From the Lip to the Hip is a Pretty Far Distance: Doing What You Say You're Going to Do - Lessons in Character and Integrity

By Steve Coplon

The purpose of "From the Lip to the Hip is a Pretty Far Distance" is to help each of us become people of our word and strive to minimize, as much as possible, the undesirable behavior of not doing what you say you are going to do. Jesus says in Matthew 5:37, in the Sermon on the Mount, "Let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No."

Have you eve

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Dominion Press
• Release date: Dec 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781735748313

Steve Coplon

Steve Coplon is the Founder/Executive Director of Right Thinking Foundation (RTF), a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to fight and reduce Recidivism. A successful lifetime entrepreneur personally involved in hundreds of millions of dollars of economic development, he has developed a program based on biblical principles and proven business practices needed for success. Following Napoleon Hill's footsteps, whose work he was first introduced to over 45 years ago, RTF's financial education program teaches responsibility and making good choices. Steve has a remarkable ability to connect with people using Napoleon Hill's principle of using Master Mind groups to help make the world a better place. Persevering through severe health and financial difficulties, Steve stays focused on his life purpose of helping other people, a calling which he learned from his mother―he has dedicated his life to serving the underserved. He has gone behind the prison walls hundreds of times as a Statewide Volunteer with the Virginia Department of Corrections. Having presented his Personal Finance and Small Business Ownership seminar in numerous prisons nationally to help returning citizens be better prepared to become productive, contributing members of society upon release. His Personal Finance and Small Business Ownership curriculum is now available to prisons and jails throughout the country. Steve believes that the best way to fight Recidivism is to get to the youth and teach them to make good choices before they go too far out into the world and begin making bad choices that can ultimately cost them their freedom. He has taught financial literacy at An Achievable Dream Academy, a charter school for the at-risk in the public school system in Newport News, Virginia, where he brought real-life experiences to high school students. Steve is the host of Right Thinking with Steve Coplon, a radio show and podcast dedicated to helping anyone experiencing hardship and those who want to be there for them. He has embarked on an unusual goal―traveling to and visiting prisons in all 50 states to deliver his message of Love, Encouragement, and Hope.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever met someone who has never experienced having to deal with a person who told them that they were going to do something, and they never did what they said they were going to do? I doubt that you have, because every single one of us has unfortunately had that happen to them. Even worse, every single one of us has done it to another, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Saying that you are going to do something and never doing it is a universal issue. It is part of human nature.

The purpose of From the Lip to the Hip is a Pretty Far Distance is to help each of us become people of our word and strive to minimize, as much as possible, the undesirable behavior of not doing what you say you are going to do. Jesus says in Matthew 5:37, in the Sermon on the Mount, Let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No.

On Friday morning, February 28, 2020, I was scheduled to do an interview to air the following Monday morning on my weekly radio show, Right Thinking with Steve Coplon. It was to be my 159th episode. I was very excited about the interview with Officer L. I had met this fine person two weeks earlier when I went to one of my doctor’s offices to pick up a prescription. Officer L was the security guard at the door. As I was exiting the building, I turned around and approached him to introduce myself. I was drawn to him because of his incredibly contagious, warm smile.

Officer L had served in the Navy for six years and upon release he returned to his hometown and became a mid-size drug dealer. He left that all behind and became a police officer on the streets of a major municipality for twenty years. While serving as a police officer, he started a program in the community where he and other officers went undercover into high school classrooms as substitute teachers to help teach teenagers about the importance of not breaking the law. He later became a pastor.

When Officer L learned of the work that I do through Right Thinking Foundation in prisons, he became very excited. He invited me to join with him in his street ministry to change lives. Our conversation lasted over thirty minutes. I was so captivated by his life story that I asked him if he would let me interview him on my radio show. He responded, Absolutely. I would love to.

He told me his schedule and said that Fridays were his days off. He said that we could do the interview right away. He gave me his cell phone number and email and I told him that I would call to schedule. It took two weeks before he finally answered my calls. He said that he didn’t recognize my number, so didn’t answer. We scheduled the interview for Friday morning February 28th. I put in my normal five hours of preparation for the show.

