In this episode of The Good News, Angie Austin and guest Jim Stovall explore the nuanced roles of luck in success and happiness. They share heartfelt discussions about seizing opportunities, the importance of preparation, and how each person has a unique story to tell. Jim shares profound insights into how privilege and fortune intertwine with personal effort to craft the lives we lead. This conversation is as thought-provoking as it is inspiring, underlining the truth that while luck may present the door, it is up to us to walk through it.
Welcome to The Good News with Angie Austin. Now, with The Good News, here’s Angie.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin and Jim Stovall with The Good News. Always a good day when we have Jim on. Hey, Jim.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hey, it is great to be with you, as always.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, so this week, it’s Do You Feel Lucky? So I’m very interested to hear about this, because you did write in the second… It stood out to me. It said, after losing my eyesight. And then I looked back up at the title. It said, do you feel lucky? And then I looked back down at after losing my eyesight. And it intrigued me that those two things were in the same article. But then I thought, well, knowing Jim, he’s figured out a way to make this good luck.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, I do feel that. I don’t know anybody I’d trade places with.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, I think I’m going to cry. That’s so sweet. I mean, you’ve really made the best of what could have been a bad situation. You’ve made a better life than you would have had before. Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I feel fortunate. And, you know, as you and I have talked about before, when I could see with my eyes, I don’t know that I ever read a book. I know. I became a voracious reader thanks to digital high-speed audio. And I read a book every day. And becoming a reader made me want to be a writer. And becoming a writer gave me the opportunity now to have nine of my books turned into movies. And then that gave me the chance to understand the power of a movie compared to even a great book. And I have stood in arenas full of 18,000 people or more. And I will just throw out a movie line like, go ahead. And you will hear people say in unison, make my day or you will throw out all these other things like Clint Eastwood. Do you feel lucky in those kind of things? And, you know, then I always tell my audiences, you know, after doing four or five of these. Please remember, none of these movies have been out in the last 30 or 40 years. They stick with you indelibly. So as we’ve discussed, I think if Mark Twain or the Apostle Paul or William Shakespeare were alive today, in addition to writing, they’d be making movies because of the power of them. But luck is such an important part of who we are and what we do. And everyone has luck. It’s a matter of what you do with it. I was part of the largest survey done a couple years ago of self-made millionaires. There were 20,000 millionaires in America that participated in this. And one of the characteristics that all these millionaires, including myself, cited as part of the reason they became a millionaire is luck. It is timing. It is those things. But it doesn’t mean other people are not millionaires because they’re unlucky. They may have had the luck and they just didn’t get there. And then one of the readers of my weekly column for many, many years is a guy that was, at the time, the largest single winner of the lottery. Several hundred million dollars came to him all at once. And this is a guy that… was not as successful before. I mean, he worked, he drove a forklift at a chain link fence factory and loaded trucks with this forklift. That was his job. And then he wins hundreds of millions of dollars. And there were a couple of tickets that had been bigger than his at that time, but they were owned by multiple people. He owned this all by himself. Well, you know, as lucky as we all would say, wow, that is the biggest stroke of luck of your life. When you look at the body of people who have won lotteries and won tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, in the ensuing years, they suffer a higher divorce rate, believe it or not, a higher rate of bankruptcy, and a higher rate of suicide than the general population. So you have to look at, what does this luck mean? What does it do? Because without a purpose… it’s really self-gratifying and ultimately destructive.
