by Ken Blanchard, Ph.D., coauthor of The New One Minute Manager
NOW THAT YOU’VE read Out of the Maze, I hope you realize the power of your beliefs and the impact they can have on your behavior and the results you get. A question you might have is, “Did Spencer Johnson only write about the power of choosing your beliefs, or did he also live by that principle himself?”
I’m happy to say that he did indeed walk his talk, but sad to give you a vivid example.
I lost my coauthor and friend to pancreatic cancer in July 2017. As you might know, when you’re diagnosed with that form of cancer, it’s usually bad news, as very few people survive for long. When Spencer got the word, he decided he could approach the rest of his life from a belief system based on fear or one based on love. If he chose fear, the focus would be on himself. If he chose love, the focus would be on others.
I was overjoyed with his choice to live in love. He reached out not only to close family members and friends, but also to people with whom, for various reasons, he’d lost contact, some of whom he hadn’t spoken to in years.
The people I met during our visits with him were all struck by the way Spencer focused on them and their feelings rather than on his own medical condition.
During my last visit with Spencer, we were joined by Margret McBride, who had been our literary agent for The One Minute Manager. We called Larry Hughes, the former president of William Morrow, who had published our books, to tell him how much we appreciated his role in our lives. It was a memorable, heartwarming conversation. As I was leaving, I gave Spencer a hug and told him how proud I was of him and the positive beliefs he had chosen.
Moved by how Spencer’s choice resulted in such a loving departure, Spencer’s sons—Emerson, Austin, and Christian—and I were more committed than ever to making sure this book, which was so important to Spencer, got published. Even now, we can feel a big One Minute Praising coming from Spencer.
If you have enjoyed this little story as much as I have, you can carry on Spencer’s legacy by sharing the book with others. I certainly intend to!
Ken Blanchard
San Diego, June 2018