The 333 Story
I was doing a weekend seminar at the Deerhurst Lodge, north of Toronto.
On Friday night a tornado swept through a town north of us called
Barrie, killing dozens of people and doing millions of dollars worth of
damage. Sunday night, as I was coming home, I stopped the car when I got
to Barrie. I got out on the side of the highway and looked around. It
was a mess. Everywhere I looked there were smashed houses and cars
turned upside down.
That same night Bob Templeton was driving down the same highway. He
stopped to look at the disaster just as I had, only his thoughts were
different than my own. Bob was the vice-president of Telemedia
Communications, which owns a string of radio stations in Ontario and
Quebec. He thought there must be something we could do for these people
with the radio stations they had.
The following night I was doing another seminar in Toronto. Bob
Templeton and Bob Johnson, another vice-president from Telemedia, came
in and stood in the back of the room. They shared their conviction that
there had to be something they could do for the people in Barrie. After
the seminar we went back to Bob’s office. He was now committed to the
idea of helping the people who had been caught in the tornado.
The following Friday he called all the executives at Telemedia into his
office. At the top of a flip chart he wrote three 3’s. He said to his
executives, “How would you like to raise 3 million dollars 3 days from
now in just 3 hours and give the money to the people in Barrie?” There
was nothing but silence in the room.
Finally someone said, “Templeton, you’re crazy. There is no way we could
do that.”
Bob said, “Wait a minute. I didn’t ask you if we could or even if we
should. I just asked you if you’d like to.”
They all said, “Sure we’d like to.” He then drew a large T underneath
the 333. On one side he wrote, “Why we can’t.” On the other side he
wrote, “How we can.”
“I’m going to put a big X on the ‘Why we can’t side.’ We’re not going to
spend any time on the ideas of why we can’t. That’s of no value. On the
other side we’re going to write down every idea that we can come up with
on how we can. We’re not going to leave the room until we figure it
out.” There was silence again.
Finally, someone said, “We could do a radio show across Canada.”
Bob said, “That’s a great idea,” and wrote it down. Before he had it
written, someone said, “You can’t do a radio show across Canada. We
don’t have radio stations across Canada.” That was a pretty valid
objection. They only had stations in Ontario and Quebec.
Templeton replied, “That’s why we can’t. That stays.” But this was a
real strong objection because radio stations are not very compatible.
They usually don’t work together and tend to fight each other. To get
them to work together would be virtually impossible according to the
standard way of thinking.
All of a sudden someone said, “You could get Harvey Kirk and Lloyd
Robertson, the biggest names in Canadian broadcasting, to anchor the
show.” (That would be like getting Tom Brokaw and Sam Donaldson to
anchor the show. They are anchors on national TV. They are not going to
go on radio.) At that point, it was absolutely amazing how fast and
furious the creative ideas began to flow.
That was on a Friday. The following Tuesday they had a radiothon. They
had fifty radio stations all across the country that agreed to broadcast
it. It didn’t matter who got the credit as long as the people in Barrie
got the money. Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson anchored the show and
they succeeded in raising three million dollars in three hours within
three business days!
You see, you can do anything if you put your focus on how to do it
rather than on why you can’t.
Bob Proctor
this is great idea lifting digestion for all.Good job Bola. Keep it up .We are enjoying the flow.By and large, we can achieve whatever we decide to achieve.Its just a matter of determination.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Great and very inspiring i thing nothing is impossible if we believe and are willing to act ,
April 9th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Sunday,
Determination is the keyword my man. With it, there is NOTHING we cannot do
Thanks for caring to comment.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Austenjo,
I agree with you ACTION makes all the difference
April 9th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Bola
May your water never run DRY.Once the WILL to do “it”is there,the WAY to do it will be found.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Great, what a way of boosting ones morals.possibility thinking makes the impossible possible.thanks keep it up.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Hi Bola,
An inspiring and highly motivational article. The keywords are
determination and Action which are vital ingredients in achieving
success in life.
Please keep up the good job.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Hi Bola,
Yes i agree totally with your submission.Being determined, focus and
taking Action are very vital to succeed in whatever we set out to do.
April 9th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
i believe nothing is impossible if you are determine , and beside i just learnt that focusing on how things can be done make someone to achieve his/her goal rather than focusing on why you can’t.
