Motivational Speaker’s Dreams Were Detoured but Not Lost

Life’s unpredictable detours foil many promising careers. But Art Berg, who was left a quadriplegic after an auto accident years ago, vowed he wouldn’t let adversity stop him from achieving his dreams.

In 1983, Berg had a promising future. He co-owned a growing tennis court construction business. He was a talented athlete who water-skied, snow-skied, ran and played basketball and tennis. He was engaged to his high school sweetheart.

But on the day after Christmas 1983, while accompanying a friend on a drive from California to Utah, Berg’s life changed forever. His friend fell asleep at the wheel, and the car hurtled over an embankment, rolled several times and crashed in the Nevada desert. Berg, who was thrown from the passenger seat, remained conscious. He knew instantly something was very wrong; he couldn’t feel his arms or legs.

“One of my first realizations was that all my dreams might be gone,” he said.

Later in the hospital, doctors gave him horrible news: He had a cervical-level spinal cord injury. He was a quadriplegic, they said; he probably would never walk again.

Berg’s list of injuries was long: He had lost lung function; he could no longer sweat; he had no control over muscles in his chest, abdomen, legs and hands; and he has very little remaining strength in his shoulders and arms. Berg remembers one doctor who suggested that, because of his serious condition, Berg accept that he might never marry, have children or hold a job.

He struggled to fight depression. He lost 48 pounds and was subject to excruciating medical procedures. Metal tongs were bolted to the side of his head. When he was later fitted with a halo brace, bolts were screwed into his forehead and behind his ears. The anesthesia used in the procedures didn’t work.

“It was the most pain I’d experienced in my life,” Berg said. He had to wear the halo brace for 12 weeks.

Regular visits from his fiancee and parents kept Berg going in the beginning. They urged him, “Don’t quit, don’t give up, don’t give in.” His fiancee told him they would still marry. His mother read him stacks of cards from well-wishers and repeated the phrase that would become Berg’s motto, “While the difficult takes time, the impossible just takes a little longer.”

Berg began to see his condition as a detour, not a permanent roadblock.

“I had to dream new dreams, ask new questions and think new thoughts,” he said. He also decided not to be a “why-ner”--a person who asks frustrating, pointless questions such as “Why me?” and “Why did this happen?” He vowed instead to keep focused on the present and to set goals.

He also realized he had the power to control his perception of his condition and his response to it. It was up to him to view his life as a tragedy or as an opportunity.

“If I chose to be angry, it wouldn’t change things,” he said. “If anything, it would push people away from me. So I chose to be happy. I saw happiness as a choice we can make every day.”

The medical staff was puzzled by Berg’s demeanor. When Berg received a copy of his medical chart, he found that a doctor had written that he was exhibiting “excessive happiness.” On the chart, the physician suggested Berg be isolated from family, friends and other patients so he could get over his denial and accept the gravity of his condition, Berg said.

His tribulations had only begun. He had to relearn basic life functions, such as how to feed himself. On his first attempt, he fell face-first into a plate of scrambled eggs, and, because his rehab instructor was out of the room, remained in the position for nearly 30 minutes. But he took the setback good-naturedly, even joking about it to the startled instructor upon her return.

This was the attitude he carried with him through his rehabilitation. He accepted that his reentry into the world beyond the hospital would take time and great effort. He fought the temptation to give up too easily. It took him four years to be able to put on his own pants, five years to don his socks and shoes.

He likes to tell people, “Before my accident, there were 10,000 things I could do. Now there are 9,000 things I can do.”

Berg learned to use his shoulders, arms and two functional chest muscles to their greatest advantage. He developed his fingers’ limited motor skills and trained himself to trigger muscle spasms so he could perform actions such as picking up a pencil, shaking hands and turning door knobs.

Eventually, when Berg could get around in a wheelchair, type with two fingers, hold a pen and answer phones, he decided he was ready to return to work. He began calling employers to apply for sales jobs.

“On the phone, they would sound enthusiastic and promising regarding my qualifications, anxious for me to be a part of their team and sometimes almost even hiring me before we had a chance to interview,”’ Berg wrote in “Some Miracles Take Time” (Invictus Communications, 1990). “But then into their office I would roll, and their enthusiasm turned to disappointment and concern.”

Berg wouldn’t give up. He offered potential employers hiring incentives. He said he would work two weeks for free if they’d give him a chance. He vowed to match their top performers within 30 days or leave. Still, no one would give him a job.

