INTRODUCTION

When my father died four days before my eleventh birthday, I became the man of the family, thinking I had to look after my mother and three older sisters.  A great deal of my life has been spent searching for adult role models.  I found that television had John Wayne and James Arness on Gunsmoke. Ian Fleming’s James Bond was a good hero to read about.  Harold Lovick, my father’s best friend, taught me about hunting and fishing but my greatest adult role models were my mother and her brothers and sisters, the Williams family.

My fondest memories as a child were those times when my mother and her brothers and sisters would gather around that big lazy-susan table in our kitchen, talking. They would discuss life, politics, or business, and then one of them would tell a story that made them all howl with laughter. 

Uncle Don and Uncle Adrian told most of the stories.  Uncle Don built houses.  Uncle Adrian was a great after-dinner speaker who spoke at the Lions Club or other meetings to entertain with his stories and teach lessons about business or life and a self-made millionaire. He liked to say that he had a story for every occasion. Anyone who knew Uncle Adrian had a favorite Uncle Adrian story. 

I have used Uncle Adrian’s lessons to become successful, but I have never forgotten his stories.  Over the years, I have become a professional speaker and teacher, inspiring and educating thousands of people each year.  As I developed my presentations about mastery in life, I found myself telling the stories that I had heard from my Uncle Adrian, Uncle Don, and the rest of the Williams family. 

Storytelling has always been an effective and enjoyable way for people to communicate, and Uncle Adrian’s stories have taught many lessons over the years about mastery in business and in life.  Not all of the stories contained in this book are Uncle Adrian’s; in fact, most of the stories that Uncle Adrian told were not originally his anyway.  He simply collected stories wherever he went, remembered them, attached lessons to them, and passed them on -- making the world a better place. 

Before you begin this book, you should look at your present mental state and attitude.  Are you in a learning mood? Are there are areas of your life that need improvement?  Are you in a receptive frame of mind?  Have you accepted the possibility that this book has something valuable to share with you and that you need to receive it?

Mastery in life is difficult, but if you are willing to do the work of self-examination and to bear the pain of changing yourself, then all the success in the world is yours to have. As my Uncle Adrian always said, “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” 

You are not controlled by your past.   No matter what your life is like right now you can change it simply by changing your mind.  Regardless of the kind of past relationships you have had, you are not controlled by a broken heart.  Wherever you are, that is where you must begin.  As my mother always said, “No matter where you are, well, there you are.” It is not where you are but what is in you that counts. Joy is not found in people, places, or things. Joy is within you through your daily adventure with life. Never, ever, ever give up on your search for personal mastery.  Remember that the last human freedoms are to choose your own attitude in any given set of circumstances and to choose your own way.

I’ve divided the Stories of Uncle Adrian into six areas of mastery. They are your physical body, your spiritual and educational growth, your relationship with yourself and others, your ability to have fun, your business or occupation and your finances.  If you work toward mastery in each of these areas every day you will make progress rapidly. 

Stewart Emery defines mastery as requiring “that we constantly produce results beyond and out of the ordinary.  Mastery is a product of consistently going beyond our limits…..If you’re willing to commit yourself to excellence, to surround yourself with things that represent this excellence, your life will change.”