SPEAKER 05 :
So what good does it do and can be self-destructive? All right, so what else do you teach us?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I think the important thing is to look at your life objectively, like you would look at it if it were someone else’s life or if it were a movie, and ask yourself, where is my luck? You know, let’s start with the fact, you know, a lot of people listening to us right now say, well, I’ve never been lucky. Well, by virtue of the fact you’re listening to this, you were probably born and you probably live in the United States of America here in the 21st century. Compared to the vast majority of people, 7.7 billion people that live on the planet today and people that have lived here for thousands of years, you won the lottery. You won the gene pool lottery, and you were born in the right place at the right time. You have more freedom and ability to impact your own future than virtually anyone else that’s ever lived. And, you know, we have the opportunity to do that. And we it’s so readily available and it was given to us. We have a tendency to take it for granted. But you really can’t do that. You know, people continue to come to our country in all manner. And I’m not going to get into that. But, you know, they are flooding here because of this opportunity. They You know, everything’s possible in America, and that’s true. So people that think, you know, well, I’ve never been lucky. Well, you know, you had the opportunity to have a public education, and you think, well, the public education’s not that great. Well, they have a public library, and you have access to the Internet. You know, there’s nothing you can’t know right now and really change your whole world. And we live in such a magnificent time and place. And I can’t think of anything. that as a fundamental piece of luck is better than that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Yeah, I think about that actually a lot because we hear so much about people trying to come to our country or, for instance, here in Colorado. I shouldn’t be citing facts, so just let me say I read the article, but it was like a week ago. But because there are so many people coming to Colorado and, you know, many of these people have come here illegally, Colorado is – in dire need of extra money to help care for these people. And so 98 million, I believe, is being taken away from various places. And a pretty big chunk of money is being taken away from the police, the sheriff’s department, and the fire department. And so a lot of people… are concerned about that and whenever this topic comes up I think about myself and would I if I lived somewhere else would I try to get here you know would I try to get to the U.S. and get my family here you know illegally if I couldn’t get here legally and it’s something I can’t even really fathom because I was so blessed to live here and you know grow up here and as you know I did grow up poor and then some people might say well white privilege you know you’re a blonde woman that um you know, had advantages because of the color of your skin or because of the way that I look. Right. But with that said, you know, there are a lot of women that look like me that grew up in my circumstances that didn’t end up college educated, that grew up in low income housing with alcoholism and drugs and violence around me and the divorce and my dad being estranged from us and my brothers on two of them of the three on drugs and one murdered, one homeless. A lot of women in my circumstances wouldn’t have ended up with a college education and first job NBC in Los Angeles coming straight out of low income housing. But with that said, would I have done something to get here? And I always think to myself, I kind of know myself and I probably would have done something to get here, whether it was legal or illegally. And so then I have a little bit more empathy towards people who’ve done it. But then I also have concern for our country that we aren’t regulating that, you know, very well and that we aren’t protecting our own citizens. By the way, our borders are so like, you know, so loose. OK, so with all that said, I guess that makes me think about how lucky I am to have been born here. So that’s a long way for me to say a long convoluted explanation of how I think about this often.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and all of us have a story, and we’re writing our own script, we’re making our own movie, we’re creating our own novel every day. And you can take the basic plot, and you can have a happy ending, or you can have a sad ending. You can take any circumstance you want, and you can make it amazingly great, or you can make it horribly bad. But it doesn’t have as much to do with where you started. or what you have, it’s what you get and how you end up. And I’m not talking about wealth. I’m talking about happiness. Yes. And I’m talking about whatever it is that matters to you. Yes. And that’s the most important thing.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, when you talk about this lottery winner in the article, and there was a special, and you may have heard about it. I mean, you are the founder and CEO of the Narrative Television Network. So you guys work on so many television shows to make them accessible to people who can’t see. But there was a documentary or something of a sort on lottery winners whose lives had gone wrong. Like the tables had turned in such a negative manner that They were either murdered or, like you said, the divorce rates, bankruptcy, people taking advantage of them. Like you almost want to remain anonymous because so many people come knocking at your door, figuratively speaking. But what I found really interesting about your article besides that was that you were in this huge survey, largest survey of self-made millionaires, and that so many of them cited luck. That – I did find that curious because a lot of successful men, women do are a little bit, you know, sometimes overly confident, but they’re confident because they’ve, you know, no, they’ve obviously if they’re self-made millionaires, they have confidence, but that a lot of times I think they’ve, they credit themselves. So I found it very interesting that so many of them believe that luck contributed to it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, absolutely. And I, you know, and I think that, you know life is not about what happens to you it’s about what you do about what happens to you so you know there’s a lot of people that can take this lucky break and waste it or squander it or more often than not don’t even realize it’s there but then other people said that is this that is the moment i am here to seize this moment this is what i’ve been looking for and uh there it is and Some of it’s when preparedness meets opportunity. And, you know, I was ready for this. I was waiting for this. This is what I’m looking for, and I have prepared myself for this. A lot of people, when the opportunity comes along, they weren’t prepared for it, so they can’t even take advantage of it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So in terms of your luck, what do you consider to be your luck in becoming a self-made millionaire? Yeah, what made you lucky?