Journal Date: Aug. 30, 2023 I first learned of the concept of setting goals in one’s life by actually writing them down when I was in college.

I was born and raised in Kingfisher.

I graduated from Kingfi sher High School.

I am sure my educators tried to impart the skills and attitude to succeed in me in high school, but I can assure you my friends and I had little appreciation for anything with a tone of seriousness like setting goals.

Our full attention was basically committed to having a good time.

It is a dangerous way to live both morally and physically and I can assure you, if not for God’s grace, I would have suffered serious, longterm consequences and/or been killed in an accident.

But thankfully God showed His grace and I was spared from both.

Fraternities and sororities, (aka Greek life) are not for everyone, but they had a tremendously positive impact on me.

One of the most positive and impactful things my new fraternity brothers did for me was to introduce me to the teachings of motivational speaker Zig Ziglar.

One of my fraternity brothers had given up the traditional fun of a college summer to pursue personal growth by selling books door-to-door to low-income families through a company called Southwestern.

The Southwestern book selling program was designed to appeal to young college students that wanted to gain life skills by submitting themselves to a very demanding program, where lack of free time, intense uncomfortable conditions and constant rejection were considered net positives rather than negatives.

They were not wrong. The program insisted the participants, who worked purely on a commission basis, rise early in the morning, dress in a suit and tie and work long hours going door to door, where the success rate was low and the conditions were tough.

It was a program not unlike the Navy SEAL program, but for aspiring leaders, not soldiers.

Today’s readers might be interested to know our current Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt sold books for Southwestern in college and was their No. 1 salesman in the U.S. This is no small feat.

Regardless of what you think of Kevin Stitt, please recognize it is a unique individual who rises to No. 1 for Southwestern Book Company.

The participants would get so worn down through the week that each weekend they were required to travel to regional pep rallies, where they heard positive, encouraging speeches, sang songs and where positive motivational materials were distributed.

One example of positive material was a set of cassette recordings titled, “How to Stay Motivated” by Zig Ziglar.

While I did not sell books for Southwestern, a copy of the recordings found its way into my life from a fraternity brother who did.

I was hooked almost immediately.

Zig says you can’t just listen once, you have to listen again and again and again.

And I did!

To this day, some 40 years later, the material is always within reach in my car and I have every concept and almost every word of the 12 hours of recorded material memorized.

It has been incredibly impactful in my life.

It, as Zig promised it would, has impacted my career life, my personal life, my health, my spirituality, my social life and my life as a husband and father.

The impact of Zig Ziglar on my life can likely not be overstated. Thank you Zig!

While this story is not about Zig, I allowed myself that time on the subject hoping that my writing might inspire some young person or some adult to seek out Zig’s life changing recordings.

The point is, as Zig repeatedly and passionately preached in his talks on life, “You have to have goals, you gotta have them, you can’t make it without them!”

I know the power firsthand of following Zig’s advice to first dream of your desired outcome, then commit yourself to methodical step-by-step process of formally setting your goals.

In the fall of 2022, it occurred to me that while I well knew the power of writing down one’s goals, I had never taken that step in pursuit of this effort.

It was past time to commit the goal to writing.

In addition to writing down the goal and setting a target date for completion, we also recorded a formal mission statement and a set of five core values. The mission statement and core values are not Zig’s ideas. These components came into my life much more recently.

A business book is transforming businesses across our nation with a blueprint on how to structure a business in a methodical way.

I know it is transforming businesses across our nation because I experienced it myself and speak regularly with business owners scattered all over the U.S. who have experienced the same thing.

The book is called “Traction.” The credit for imparting the importance of mission statements and core values into my life belongs to the author(s) of “Traction.”

Below are the goal, target date, mission statement and core values of Unity above Self in America.

It is my prayer that with God’s help, these formal foundational principles will play as great a part in bringing good results in this effort, as they have in my personal and business life.

One of the things they do is give us something that helps introduce us to new people and organizations.

I used it for the first time today.

I am writing you from the airplane seat as I make my way home from Casper, Wyo., where I traveled to confront Sen. John Barrasso.

Our goal/vision sheet was handed out both at Barrasso’s office and the office of the local newspaper, “The Casper Star – Tribune.”

Here it is: Unity above Self in America, Inc. (UaSiA) A 501c4 Non-Profit 416 N. Main St. P.O. Box 1 Kingfisher, OK 73750 Phone: 405-368-6775 Email: www.unityaboveselfi namerica.com Website: www.unityaboveself. com

Goal:

The ratification of the “No Budget, No Pay” act, as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Target Completion Date: July 4, 2030

Mission Statement:

Using God’s power to reform our nation’s Congress by restoring common sense to preserve freedom for our grandchildren.

Core Values:

Truth, Courage, Christian Love, Righteousness & Sacrifice Board of Directors:

Clay Thompson (Bentonville, AR): Vice President; Brian Henderson (Kingfi sher, OK): Treasurer; John Gooden (Piedmont, OK): Secretary; Dr. Robert Walter (Oklahoma City, OK): At-Large; Robert Sloan (Chicago, IL): Awareness; Dr. Randy Grellner (Cushing, OK): Fundraising; Bill Atkins (Oklahoma City, OK): Social Media; Brian Walter (Kingfisher, OK): Founder/President For Our Common Good, R. Brian Walter www.unityaboveself.com Matthew 20:26-28