The Principles of Success

Author: Jack Canfield

This book is not about new ideas but about timeless principles used by successful men and women throughout history. I have studied these principles for over 30 years and applied them to my personal life. The legendary level of success I now enjoy is a result of applying these principles daily since I began learning them in 1968. My success includes being an author and editor of over 200 books—including 60 New York Times bestsellers, with over 500 million copies sold in 50 languages worldwide. I hold a Guinness World Record for having seven of my books on the New York Times bestseller list on May 24, 1998. I earn millions of dollars in net income every year for 20 years, live in beautiful California, appear on every major talk show (from Oprah and Montel to Larry King Live and Good Morning America), have a newspaper column read by millions weekly, command between $25,000 and $60,000 per speaking engagement, speak to Fortune 500 companies globally, have received numerous professional and national awards, and have more than wonderful relationships with my beautiful wife and amazing children. I have achieved a consistent level of physical well-being, balance, happiness, and inner peace. I have forged connections with Fortune 500 executives, movie, TV, and recording stars, celebrity authors, and the most brilliant teachers and spiritual leaders worldwide. I have given speeches to members of Congress, professional athletes, institution managers, and sales stars at many of the best resorts and spas around the world—from the Four Seasons Resort in the British West Indies to the finest hotels in Acapulco and Cancun. I have enjoyed skiing in Idaho, California, and Utah, boating in Colorado, and camping in the mountains of California and Washington. Additionally, I have spent my vacations at the world's best resorts in Hawaii, Australia, Thailand, Morocco, France, Bali, and Italy. In general, life is a real pleasure! Yet, like most readers of this book, I started from very humble beginnings. I grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, where my father worked in a flower shop, earning about $8,000 a year. My mother was a homemaker, and my father was a workaholic. I worked during summer vacations to make ends meet (as a lifeguard at a swimming pool and at the same time with my father in the flower shop). I attended college on a scholarship and worked serving breakfast in a student dorm to pay for textbooks, clothes, and other necessities. No one handed me anything on a silver platter. During my final year of college, I got a part-time teaching job that paid me $120 every two weeks. My rent was $79 a month, meaning I had $161 left to cover my other expenses. Towards the end of the month, I would eat what I later called the twenty-one-cent dinner—10 cents for a can of tomato sauce, garlic, salt, and water over an 11-cent bag of spaghetti; so I know very well what it means to struggle when you are in the worst economic conditions. After college, I began my career as a high school history teacher at a school for black students on the South Side of Chicago. Then I met my teacher W. Clement Stone. Stone was a self-made millionaire who hired me to work at his foundation, where he trained me in the key success principles that I still follow today. My job was to teach these same principles to others. Over the years, since working with Mr. Stone, I have met hundreds of successful people, Olympic and professional athletes, famous artists, bestselling authors, businessmen, political leaders, successful entrepreneurs, and top salespeople. I have literally read two thousand books, attended hundreds of seminars, and listened to thousands of hours of audio programs to uncover the general principles for achieving success and happiness. Then I applied these principles to my own life. The principles that worked are those I have taught in my speeches, seminars, and workshops to over two million people in all fifty states... and in 36 countries worldwide. These principles and techniques not only worked for me, but they have helped hundreds of thousands of my students achieve tremendous success in their careers, greater wealth financially, more vitality and joy in their relationships, and greater happiness and fulfillment in their lives. My students have started successful businesses, become self-made millionaires, achieved stardom in sports, landed lucrative record deals, starred in movies and television, won political offices, made significant impacts in their communities, authored bestselling books, been selected as their schools' Teacher of the Year, broken all sales records in their companies, written award-winning screenplays, become company presidents, earned accolades for their outstanding philanthropic contributions, formed very successful relationships, and raised happy and highly successful children.