You Can Make It Happen: A Nine Step Plan for Success [Paperback]

Stedman Graham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 1998

For the people who know Stedman Graham as one of the nation's most quietly active community business leaders, it may be hard to envision the time when he was held back by considerable self-doubt.

He was. He grappled, also, with his share of daunting obstacles to the success he has worked at length to enjoy. Graham explains, "You are not your circumstances; you are your possibilities." He is tenacious in his commitment to the idea that all can overcome adversity and build self-esteem by determining who they are, creating a vision of success for themselves, and then working doggedly to realize this vision.

In formulating his Nine-Step Plan for Success, Graham draws candidly on his experience as a professional athlete, the founder of the not-for-profit Athletes Against Drugs, and as a corporate and community leader who sits on the national boards of Junior Achievement and the Urban League. This plan is grounded in his conviction that the circumstances of your past are not nearly as significant as your belief in your capabilities and your determination to carry through a plan to accomplish your goals. Graham explains, through revealing anecdotes from his own life and the experiences of others, how the negative effects of a poor self-image can be incapacitating at worst, and limiting at best. You Can Make It Happen shows how to chart a course that can enable you -- just as it enabled him -- to superimpose success over all of the doubts, insecurities, and life difficulties that threaten to keep achievement elusive.

Step by step, You Can Make It Happen demonstrates clearly how to

• Decide who you are
• Swim with the stream
• Create a vision
• Keep on keeping on
• Take the high road even if it is the hard road
• Weather the seasons of change
• Build your dream team
• Step out of your comfort zone
• Commit to your vision

An inspirational as well as an instructional book, You Can Make It Happen is a moving message of hope from a compelling new voice in our culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Motivational tips from a renowned minority business leader?and Oprah's once and future love.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Stedman Graham is best known for being Oprah Winfrey's boyfriend. Even he knows that, and it bugged him for a long time. But Graham, a businessman and civic leader, got beyond that designation just as he got beyond the difficult times in his life. Born into a working-class minority family and teased about the mental difficulties of his two younger brothers, Graham hoped to be an NBA star but never made it quite that far in professional sports. But when the going got rough . . . well, you know the rest. His secret, revealed here in detail, is a nine-step plan for success whose precepts are familiar from the works of numerous other motivational authors. Graham is articulate, and his book will provoke readers of all backgrounds to take a look at their own lives and perhaps adapt the author's blueprint for success. With so many personal anecdotes, the book functions as autobiography as well as motivational guide. And yes, Oprah makes a few appearances here but only when absolutely necessary. Ilene Cooper --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 270 pages
• Publisher: Fireside Book; 1st Fireside Ed edition (February 5, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684838664
• ISBN-13: 978-0684838663
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #385,601 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspiring Book For Anyone, January 2, 2001

By 

Washington Toapanta (Glendale, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Can Make It Happen: A Nine Step Plan for Success (Paperback)

You Can Make It Happen by Stedman Graham is a book based on improving your life by using a nine-step process that Graham developed himself. Even though this book is intended to be inspirational and motivational, I recommend it for anyone, not just people who are going through rough times and need motivation. The book was quite easy to comprehend and definitely serves it purpose. Graham used examples of his life to show the reader that he truly understands the feeling of despair, loneliness, and lack of motivation. Once Graham establishes confidence with the reader he begins to offer truly inspirational solutions and once again uses examples of his life to show that it is possible to become successful, self-motivated person.

In You Can Make It Happen, Graham describes various scenarios where lack of motivation plays a key role in the situation. What really intrigued me about You Can Make It Happen is that for every scenario Graham offered an easy to understand solution that made sense. This makes the book not only interesting and helpful, but makes it great.

For example, Graham mentions in many occasions his frequent insecurities while playing basketball professionally. He often thought that he was not playing well and suffered lapses of confidence. These lapses caused him to not take certain shots when he was open and things of that nature. Finally he concluded that he had to solve this problem. What he did is, he took shots before practice that he knew he could make. This would get him on a role and before he knew it he was making most of his shots. This gave him confidence that he needed for the game and told him that he could make the important shots in the game. So his good shooting would continue on to the game. These are the types of simple solutions that Graham gives to problems throughout the book. He emphasizes that us humans make problems seem much bigger than they really are.

Some more reasons why I feel the book is so great and Graham wrote such a great book is its clearness on messages Graham tries to get across. Graham sometimes uses techniques that at first I thought were strange, but as the book goes on I understood more and more. For example, Graham gives the reader reasons why people often get depressed and tells the reader that this is the mentality of a quitter. By calling the reader a quitter I thought Graham was going a bit too far but then I realize that Graham uses such a strong word because it wakes the reader up. The biggest reason I think this book is so great is because of its helping nature. You Can Make It Happen was written specifically to help people who suffer from low self-esteem and lack motivation but I recommend it for anyone who wants to be successful in life. This book shows you how to push yourself when you think you have nothing left in you. This book is for achievers and those who want to be. The book teaches you how to set goals for yourself but most importantly how to stay on track to achieve your goals.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book, August 20, 2004

By 

P. A Lewis "[e-mail]" (St Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Can Make It Happen: A Nine Step Plan for Success (Paperback)

I saw this book in a store for about $2.50 and thought to myself what could it hurt to purchase "You can make it happen". Well purchasing Mr. Graham's book turned me around to the point that I see my vision for the future and what it has to offer me. I started by purchasing a day planner and already positive results have come into my life along with some positive thinking people. There are still many areas in my life that need to grow and improve, but we have to start somewhere. I would like to thank Mr. Graham for giving me the blueprint to success.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT BOOK ON SUCCESS WHILE HAVING BALANCE IN YOURE LIFE!, December 15, 2000

By 

Mark Llewhellin (Haverfordwest, Wales, Great Britain.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Can Make It Happen: A Nine Step Plan for Success (Paperback)

If you want to create a better life for yourself and help others then this is the book for you! This book goes into Stedmans own story, the background he came from and the challenges he went through in his persiut of a better life. Rather than just saying "charge towards success with the blinders on" Stedman talks about keeping a balance in your life and checking who you are in the proccess. As he says in chapter 8 of his book " do not become so focused on your own journey that you cannot stop occasionally and help others along the way." It is an easy to read and down to earth book.

Mark Llewhellin (U.K)