Hyrum W. Smith - You Are What You Believe: Simple Steps to Transform Your Life

Y OU A RE W HAT Y OU B ELIEVE

Simple Steps to Transform Your Life

Hyrum W. Smith

You Are What You Believe

Copyright 2016 by Hyrum W. Smith

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Ordering information for print editions
Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the Berrett-Koehler address above.
Individual sales. Berrett-Koehler publications are available through most bookstores. They can also be ordered directly from Berrett-Koehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626; www.bkconnection.com
Orders for college textbook/course adoption use. Please contact Berrett-Koehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626.
Orders by U.S. trade bookstores and wholesalers. Please contact Ingram Publisher Services, Tel: (800) 509-4887; Fax: (800) 838-1149; E-mail: Ordering for details about electronic ordering.

Berrett-Koehler and the BK logo are registered trademarks of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

First Edition
Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-62656-666-8
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-62656-667-5
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-62656-668-2

2016-1

Cover designer: Nancy Austin

I am quite sure that each of us has someone, or a few people, in our lives who have made a significant contribution to making us who we are today. These are often teachers, coaches, parents, siblings, childhood friends, colleagues at work, religious leaders, or just plain folks who have been there at a crucial time in our lives and pointed us in the right direction.

One of those great human beings for me is a man named Jerry Pulsipher. Our paths first crossed in 1962 and again in 1963 in London, England. Since that time we have worked together on many projects, and he has helped me write several books. He was one of the team members that discovered the Reality Model and helped me to discover its power.

This book is dedicated to him. William Watson said it best:

Tis human fortunes happiest height to be

A spirit melodious, lucid, poised and whole.

Second in order of felicity

I hold it, to have walkd with such a soul.

Jerry is a great and noble soul, one without whom this book would not exist. Thank you, Jerry, for leading the way for me.

I met Hyrum Smith over thirty years ago when we shared the speaking platform as part of a daylong seminar on executive excellence. We immediately became soul mates when we discovered our mutual belief that effective living and leading is a result of mastering a few simple truths. As a result, throughout our careers we have strived to identify some of those simple truths to help ourselves and others live better lives. Thats what The One Minute Manageras well as, I hope, all of my follow-up bookswere all about.

Helping people make their lives work was certainly Hyrums intention when he and his colleagues created the Franklin Planner and time management seminars. He and his fabulous wife Gail started Franklin Quest and later, through acquisition, created Franklin Covey.

As good as those concepts were, it is my opinion that Hyrums greatest work began when he and Jerry Pulsipher developed the Reality Modelthe core concept of this wonderful book. I first heard Hyrum speak about the Reality Model over twenty years ago when he agreed to be the cleanup speaker on a national tour I was doing with Don Shula, the legendary coach of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins football team, to promote our coauthored book Everyones a Coach. Don and I would talk about the simple truths in our book and then turn the microphone over to Hyrum, who would help the audience understand how to apply the books concepts to their lives. Enter the Reality Model and its own simple truth: effective living starts and ends with our beliefs about how to satisfy our basic needs. When Hyrum said, You are what you believe, peoples eyes lit up. And, to be honest, Hyrum got the highest ratings of any of us as a speaker. Thats why Im so excited that this book is being made available.

The big idea of the book is this: if youre not getting what you want in a certain part of your life, you can always trace it to a lousy belief. It was fun to watch Don Shula listen to Hyrum tell his favorite storiesstories like the man who was on his fourth marriage and had a strong belief that men were superior to women! Was that belief working for him in marriage? Duh! Don would roar with laughter every time.

Hyrums Reality Model really helped me a few years ago when I found myself tipping the scale at more than thirty pounds over my normal weight. One day my wife Margie asked me what my philosophy of eating wasparticularly when I was on the road, consulting and teaching. I answered, If Ive been working hard, I deserve to eat anything I want at night. She said, So, hows that working for you? I realized if I wanted to change the results I was getting, I needed to change my belief. The use of Hyrums Reality Model was instrumental in helping me turn my health around, which resulted in my writing Fit at Last: Look and Feel Better Once and for All with my fitness coach, Tim Kearin.

Read You Are What You Believe and change the results youre getting in an area of your life thats not working. Thanks, Hyrum, for sharing the simple truths inherent in your Reality Model. It will continue to make a difference in my life and in the lives of all the people who are fortunate enough to be reading this book, as well as the family members and friends with whom they share it.

Ken Blanchard, coauthor,
The One Minute Manager and Refire! Dont Retire