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I was raised in a great home and learned how to have a tremendous attitude and be an optimist. My father, when I started out, he didn’t give me anything financially. He gave me something far more valuable. He introduced me to a mentor with a sixth grade education that taught me how to become a millionaire. And then when I lost my sight, I moved into this little room I thought I would never leave again. But that had been our television room. And one day, out of sheer boredom, I put on an old movie on the video player. And wow, I thought, what if I added an extra soundtrack to these movies? The world changed, because I realized there’s 13 million blind and visually impaired people in the United States. You put them all together, it’d be the largest television market in America, and they have no access to anything. And all of a sudden, the world changes. And what would happen if you did that? And, you know, and then what would happen if you spoke about that success and then wrote a book about it and then made movies about it and then write columns about it. And then you get to talk to Angie Austin on the radio every week. And, you know, and then a lot of great things have happened.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s the first time I’ve ever heard how you came up with the concept for the Narrative Television Network. I didn’t realize it was that early on in your, you know, journey to becoming blind because that was a long journey.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh yeah, I’m sitting in this little 9 by 12 foot room. I thought I would never leave. And before losing my sight, that was our TV room. And I knew right over there across the room from me, somewhere is the television and our video player. And I put on an old movie. humphrey bogart’s the big sleep one of the first philip marlowe movies and i love those old mysteries and you know i thought i’ll just be able to listen to this and follow along and then you know and it worked for a little while but then somebody shot somebody and somebody screamed and the car sped away and i got really frustrated and i said the magic words i said somebody ought to do something about that and the next time you get really frustrated and hear yourself say somebody ought to do something about that you just had a great idea and the only thing you got to take do to make your great idea into a great business is ask yourself, how can I solve that problem for as many people as possible?
SPEAKER 06 :
I love that. I love that. Jim Stovall.com. We’re out of time, but friend, you’re such a blessing.
SPEAKER 03 :
Be well.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 04 :
Kenyon City is listening to the Mighty 670 KLT.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey there, friend. Angie Austin and Jim Stovall here with the good news. And today we are talking about his winner’s wisdom column titled Message from a Master. How fitting, Jim Stovall.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, thank you. I’m certainly not referring to myself. Late last year, I undertook a project that is completely unique in my 60 books and 9 movies so far. And I undertook to write a sequel of sorts to a John Steinbeck novel he wrote 60 years ago. Yeah, and it will be out next year, and I’m excited about it. But in the process of preparing myself to write that book, which is a little like going to the Louvre and looking at the Mona Lisa and saying, you know, I think Leonardo did a good job on that, but there should be one more thing over here. Let me pencil that in here. So I realize it’s been an exercise in… egotism to write on top of Steinbeck and I’ve tried to do it and thankfully the Steinbeck family and the scholars and everybody have been so gracious and it’s been a fun project and it’ll be out next year but in the process of doing that I had an opportunity to read everything he wrote for publication and dozens and dozens of letters he wrote to Carl Sandburg and F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway and all these people that he corresponded with and So many, many things he said, and a lot of those quotes are included in the book that will be out next year. But he said the only thing that will escape criticism is mediocrity. Only mediocrity escapes criticism. If you’re really, really bad, you’ll be criticized. And if you’re really, really good at something, you’ll be criticized. And we have a tendency to want to avoid criticism. And the only way to do that is to be mediocre, and that is never a good course. And so what we have to do is prepare ourselves for criticism. And everybody that puts themselves out there in the public, whether it’s you, Angie, or me, or John Steinbeck, you get criticized. I mean, it’s an invitation. Everybody that can sit and listen to an hour of radio, or pick up one of my books, or watch one of my movies… They bought a ticket which entitles them to criticize me. They now have the invitation to criticize Jim. And I’m very thankful that 99% of all that we hear from readers or viewers is positive, as I know yours is. But you still get those things every once in a while where, wow, somebody doesn’t have anything better to do than… then get on your case for something. And you have to be prepared for that. But if we can always remember that the price of not being mediocre means you’re going to get criticized sometimes. And I think that’s what Steinbeck told us, and it’s important. And you have to divide that criticism from, is this a well-meaning person that really has a good point here, or… Is this just somebody trying to get in your face and say something, you know?
