Excerpt: 'Never Say Never' by Phyllis George

— -- Phyllis George's résumé is an extraordinary study in contrasts. As a woman who has reinvented her career so many times — from Miss America in 1971 to broadcast pioneer to entrepreneur — George has a good deal of wisdom to impart.

In a new book entitled Never Say Never: Ten Lessons to Turn You Can't Into Yes I Can, George shares her tips for moving from challenge to challenge, and turning trials into triumphs.

Here is an excerpt from Chapter One:

"SAY YES TO YOURSELF"

You'll never do it! I'll never do it! Has anyone ever told you that you couldn't do something? Have you ever told yourself you would never do something? If so, you're not alone. Throughout this book you're going to read stories about times some of my friends and I confronted the word "never" and how we overcame it, sometimes with difficulty, to become well known in our various fields.

In this chapter alone, you'll hear from "the Greatest"-Muhammad Ali, CNN talk show king Larry King, and America's favorite gossip columnist, Liz Smith. Plus, you'll learn how my interviews with star athletes Roger Staubach and Dave Cowens helped me create a different style of sports casting. And you'll see how entering a local beauty pageant after saying I'd never do it again gave my life a whole new direction. Ali, Larry, Liz, Roger, Dave, and I have taken different roads to our various successes, but what we share is our strong belief, earned through experience, that learning to never say never begins with saying yes to yourself.

What's the problem with "never"? It keeps you from trying. It ensures that you will fail. End of story. "Never" slams doors in your face and pushes away potential opportunities. To be one small voice crying yes in a wilderness of no's is incredibly hard. But I am here to tell you this: To take that first step toward everything you want, everything you can be in life, you must find and nurture in yourself the strength to say yes to yourself, even when others say no.

Banish the words "I can't" from your vocabulary. Remember: If can't equals won't, can equals will.

My unanticipated success as a sportscaster is a perfect example of the importance of saying yes to yourself, even when you are uncertain. It was in 1974, when television sports was dominated by men, that CBS Sports offered me a job. The network executives had seen me co-hosting Candid Camera with Allen Funt and the Miss America pageant with Bert Parks and liked what they saw. I was building momentum with TV audiences. They could see I had potential and thought they'd take a chance with me. My agent arranged a meeting with Bob Wussler, then vice president of CBS Sports, to explore broadcasting possibilities. Bob explained that he really wanted this to work and that we would have to approach this in a serious way. When CBS offered me a thirteen-week option, they still hadn't determined what role I would play.