April 10th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Another Good article bola.
You are really an agent of change.
Thanks man, pls dont relent
April 10th, 2008 at 3:06 am
God bless you Nna. Where there is a will, there is always a Way
April 10th, 2008 at 3:53 am
Thanks adewale lawal. You are blessed ALWAYS.
April 10th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Another vital word there Ben, determination then DOING it no matter what it takes is highly important. You are great my man.
April 10th, 2008 at 3:57 am
that was indeed a great one.one needs to be determined and focused.have a set plan of how u want to achieve what u want to achieve and go ahead in achieving it then,the sky won’t be your limit but, your starting point.anything is indeed possible with God.thanks for the story and keep up the good works.more power to your elbows.
April 10th, 2008 at 5:01 am
I didnt expect less than that from you ,Boli.you said it all,getting started is the beginning accomplishments.You a great mind.Highly gifted.Your stories and write-ups always have special ways of inspiring people.May God be with you and i pray more people get to read these wonderful series of inspiration.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:06 am
funmi,
thanks for your wonderful comment. You added enough punch to the message.
God bless you Ma’am
April 10th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Ben,
Thanks so much, but everything is about God no be man. He supplies the inspiration.
A lot of people can get to read this blog if we are all willing to recommend/share it with our people. Just click on the ShareThis link. That is all it takes.
Cheers
April 10th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Hi Bolly,
Highly inspiring and motivational that we should all focus on how
whatever we dream can be possibly done and act on it.
that once we keep our eyes on the BIG PICTURE(benefits of desire)there is no excuse for anyone to fail in is calling.
Bolly you are such a wonderful person
April 14th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Shibra,
God bless you as always
April 16th, 2008 at 5:11 am
This is gerat Bola. Where there is a will, surely there must be a way.
Is matter of action.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:05 am
BRAVO,YOU HAVE JUST HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.FOCUSING ON WHY WE CAN ,NOT WHY WE CANNOT. MANY PEOPLE FOCUS MORE ON IMPOSSIBILITIES NOT THE POSSIBILITIES. THIS IS AWESOME.PLEASE CONTINUE TO INSPIRE NIGERIANS. GOD BLESS YOU.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:24 am
bolly u are said it all we can achieve anything in life if we are committed to it Allah bless u
April 19th, 2008 at 4:21 am
Yes Williams, I trully agree with you. All we need is ACTION!
April 19th, 2008 at 5:07 am
God bless you too Olajide.
Love you
April 19th, 2008 at 5:08 am
You can do anything you set your mind to. A man’s worst enemy is fear. Overcome fear, you overcome yourself and you can overcome anything. Have faith in God and trust Him. Believe His word and give Him the glory because He is faithful.
I love the story, its an eye-opener.
Thanks Bola, Keep doing what you do.
God Bless!
April 26th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Great comment Charles!”A man’s worst enemy is fear,” that is very true man. if we can all defeat our fears, we can achieve so much.
God bless you too man.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:51 am
Hi,bola oni you are doing the great job keep it up!
May 6th, 2008 at 2:38 am
Thanks ibrahim.
God bless you
May 7th, 2008 at 7:38 am
This is a big lesson for me and I guessed all others. We can’t afford to capitalised on our inabilities why we loose focus on our potentials.
The lesson learnt here is to ignore and imagine our shortcomings does not exist why we put our efforts concentrated on our dreams and aspirations.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:10 am
Hi Bola,i saw your mail and also read the article,what a nice one but in as much that i believe there is nothing impossible to achieve i also believe you need the rigth set of people to help achieving those dream.pls i have been trying to set up a small business of my own since i came back from service year but fund as been the problem,pls i want you to advice me on how to go by it,it will cost me 350,000 to set it up.Thanks
October 5th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Adewale,
Sorry for my late response.
It is true you need people to solve some of your dreams but you also need to take steps. When you start to act, the people you need will come into your life.
Concerning your project, why not break it down into stages and see what you can start with little or no money. What do you think?
If you still need help, just email me or call me on 07033880168
cheers
October 12th, 2008 at 8:37 am
That’s a great job,our God is the author of possibility nothing can be impossible to any one born of God.
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:55 am