Jack Canfield is the author and/or co-author of over 150 books, with over 100 million copies sold in 47 languages. The Success Principles is one of his bestselling books and “has legs,” debuting in a 10th anniversary edition in 2015. I had this book, read parts of it, let it go, got it again, listened to more of it, let it go and got it again and am reading it, and listening to it, cover to cover! Why? Because there is wisdom in it, in the recommendations, in the stories that illustrate the recommendations, and in the way it pulls me forward into the capacity I know I have, the potential that lives within me, that I haven’t always been so ready to believe in or embrace, and am ready to breathe more life into. Why? I’m ready to step out more and I need a good guide to help me as I do.
It is not a sex and sizzle kind of book, very meat and potatoes in nature. Which makes it feel like a good, home-cooked meal, complete with mashed potatoes and gravy. Yum.
I am in my third act, business-wise and have been discerning about how I want to work, with whom and how hard. I’m realizing, since re-reading The Success Principles, within a business mastermind book club, that I’ve been focused on what I don’t want — the hard and the hustle. Those are old thoughts, past conditioning. I’m also realizing, through this book and the support of others, that I can achieve success my way. That it can be easy and that I can work at a pace that makes sense for me.
What Jack Canfield has helped to make clear, no matter what, is that action is still required. There’s the dream, there’s the planning, and there’s the “stuff” we do each day to align with these, BUT, without a belief in ourselves, that it can be done, that we’re the ones to do it and that the world just might need and want what we have to offer, nothing substantive will happen. I love what I do and who I do it with. So why not keep going and what might success look like for me now as I do? These are important questions that I’ve been asking myself and answering as I read this book.
I love coaching my seasoned successful professional clients back home to themselves, to the wholeness and satisfaction they desire as they enhance their reach and impact and become the leaders and role models they never had. I love writing, speaking and inspiring people to be more of who they are and choose in ways that are correct for them. I, too, want to increase my reach and impact and leave a legacy for our four boys while I’m still alive. Reading and acting on The Success Principles is helping me to move closer to these dreams, one step, one day, one interaction at a time.
This is a book I recommend reading with other people who are also interested in success, in achieving goals that matter to them, personally and professionally. While you can jump around, it is designed as a build. There is contemplation, envisioning having what you want to create and tools to go about that. It’s all there, in one neat book. Prepare to take notes in margins, dog-ear pages and put sticky-notes everywhere. Better yet, get yourself a notebook, make yourself a refreshing beverage, and give yourself all the room and time you need with each chapter. When you get to the end, trust that your life will be different and better for it.
(Find this book in the Recommended Reading section of my website, under: Guiding Principle #5 — Create A Purposeful Life)
