like torture at the time. Looking back, it gave me a solid work ethic.

No matter how hard I worked, though, it was never enough to satisfy my father.

“A positive person looks at a ‘No’ as an invitation to negotiate. They know that there are so many nos that have to be collected before they get to their goal. You have to collect your quota of nos before you get to yes.”

—Tony Little

He was a grim, violent man, a little like Daniel Day-Lewis’s character in the film There Will Be Blood. He abused everyone in the family, including my mother. I rarely remember him speaking to me the entire time I was growing up. He spent his days and his nights working at a small oil refinery, trying to make it into a successful business. When his venture went belly-up, he took off for parts unknown, leaving our little family without a word and without a dollar. My mother, a high school art teacher, was left alone to support me, my siblings, and our household all by herself. Many years later my dad settled down and found happiness with a new wife and stepdaughter.

Eventually, though, he killed himself.

Even Badder Me

I had attention deficit disorder (ADD) as a child and as a teenager. This made it practically impossible for me to concentrate in class.

By the time I was in ninth grade I could describe every picture hanging on the walls of the principal’s office. I was sent there at least once a week for cutting up in class or wising-off with the teacher. Once I got a three-day suspension for strutting down the school corridor wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a rooster on it and a caption beneath that read “Super Cock.”

I was shot at in cornfields by farmers. I got into fistfights. I hung with the local juvenile delinquents. (I don’t know why, but I always liked these guys better than the honor roll goody-goodies—probably because they taught me how to cut through the BS.)

My best friend growing up was an other-side-of-the-tracks kid we nicknamed “Dog.”

One day Dog and I were walking to school. When we reached the front door I stopped, turned to him, and said, “Hey, Dog, I don’t feel like going to class today. Let’s hitchhike to California!”

Three days later Dog and I were wandering around downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma, without a dime in our pockets and with no place to sleep. I was for pushing on, but Dog wanted to go home. So we went to a local church and talked up the pastor. He called my mom, who was forced to buy us plane tickets home.

When I returned to school that next week with my mother in tow, the principal took her aside, shook his head gravely, tsk-tsked a bunch of times, and announced that I “would never amount to anything in life.”

Years later, after I’d become the most successful personal trainer and TV salesman in the world, my mother liked to remind me of the principal’s fearful prophesy. “Remember those words,” she used to tell me. “They’ll keep you humble.”

Maybe, though as comedian Bob Hope quipped after receiving a gold medal from President John F. Kennedy, “I feel very humble—but I think I have the strength of character to fight it.”

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.”

—William James, American psychologist and philosopher

Change Your Environment, Change Your Life

When I was in high school I found my real passion in sports.

As a freshman I worked my way up to become the fullback on the football team. Soon I was dreaming of a Big Ten college scholarship. We had a full schedule of games that year—in Ohio people take their football very seriously—and in one of them I smashed head-on into a player named Rob Lytle, who would later play pro football for 14 seasons with the Denver Broncos.

In the collision I tore the cartilage in my knee, and surgery followed. From that time on, whenever I tried to run with a football my knee popped out of joint.

No scholarship this time around.

Then one day, when I was 16 years old, my 22-year-old friend Dave stole an olive green Firebird and took me for a joyride. After running the car into a cornfield and doing a lot of stupid things (like driving the car around in the cornstalks doing doughnuts), we got caught by the police and hauled down to the station. I was a minor, and Dave was over 18. I knew he could do six years for car theft if convicted. So I took the rap and said I stole the vehicle.

For hours on end I sat in a jail cell getting interrogated by cops yelling trash in my face, wanting to know why I stole the Firebird, and where I got the false plates for it (Dave had boosted them in a parking lot).

After listening to my clueless answers for a while, my grillers figured out that I was taking a fall and hadn’t really done anything wrong.

They switched their tactics and started urging me to rat on Dave. I kept sticking to my story. I might have been misguided; I don’t know. But I believe in loyalty.

Finally, my mother was forced to hire an attorney, and we headed off for a day in juvenile court. During the hearing the judge called me over.

“From what the police tell me, Mr. Little, you obviously didn’t steal that car,” he said. “I don’t know why you’re holding out for this friend of yours.”

I shrugged.

“Nevertheless,” he went on, “you’ve definitely been hanging out with a bad crowd here in town, and you definitely need a change of environment. Don’t you think?”

I shrugged again.

“So let’s make a deal. I’ve talked to your mom and your attorney. They’ve come up with a way to solve this whole mess. Do you want to know what it is?”

Whatever.

“Your mom says she has a brother living in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, and that he’d be willing for you to come down and live with him and his family.”

The judge smiled down at me paternally.

“If you pack up now, move south, and don’t come back to Ohio for a couple of years, then this whole case will go bye-bye. Nothing will go on your record. It’s obvious you didn’t steal the car, son. But you do need a better place to grow up in.”

I was stunned. I kind of stood there with my mouth drooping. “Of course,” the judge went on, “if you decide to stick around and we have to prosecute this in a serious way, there could be complications. I’m not crazy about the idea, but we might eventually have to ship you off to juvy.”

Point made. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. Within a week I was headed down to Florida to a new home and a new life in Tampa Bay. My mom had made a tough love decision that changed my environment and my fate forever. And in the end I learned a lesson that I would never forget—change your environment, change your life.

“I am a little deaf, a little blind, a little impotent, and on top of this are two or three abominable infirmities, but nothing destroys my hope.”

—Voltaire, French writer

Impossible Possible Goals

My first few months in Florida were a disaster. I went into a super funk. No one in my uncle’s house could cheer me up.

I was a teenage kid who’d been torn away from buddies, girlfriends, house, family, everything I’d known and loved all my life. For the first few months I cold-shouldered every boy and girl in my new school, and kept totally to myself. The more I sulked, the worse I felt.

But there’s always a way.

I’d busted up my knee pretty bad on the football field back in Ohio, which meant that I couldn’t play sports or gym in the new high school. At the same time, I wanted to do something that was seriously physical, and that would make me feel better about myself.

I came up with a scheme. I’d turn my knee injury into an asset. I’d change adversity into victory.

I went to the school phys ed office and asked the coach if I could use the weight room during gym period. Bodybuilding wasn’t looked on as a sport in the late 1970s, and the coach was dubious. So I pushed a bit. Maybe I was even selling a bit, cause I’d already learned that no matter how many “no’s” someone throws at you, if you keep persisting in a polite but firm way you’ll usually get to “yes.”

And in fact, eventually he agreed.

Soon I was lifting weights every day, first light barbells, then heavy barbells, then really heavy barbells. Before long I was getting seriously muscled up. I lifted weights in school, and when school was over I marched my growing biceps over to the local gym where I worked out till dinner.

Gradually bodybuilding became part of my daily routine, and then part of my life, as essential to me as breathing. I started to live for this stuff, as they used to say on the E! Channel. To paraphrase Vince Lombardi, bodybuilding wasn’t everything for me; it was the only thing. I was spending so much time after school pumping iron at Dick Fudge’s Gym on 54th Avenue in St. Petersburg that some of the bodybuilders thought I lived there in the basement.

Don’t get me wrong; my obsession wasn’t entirely for the love of the sport.

I enjoyed it to the max, but I needed it, too. It gave me discipline, regimentation, concentration—three strengths I sorely lacked. It helped me raise my grades in school to B- level, and it calmed down my ADD. It also gave me a new kind of mental focus that carried over into my daily life. Soon I was planning to go into the field of fitness full-time after graduation.

“I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird.”

—Paul McCartney, musician