At 10:00 am on that day, I sent him the prearranged Zoom invite and waited by my computer. At 10:15, I texted him. At 10:30, I called him and left a message. No response from him. At 11:15, he called me. He told me that he had been called into a meeting and was unable to contact me any sooner. I asked if he still wanted to do the interview, offering to reschedule. He strongly said that he wanted to do the interview and that we could do it at 1:00 pm. That was fine with me, so I waited for him to join me on Zoom at 1:00.

At 1:00, no Officer L. I reached out and he did answer my call at 1:45. This time, he again said that he wanted to do the interview and asked if 5:00 would work for me. He did share what he had to do for the remainder of the afternoon and assured me that he could make 5:00 work. I said that it would, but again offered to reschedule if it would be better for him. I let him know that it would be fine and would not inconvenience me to reschedule but that I had to know because I would have to prepare for a new show. He said he was good to go at 5:00. I requested that he check in with me at 4:30. He said that he would.

He called me at 4:45 to let me know that he was caught up in traffic but that we could start at 5:30. I said thanks for checking in, see you at 5:30.

5:30 came and went. No Officer L. I reached out several times, praying that nothing bad had happened to him. I waited until 8:00. I did not hear from him anymore and it was three weeks later before he answered one of my calls. He gave no apology or explanation.

During the time that I was waiting to do the show, I knew that it might not happen. I needed a fall back in case Officer L was a no show. I had recently been reading again Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. A section of the very last chapter of the book came to my mind. It was Fifty-Seven Famous Alibis By Old Man IF. This particular wisdom by Napoleon Hill focused me on lessons that my mother had taught me as a child. It was at that moment that I decided to finally deliver my message on the importance of doing what you say you are going to do.

Several years ago, Don Green, Executive Director of the Napoleon Hill Foundation, obtained permission for me to use in my prison seminars an excerpt from How to Own Your Own Mind by Napoleon Hill. The excerpt was called The Major Benefits of Organized Thinking. When I knew that there was a strong possibility that I needed to record a different show for Monday, I decided to ask Don if he could get me approval to use Fifty-Seven Famous Alibis By Old Man IF" on the show. Within a few hours, Don delivered the approval.

I recorded Episode 159 From the Lip to the Hip is a Pretty Far Distance as the first show in a series exploring why people don’t do what they say they are going to do. I invited as my guests for each show, people whom I greatly respect and admire to share their wisdom and insights on the subject. They are a very diverse group, offering many very different perspectives on the theme of the book.

The interviews that were done with my eleven guests were so powerful that I decided to use the transcripts from the shows for what ultimately became this book that you are about to read. Three and a half years ago, when I first launched Right Thinking with Steve Coplon, Don sent me a copy of Napoleon Hill is on the Air. It is a book that contains transcripts from a series of radio broadcasts that Napoleon Hill did in Jackson, Mississippi in 1953. The editor of that book states that It allows you, the reader, to experience almost verbatim what Napoleon shared directly with his listeners. I have followed in Napoleon Hill’s footsteps as I have kept the edited transcripts of my shows as close to the actual broadcasts as possible.

Through the process of converting the transcripts to the chapters of From the Lip to the Hip is a Pretty Far Distance, I have learned a tremendous amount about the difference between conversational dialogue and the written word. I wish to thank Randey and Cindyrae Faulkner for volunteering to edit the transcripts line by line as a gift of love because they wanted this book to be made available to each of you, the readers. I could not have completed this book without the incredible assistance of Sofia Giannascoli. She has been a God sent. I would like to thank my wife, Donna, for being with me every step along the way, as she gave me the love and support that I needed to write this book as well as provided countless hours of proofing and editing. To each of my guests, thank you for sharing your wisdom and caring so much about other people.

Special thanks to Don Green, for all that he has done for me as my friend and mentor. He sets the example every day of how to give of yourself to make the world a better place. This book would not have become a reality if not for Napoleon Hill, whose teachings and wisdom have influenced me more than anyone else in my life.

What started out as a compilation quickly became a collaboration. I have personally been transformed by the conversations that I had with my guests who became contributing authors. Each of them are individuals of the highest character and integrity. It has been my honor and privilege to share them with you.

It is my heartfelt hope and prayer that From the Lip to the Hip is a Pretty Far Distance will transform your life as it has mine and help everyone who reads it to a better life.

God Bless You,

Steve Coplon

CHAPTER ONE

From The Lip To The Hip Is A Pretty Far Distance Right Thinking With Steve Coplon - Episode 159