Colonel Sanders- The Discoverer of Kentucky Fried Chicken

Colonel Sanders built the empire that made him a millionaire and changed the eating habits of a nation? When he started, he was nothing but a retiree with a fried-chicken recipe that’s all. No organization. No nothing. He had owed a little restaurant that was going to broke because the main high way had been routed elsewhere. When he got his first Social Security checked, he decided to see if he could make some money by selling his chicken recipe. His first idea was to sell the recipe to restaurant owners and have them give him a percentage of the proceeds.

Now that’s not necessarily the most realistic idea for beginning a business. As things turned out, it didn’t exactly rocket him to stardom. He drove around the country, sleeping in his car, trying to find someone who would back him. He kept changing his idea and knocking on doors. He was rejected 1009 times, and then something miraculous happened. Someone said “Yes”. The colonel was in business.

How many of you have a recipe? How many of you have the physical power and charisma of a chunky old man in a white suit? Colonel Sanders made a fortune because he had the ability to take massive, determined action. He had the personal power necessary to produce the results he desired most. He had the ability hear the word “no” a thousand times and still communicate to himself in a way that got him to knock on the next door, totally convinced that I could be the one where someone said yes.

Steven Spielberg - Successfull Filmmaker

At the age of thirty-six, he’s became the most successful filmmaker in history. He’s already responsible four of the ten top-grossing films of all time, including E.T, The Extra-Terrestrial, the highest-grossing film ever. How did he reach that point at such young age? It’s a remarkable story.

From the age of twelve or thirteen, Spielberg knew he wanted to be a movie director. His life changed when he took a tour of Universal Studios one afternoon when he was seventeen years old. The tour didn’t quite make it to the sound stages, where all action was, so Spielberg, knowing his outcome, took action. He snuck off by himself to watch the filming of a real movie. He ended up meeting the head of Universal’s editorial department. Who talked with him for an hour and expressed an interest in Spielberg’ films.

For most people that’s where the story would have ended, but Spielberg wasn’t like most people. He had personal power. He knew what he wanted. He learned from his first visit, so he changed his approach. The next day, he put on a suit, brought along his father’s briefcase, loaded with only a sandwich and two candy bars, and returned to the lots as if he belonged there. He strode purposely past the gate guard that day. He found an abandoned trailer and, using some plastic letters, put Steven Spielberg, Director, on the door. Then he went to spend his summer meeting directors, writing, and editors, lingering at the ages of the world he craved, learning from every conversation, observing and developing more and more sensory acuity about what work in moviemaking.

Finally, at age twenty, after becoming a regular on the lot, Steven show Universal a modest film he had put together, and he was offered a seven-year contract to direct a TV series. He’d made his dream come true.

Spielberg followed the Ultimate Success Formula. He had specialized knowledge to know what the results he was getting, whether his actions were moving him closer or farther from his goal. He had the flexibility to change his behavior to get what he wanted. Virtually every successful person does the same thing. Those who succeed are committed to change and being flexible until they do create the life they desire.