He temporarily abandoned his quest for a sales position, but refused to believe he was unemployable. He kept soliciting companies for jobs. Finally, he was hired as a telephone receptionist at an IBM message center. Though the work--taking phone messages for employees at a plant site--was simple, Berg gave his best efforts. He set a division record, taking more than 300 messages daily.

Later, Berg was hired as a computer sales rep. He earned three sales awards. He then went into business for himself, managing three bookstores, and was named a Small Business Administration “Young Entrepreneur of the Year.”

But in 1991, he said, he found his true calling: motivational speaking. “It forced me to take risks,” he said.

For seven years, Berg spoke for free, “about 500 times,” mostly to teenagers. He talked about overcoming adversity, remaining optimistic and maintaining self-esteem.

“I thank God that life is hard,” he tells his audiences. “Because in the pain, the struggle, the loneliness and the rejection, we begin to learn. And when we learn, we grow, and when we grow, a miracle happens. We begin to change.”

Berg became adept as a professional speaker. With the help of his friend, seminar leader Joel Weldon of Scottsdale, Ariz., he honed his message and speaking skills. He learned to customize his speeches for his audiences, making sure to address for them what Weldon called “NFV”--his listeners’ needs, fears and victories.

“That was the thing we shared,” Weldon said. “That it was important that his message be relevant to the audience, so that it fit their needs too, to make his story their story.”

Today Berg is a busy man, traveling about 200,000 miles annually, appearing at more than 150 engagements. He earns about $13,000 a speech, he said. Last year he received 804 speaking requests. He’s a board member of the National Speakers Assn. and has done motivational speaking for Super Bowl XXXV champs, the Baltimore Ravens.

But Berg’s victories aren’t limited to his work. He has been happily married for 15 years to his high school sweetheart, Dallas. The couple has two children, Mckenzie, 9, and Dalton, 6.

Over the years, Berg has become a highly skilled wheelchair athlete. Using the backs of his hands to push because he is unable to grip his wheelchair’s rings, he has competed in several grueling races.

After completing one five-mile race (and being the first quadriplegic to do so), he competed in a 26-mile race over hills. The effort was so painful, his hands bled and tears ran down his cheeks. As runners passed him, they slapped him on the back and urged, “Come on, chair, don’t give up. You can make it.” And he did.

In 1993, over a seven-day period, he raced 325 miles from Salt Lake City to St. George, Utah. Through the years, he has participated in other sports: tennis, swimming, para-sailing, wheelchair rugby and scuba diving.

“When I look back to the beginning, obviously I was completely dependent on people for everything, whereas today I am completely independent,” he said. “Success in life is kind of exponential. You keep doing the little things, running your business, and suddenly the big break comes in.”

Last year, Berg started ESpeakers.com, which links professional speakers with speakers’ bureaus via software.

During free moments, he answers e-mail from individuals who have suffered injuries similar to his. Sharing someone else’s burden is a great joy, he says.

Berg will never say his life is easy.

He experiences pain on a daily basis and constantly pits himself against “wheelchair-unfriendly” situations: narrow corridors, stairs and crowds of people. But he remains unfalteringly optimistic about his future.

“If I live to be 100, and I’m still in this chair, I’ll keep believing that tomorrow all my dreams can come true,” he said. “I’ll still hear those words, ‘Come on chair, don’t give up. You can make it.’ ”

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Dare to Dream

In 1983, a serious car accident left 21-year-old Art Berg a quadriplegic. Though doctors told him he would never be able to lead a normal life--including marrying, having children and holding a job--Berg made rehabilitation his goal. Today Berg is a top motivational speaker, a world-class wheelchair athlete and an Internet entrepreneur. His motto: “The impossible just takes a little longer.” Here are Berg’s tips for success.

1. Don’t be a “time traveler,” regretting the past and worrying about the future. Too often when we do these things, we take ourselves out of the game.

2. Fail faster. Don’t be afraid to put yourself in a position of discomfort when you’re trying something new. You’ll learn more quickly and may lose your fear of failure.

3. Don’t be a “why-ner”--a person who asks “Why me?” “Why doesn’t anyone love me? Why does everything I eat turn to fat?” Why-ners don’t look for solutions. Very often, they just look for someone else to blame.

4. Instead of looking for someone to blame, look for something to change. Often, that something is you.

5. Focus. We have to make choices every day to give up things, so we can focus on what’s most important. Don’t regret what you’ve given up.