The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer

You know you’re willing to do what it takes to be successful. What you don’t know is what books will help you on your journey. 2,000+ self-help titles are printed each year, and everyone from therapists to Oprah recommends a different favorite. You’re too busy to read them all: You have a life, a business, and success to experience. You have to make choices: what business to pursue or which book to read. (With 2,000 books, you’d have to read almost 5.5 books every day, to even come close!)

As Dr. Success, I offer a powerful, valuable shortcut on your journey. I read self-help books as a vocation, a hobby and a business. As a business, I make appearances on television as a self-help expert who reads these books and shares how to turn the authors’ thoughts on a subject into specific actions that viewers can take to get measurable results. (For a sneak peek at my video synopsis of many of the books I will cover in my blog, visit my website: http://www.ServingSuccess.com.) This article will be the first in a series to translate my television segment into monthly articles. In short, I will show you how to use the books instead of just read the books.

Overview

The first book in my monthly series on self-help books is a must-have reference manual on the top 64 success principles by a long-time teacher in the personal transformation field, Jack Canfield. The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, by Jack Canfield with Janet Switzer isn’t necessarily a quick read, but it does put everything you need under one umbrella.

It’s a large book, but don’t let the size turn you off. The book is written in a way that allows you to pick a subject area, and then choose a lesson to turn into action. It is conveniently divided into six main themes, including: The Fundamentals of Success, Ways to Build a Success Team, and reminders that Success Starts Now. Definitely invest the time to read the seven-page introduction. I may disagree with the authors’ suggestion that you read the book from cover to cover, but I enthusiastically support their warning not to become discouraged with how long it may take to see results. The special integrity of this book is that it does not sugarcoat what it takes to achieve success: it takes time – and a lot of it. Yet if you invest the time, this book delivers on its promise: If you apply the principles laid out on its pages, you will achieve your goals.

What to Do

Here’s one technique to effectively use this book. Think of the six sections as potential growth areas. Whenever you have time, randomly choose a section and a reading from that section. “Randomly” means to let your fingers do the walking! Look through the table of contents and stop on a given page. Go there and, with your eyes closed, point to a spot. Open your eyes to see which growth area you’ll be working on. (Many people use this technique when looking for guidance from spiritual books such as the Bible. This can also be used with most self-help books.) Commit to working on only that chosen area for the next seven days. Read the chapter and do the suggested action for that week – then assess your results. Is it working, does it feel right, have you moved closer to where you want to be? This process of personal development may be similar to the way you learned to run a business or solve a challenge: observe, act, analyze, and adjust for greater results.

Another approach is to read the first chapter in every section and work with each one it until you have integrated the actions into your personal success repertoire. Using that technique you will be summoned to take 100% responsibility, drop out of the “Ain’t It Awful” Club and surround yourself with successful people, stay focused on your core genius, be mentally and physically present, develop a positive money consciousness, and most important, start now and just do it!

My Specific Experience with this Book and Results

For me, being reminded to take 100% responsibility also helped me remember that everything in life is the result of choices I make. I would like to share with you what was going on in my business life at the time I was reviewing this book. As I recount my story, try to think of a time you had a similar situation in your personal or work life. Recognizing how you contribute to any situation is the first action step you can take to positively influence a different outcome.

In addition to being an expert in self-help, with my husband, I own and operate two hotels and employ many people. At the time I was reading The Success Principles I felt I was being saddled with less-than-high-performing employees. They seemed to complain a lot, always had an excuse for why some goal was not met, and were quick to blame the one person who was not in the room for all of our challenges. When I was reminded through the first chapter that I needed to take 100% responsibility for my life, I was quickly able to see that I was replicating and creating, in my own life, the behaviors I was experiencing in my company.

That priceless awareness allowed me to see very clearly how the next section’s opening chapter on dropping out of the “Ain’t It Awful” Club and surrounding myself with successful people, might just be my ticket out of my current predicament and on to the next level of success. I monitored my own language about how and why the situation was the way it was, and like magic, the people around me began to do the same.

That different result was reinforced as soon as I began to build a team instead of trying to do everything myself. Staying focused on my core genius and allowing others to contribute to the overall success of the situation was a relief for me and for those who worked for me. Building the team required me to stay present in every conversation with every employee so that each knew would know that I was on his or her team too! It meant not responding to e-mails while someone was trying to speak with me, and it meant not answering a phone call – and turning off my phone if I was in a scheduled meeting with a team member.

As a business owner, I came to realize that my greatest business cost – salaries – would produce better returns if I actually invested time in my employees. I developed a money consciousness that said salaries were an investment, not a liability.

When I read the sixth section of the book, it was obvious that starting now was not a recommendation but an imperative. Success may start as a thought, but it must end in a whole lot of action for it to be sustainable. The Success Principles gives you 64 opportunities to take that action. All you need is the willingness to help yourself.

Action Step for RIGHT NOW

* Get the Book (available here – or check your local library).

* Read the seven-page introduction.

* Choose an action plan (either “random readings” or a chapter-by-chapter overview. Or, go for it, and read it all – every page is a business and personal treasure and a launching pad to your future.)

* Do it now. Success Starts Now!


Contact Dr. Success – Andrea Goeglein, Ph.D.

If you would like to learn more about how to begin Serving Your Own Success™, please contact me directly at: info@servingsuccess.com or by phone: 702-869-3729.

Serving Success
Andrea T. Goeglein, Ph.D.1975 Village Center CircleSuite 140Las Vegas, NV 89134

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