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, it’s interesting that in the article you talk about ice cream, and I’ll have you explain that in a minute. But one of my colleagues who would always kind of try to cut the joke short when we were like on the set, when we were on the air, kind of like, um, the, the fathering or mothering, you know, the, the, the fun we’d be having if we’d be joking around and she’d be like, oh no, no, no, no, there’s no time for that. Let’s move on to serious matters or, oh no, that’s not nice. And we’re like being sarcastic or laughing and everybody in the set’s laughing. And it would always be like, you know, the bad mom, the bad dad that would come in and break up the party. And she told me once she said, um, you know, My agent told me that vanilla is the best way to be on the air because, you know, a lot of people maybe like pistachio or they may like chocolate, but everybody’s okay with vanilla. So if you’re vanilla, you know, and just kind of like you’re not making the jokes, you’re not straying, you’re not doing anything weird with your hair, you’re not going out on a limb with the colors you’re wearing, you’re very beige, then you’ll receive less criticism. And I thought, gosh, no. I just don’t have it in me to be beige. Like I like to laugh. I like to have fun, you know, have a giggle here and there. And I just can’t imagine just like wanting to be vanilla so that I get less criticism or I guess to be honest with you, maybe she’s smarter than I am in that fact that. more employable, that you’ll rub fewer people the wrong way. Because I remember one of my general managers, he hired me and the news director and liked me, but then his wife didn’t like that I was funny. She didn’t like that I tried to be funny. So then they came to me and said, we really want you, if the anchors engage with you when you are doing the weather toss or whatever, and they say something funny or they want you to respond, I said, well, how do I not respond? Or how do I not be myself? And then the assistant news director said, well, just tell them you’ll get back to them on that later. Okay, so he tossed this to me and goes, really hot out there, Angie. Kind of like that guy you dated in the 90s. I’ll get back to you on that later, Ed. You know, I was like, The dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Right. But they wanted to like curb who I was. And I’m like, I think you’re barking up the wrong tree. Like you should have hired someone else because this was in like within like six months of them hiring me. And I’m like, but they liked my sense of humor. So what is this? And then I found out later when that guy was gone, the general manager was gone. His wife didn’t like me. And every morning she’d say like. I’m so sick of her trying to be funny and make jokes like tell her not to do that anymore. And so it really came from the general manager’s wife, but I just can’t be something I’m not in order to please those few people that can’t stand me.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. And everybody’s entitled to their opinion. Uh, I, I did say in this column that, uh, you know, I’ve met people that literally don’t like chocolate ice cream. Well, I, all right. Um, everybody’s entitled to their opinion. I, I, I think that’s great. And, uh, you know, and it’s just, you know, oftentimes criticism is nothing more than somebody’s opinion. And we all have them. I mean, when I first got into the film business, I started studying all these films. And I have a small theater here at Narrative Television, just a viewing room. And I started screening films on the weekends with one of my colleagues. Since I’m blind, they could kind of help me through this. And You know, I started with the list of films, the greatest films of the 20th century. I said, okay, that’d be a place to start. And many critics agree the top film, or certainly one of the top films, is Citizen Kane. I watched it three times. I do not like that movie. I don’t know what it is about that movie. I do not like it. And it doesn’t mean it’s not a great movie. I just don’t like it. And… I would never openly criticize Orson Welles or the film itself. It’s just not my cup of tea. And, you know, there’s all kinds of those things. So, you know, we have to separate the criticism. Is this constructive criticism? Somebody trying to make us better? Or… Is this just somebody trying to rattle our cage? Because a lot of critics or people, nitpickers, will come by and try to rattle your cage. And if they can and you react, they’ll just keep doing it. That’s their payoff. But if you just don’t let it bother you, they will go away and bother somebody else. So, you know, I think if you’re not being criticized, you know, you really have to look at how mediocre am I? I mean… You know, because if you rise above the crowd or if you fall below the crowd, people are going to criticize you. And if you’re not getting criticism, you’re probably right there in the vanilla middle of the pack. I heard a great preacher say one time, if you’re not coming in, running into opposition, you’re probably going the wrong way. And I believe that’s true. I mean, you know, if you’re not constantly running into challenges and struggles… you’re probably floating downstream and not doing anything.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, like how you say, as you go through your day today, pay attention to your gifts and ignore the critics. And be the flavor you are, really, is what I say, because it’s so hard to be a different flavor. One of my girlfriends that’s on the radio and received a lot of criticism over the years for being kind of out there, her dad said, well, it’s like parking a lot of cars and you’re going in there to buy one. Some people like the yellow VW Bug, some like the Mercedes, and I’m the yellow VW Bug, but that’s not everybody’s cup of tea, and that’s okay. That’s all right. Jim, I want to make sure people can find you. What’s the best place for us to locate you?
