What’s in your hand? Colonel Sanders didn’t begin to fulfil his dream until he was 65 years old! What drove him to finally take action? He was broke and alone. He got his first Social Security cheque for $105, and he got mad. But instead of blaming society or just writing congress a nasty note, he started asking himself, “What could I do that would be valuable for other people? What could I give back?” He started thinking about what he had that was valuable to others.

His first answer was, “Well, I have this chicken recipe everyone seems to love! What if I sold my chicken recipe to restaurants? Could I make money doing that?” Then he immediately thought, “That’s ridiculous. Selling my recipe won’t even pay the rent.” And he got a new idea: “What if I not only sold them my recipe but also showed them how to cook the chicken properly? What if the chicken was so good that it increased their business? If more people came to see them and they made more chicken sales, maybe they would give me a percentage of those additional sales.”

Many people have great ideas. But Colonel Sanders was different. He was a man who didn’t just think of great things to do. He put them into action. He went and started knocking on doors, telling each restaurant owner his story: “I’ve got a great chicken recipe, and I think if you use it, it’ll increase your sales. And I’d like to get a percentage of that increase.”

Well, many people laughed in his face. They said, “Look, old man, get out of here. What are you wearing that stupid white suit for?” Did Colonel Sanders give up? Absolutely not. Instead of feeling bad about the last restaurant that had rejected his idea, he immediately started focusing on how to tell his story more effectively and get better results from the next restaurant.

How many times do you think Colonel Sanders heard no before getting the answer he wanted? He was refused 1009 times before he heard his first yes. He spent two years driving across America in his old, beat up car, sleeping in the back seat in his rumpled white suit, getting up each day eager to share his idea with someone new. Often, the only food he had was a quick bite of the samples he was preparing for prospective buyers. How many people do you think would have gone through 1009 noes – two years of noes! – and kept on going? Very few. That’s why there is only one Colonel Sanders. I think most people wouldn’t get past twenty noes, much less a hundred or a thousand! Yet this is sometimes what it takes to succeed.

– Anthony Robbins

What has God given you? What could you do that would be of value to others? What’s in your hand?

Anthony Robbins, 1995, Notes From A Friend, New York, Fireside Books, p.28-30