Rick Hansen’s Going the Distance with His New Bestseller

By Lisa Bendall

"Often, people ask me if I would exchange the life I have led since my accident for the use of my legs. Sometimes they seem shocked or disbelieving when I invariably answer, ’No.’"

With this statement Rick Hansen opens the foreword of his newly released book, "Going the Distance: Seven Steps to Personal Change," co-authored with Denver, Colorado, counselling psychologist Joan Laub.

Since Rick Hansen returned to Vancouver in 1985 from his Man in Motion tour around the world, life has been different -- but no less intense. He is married, with two beautiful daughters. He sits on the boards of directors of almost too many organizations to count, including the Rick Hansen Man in Motion Society which supports spinal cord research, rehabilitation, wheelchair sport and disability awareness with the interest from the $26-million generated on his tour. He has been awarded with multiple honours, including membership into the Order of Canada.

His has been a never-dull life filled with constant change. Some events have seemed very negative at the outset, others very positive. Yet through each change Rick seems to have become stronger -- and more fulfilled. Operating his own business, Rick Hansen Enterprises, he uses his experiences to give motivational speaking presentations and to provide training and education, consultation and public relations services. He says he gains the most satisfaction not from removing people’s exterior barriers, but by helping individuals to remove their own internal barriers.

Rick met Joan Laub when she asked him to participate in her doctorate thesis in transformation, studying a dozen individuals who, like Rick, had worked through severe trauma, situations in which they were completely helpless and had subsequently developed certain coping techniques in order to take control of their lives. Rick was fascinated by her findings, which clearly showed that he had coping methods in common with the other subjects.

"It was really neat," Rick says, "because that study validated a lot of my assumptions, my intuitive knowledge that these things that had worked for me were also working for the others." He suggested to Dr. Laub that they combine their backgrounds, transforming the results into a less academic publication that would help people work successfully through personal change -- or even initiate change -- and attain meaningful goals.

Armed with a pencil, paper, a copy of the book, and a comfortable space free of distractions, the reader is encouraged to work through exercises which teach her about herself, her ambitions and the best tactics for achieving these goals.

It’s not a simple game; to read through the processes and follow the suggestions takes concentration and an open mind. The book systematically outlines its seven steps to personal change, along with detailed explanations that include lists of "strategies" and "principles." Every chapter ends with a summary -- reminiscent of university texts -- and there is even a "troubleshooting" section at the end of the book that more than a little resembles the back of a computer manual: If you have this problem, this may be the cause, so try this instead.

"Going the Distance" does not quite fit into the genre of the pop self-help volumes that overcrowd bookstore shelves these days. This book has many differences, not the least of which is the modest notion that it respects the reader’s intelligence. This is no superficial overview -- I doubt this bestseller will be followed by two more must-have sequels. This book addresses as much as can possibly be expressed in a literary forum, from "Step One -- Setting Your Goal," in which you are guided carefully through goal choices, to "Step Seven -- Experiencing Success," at which point you gain an understanding of exactly how to perceive success. (Did you ever imagine you could be taught how to "feel" triumph?)

Self-help books are often geared, it seems, to people struggling to deal with serious adversity --abuse, alcoholism, divorce, depression. But "Going the Distance" is useful and appropriate for any person at any stage of personal growth. Even someone whose life is reasonably okay.

"We didn’t want to put forth absolute objectives, that people had to be traumatic victims or aspiring to be millionaires by the time they were 30," says Rick. "Those are all deeply personal issues. We’re all on different roads towards the objective of self-fulfilment. It’s our own uniquely personal journey. We tried not to tell people where they were going, or at what stage on the journey they were, but to say, if you’re going somewhere, here are some tools and some guidelines that can act as points of reference."

Another unique perspective offered by Rick and Dr. Laub is in their approach to risk-taking, which is something that we all have to do -- but, say the authors, we don’t have to like. "Most self-help literature says you have to think positive, otherwise you won’t do it. We say that’s against 80 per cent of the real world," says Rick. "Lots of times when you’re starting your goal, you’ve got a lot of fears, uncertainties, unanswered questions, what-ifs, that you’ll have to deal with as you go forward. It’s acting in spite of uncertainty that’s important." Many such emotions are explored extensively throughout the book.

One of the most likeable features of "Going the Distance" is that it’s interspersed with italicized bits of Rick Hansen, some of these samples extraordinarily personal: Rick relates his feelings of insecurity and jealousy while in a new relationship with Amanda (now his wife). He describes the self-pity he experienced six months after the tour, when he was a national celebrity -- but flat broke. These are not Rick’s most heroic faces, but they are honest faces.

"We wanted it to be not Rick Hansen the hero, but just Rick Hansen, warts and all," he says. "I’m just a guy from Williams Lake. I’ve got my strengths and my weaknesses, my good days and my bad days. We felt that it was important for people, if they were going to relate to this book, to be able to see that."

The future of Rick Hansen Enterprises includes the opening of a life skills motivation centre, teaching people tools to remove internal barriers. Rick plans to work in partnership with other associations including government, corporations and consumer service organizations in his company’s efforts to educate people about achieving their potential. He is also mapping out his route on the information highway and examining new technologies such as CD-Rom and telecommunications as a means of reaching people.

"I really feel that I’m embarking on a whole new era in my life, both personally and professionally," says Rick. "and it’s just been a great journey. But I believe that my best work personally, in terms of my own growth and development, and professionally, in terms of how I can contribute to society, is still to come. I’ll just continue to go down that path, one new chapter after another. It’s exciting, and I like it a lot."

The first print run of "Going the Distance" has already been ordered out by dealers across the nation, designating it a national bestseller. You can obtain a copy of "Going the Distance: Seven Steps to Personal Change" for $24.95 in most bookstores.

(Lisa Bendall is an ABILITIES staff writer.)