SPEAKER 03 :
Jim Stovall, S-T-O-V-A-L-L, jimstovall.com.
SPEAKER 06 :
Excellent. Thank you, my friend.
SPEAKER 03 :
Be well.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, if you are just joining us, this is Angie Austin with the good news. Mother’s Day just around the corner. And one of our favorites has some ideas for us. She is mom on the run, Colleen Burns, and a mom to six boys. And she definitely knows what makes a mom feel celebrated. Welcome back, Colleen.
SPEAKER 04 :
Great to be here. Thank you.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hey, I was just looking at DIY gifts for my mom because she’s in her 80s and she likes to do things with her hands. I was looking for like crafts and things because she does that with me and with some of the grandkids. So any ideas in that arena?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, yeah, that’s a great area in which to look for Mother’s Day gifts because it’s more memorable if you can personalize things like cards, T-shirts, even water bottles. You can do that with this new Cricut Explore 4. If you’re not familiar with Cricut, it is so easy. If you’re a crafting person, you’ll love it. If you’re not a crafting person and you want to learn to craft, it couldn’t be easier. It’s now two times faster than the other machine. You can cut over 100 materials like vinyl, iron-on, or cardstock. It’s a perfect gift to brighten the lives of the moms around you. You can upload and cut your designs or choose from over 1 million images and designs in the Cricut Design Space Library. I don’t know if you know, but they have licensed with companies like Disney and Harry Potter and Marvel and recently just Peanuts. So if you want to make a shirt with your favorite characters, Design that. If you’re going to Disney World and make your own Mickey Mouse shirts, you can do that. It’s a lot cheaper than buying it at the park, obviously, and it’s a great family project. One of my favorite projects is a self-care box. This is a great gift for yourself or for a friend who could use some pampering. You design the top of the box, make it personalized, and you fill it with cozy clothes, a candle or oil, beauty products. It’s a great thing to open up when you want some alone time.
SPEAKER 06 :
I have seen these. They are so cool. I’m actually sending this to my girlfriend for an idea because she makes blankets for pets, you know, so she can personalize them. All right. Cool. Right. All right. How about I’m the mom that’s always at all the tournaments and all the games and, you know, with the sore rear end sitting in the stands. Any ideas for us?
SPEAKER 1 :
No.
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. We’re the ultimate cheerleaders, aren’t we? Whether it’s the soccer pitch, the baseball field, the court side, the pickleball court, whatever it is. And why not be more comfortable? I’ve been seeing more of these GCI stowaway portable chairs at sporting events. And there’s a good reason, because they actually rock. They’re like a rocking chair with this unique patented technology. And believe me, sitting is believing. You’re not going to find a more comfortable, portable chair. It’s light. You can move it around. You can keep it in the back of your car or at home. You can stow it away in the off-season because it packs down so small. But it’s light and it’s very supportive. It’s very comfortable. And for extra convenience, there’s even a caddy on. You can put on either arm of the chair to store your water bottle and your phone. And if no one gets this for you for Mother’s Day, buy it for yourself because you’ll get plenty of use out of it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Awesome. Okay. All right. You know, there’s just so many choices out there. I was just looking for my mother-in-law as well, what to get her, and it can be a little overwhelming. Any tips when you just really don’t know what to get?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, yeah, that’s the key. I think moms fall into two camps, don’t you? There’s the mom who wants to spend her entire day with her kids, and then there’s the mom who just wants a break. And neither one is the right answer, but if you can determine which one it is, you can then try to find a gift that will fit more with her needs. So if the mom wants to spend time with her family, you can look for a new park to explore. Buy her a book. I just found this book, 100 Parks, 5,000 Ideas. You can find a new trail to hike or bike, or you can buy a family game that you can all play together. If you’re somebody, a mom who wants to be alone, well then put out a bathrobe and some bath salts and whatever. a lovely playlist on the speaker and then give that mom some space and some time. Another great idea is our gifts of service. I mean, I love those. One of my sons always helps me with the yard work every year and we’re making memories while we do it. So it’s like a twofer. Another one likes to make me a meal. So, Those are always great gifts, and moms do appreciate that when you take the time. You know, taking time is so important.
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, I like that idea. I like that a lot. Okay. Thank you, Colleen. Where do we go to get more info? You can get more information at dailylounge.com. Always great to have you, Colleen. Thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to The Good News with Angie Austin on AM670 KLTT.
