How Determination Creates Success
Would you like to succeed with an idea or project? My true story of how my faith and determination led to my great success can inspire you to do the same.
To be a more efficient Marriage, Family Therapist, I offered hand-outs to my clients that offered them insights and solutions for a happier and more successful life. I realized that most people are aware when things do not feel right, but they are not always able to identify the problem or fix it. The hand-outs offered them empowering tools to get in touch with and to improve their situations and relationships.
One of my hand-outs was called, "Dear Mom and Dad." I sat at the typewriter (pre-computer days) and thought about what all the children and adults wanted from their parents. In an attempt to go straight to the heart, I made the 21 statements all-positive and all-loving. For example, "Please pay attention to me, and spend time with me. That helps me believe that I am important and worthwhile."
I would ask the child to check-off any of the 21 statements that they wanted to say to their mother and/or father. Then I asked the parents to come back into the office and helped the child communicate constructively with them.
To balance out the communication and relationship, I also wrote one called, "Dear Child," which the parents also worked with in the waiting room. After the parents heard the child's requests and made agreements to do those things, they had their turn to communicate what they wanted from their child. The results were amazing. All parties involved now had clear guidelines as to what they wanted from each other.
To help even more people, I recorded a parenting tape. I called my publisher and asked him if he had any ideas of how I could promote the tape. He suggested that I send the hand-out to a publishing company that sent out a four page newsletter to over 40,000 businesses. It sounded like a good idea, so off it went.
Months later, I received the professional newsletter in the mail with a picture on the cover of a little girl sitting by an old fashioned desk. The title said, "An Open Letter From Every Child to Every Parent," and under that was the first 10 statements. I was amazed at the results. I received many letters and phone calls from organizations requesting permission to reprint it in their publications. Needless to say, I was pleased to touch so many people.
A few months later, my parents and brother flew from New York to California to attend my daughter's wedding. I showed the newsletter to my father and to my surprise, he said, "This is a poster!" When my artist brother looked at it, he expressed the same thing. We agreed that he would take it home and work on the graphics.
A year passed and my brother never did have the time to create an image for the poster. With faith and determination, I took action. The first thing I did was to go to a neighborhood poster store and ask them what company they thought would be interested in my idea. They gave me the name of a publisher in California. I mailed it to them and they were not interested, but offered to send it to another company.
By this time, I intuitively heard, "This is a winning poster." When the second company also chose not to publish it, I said, "Do you know of any other poster companies I could send it to?" The kind lady gave me the name of two companies. With faith and determination, I mailed them the idea.
About a month later, a company on the West Coast contacted me with interest but they wanted to change the name I had suggested because not all children live with their mothers or fathers. I felt good about that. I asked them to include with the contract information about their company as all I knew was their address.
I laughed as I saw the thick catalogue with every kind of poster and one page of inspirational ones. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they distributed their products internationally and to many major chain stores. Needless to say, I was excited to realize that I hit the jackpot!
A few weeks later, I received a sample of their graphics which I had to approve. It was an old fashioned school desk with books and they removed the words 'please' at the beginning and 'Thank you for hearing me. I love you' at the end. I related to the lady that the poster needed to express feelings and to include the words they deleted so that people were more open to hearing the requests. She agreed to report to the committee and get back to me. At that point, I prayed, "God, please be there at the meeting and help them get the essence of the poster and create the perfect graphics."
It worked! The company sent me the draft of the graphics of a little boy holding a flower, and the loving words were included. The poster took off the first day it was distributed. It was so exciting to see it proudly displayed in the stores. What was even more fulfilling were the many letters I received thanking me, and telling me how much it helped them to be a successful parent. One father wrote that he had it displayed on his son's door and it stopped him numerous times from going into his room and spanking him.
Excited, I realized that I could write posters! Continuing to persevere to help many more people, I contacted the second company in Oregon that rejected the idea. When I told them how many copies were selling, he was open to me and offered to publish the sequel. Not stopping there, I discovered other poster publishers and managed to receive numerous contracts in the 1990's.
It was my faith and perseverance that created my success. Do you have creative ideas that you would like to share with many people? I hope my story inspires you to pursue your goals and your dreams. Your determination and faith can help you succeed.
About the Author
Copyright 2007 by Helene Rothschild, MS, MA, MFT, a Marriage, Family Therapist, intuitive counselor, speaker, and author. Her newest book is, "ALL YOU NEED IS HART! Create Love, Joy and Abundance~NOW." A Unique Guide to Holistic And Rapid Transformation. She offers international phone sessions, books, e-books, MP3 audios, teleclasses, and a free newsletter, MP3 .and e-book. http://www.lovetopeace.com , 1-888-639-6390.
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