Eyes that see the good in things: Sept. 23, 2019

Don’t worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try. ~Jack Canfield

It may not come as a surprise that I am a huge fan of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book series. Depending on what the topic of the book is, I find the stories thought-provoking, inspirational and motivational. They are stories that really are “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”

Jack Canfield’s idea for the “Chicken Soup for the Soul”series started in 1990. He then shared his idea with co-writer Mark Victor Hansen and by 1993, the two had compiled over 60 stories. Getting published was not easy, though. He was rejected by more than 130 publishers before the book finally went to print. Even the title of the book was initially rejected by publishers. However, persistence paid off and today Chicken Soup is a virtual institution in the self-help genre.

Although the book series may be well known, I didn’t know much about the man who conceptualized the idea. When I initially heard about Canfield, he was presented as someone without much experience who had a great idea and ran with his one great idea.

In reality, Canfield’s story of success as one of the most respected motivational speakers and authors began when he was teaching at an inner-city high school. Canfield saw the low motivation that his students had for learning and looked for ways to increase that motivation. Keep in mind that many of these students were either in gangs or not attending school because they didn’t want to come in contact with the gang members. His desire to motivate his students led him to listen to a motivational speaker. To his surprise, he found that the success and motivational principles worked. His students started to get better grades and he became a more motivated teacher himself. That was how Canfield got his start teaching personal success and professional development.

Jack Canfield is a Harvard graduate with a master’s degree in psychological education. “Time Magazine” called him the “publishing phenomenon of the decade.” Canfield is a leading expert in creating peak performance for entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, managers, sales professionals, corporate employees, and educators and has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals achieve their dreams.

He has studied what makes successful people different; he knows what motivates, drives, and inspires them. His most recent National Bestseller, “The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be” reached global acclaim. His other best-selling books — “The Power of Focus,” “The Aladdin Factor,”” Dare to Win,” “You’ve Got to Read This Book!,” and “The Key to Living the Law of Attraction” have generated millions.

Canfield is the founder and chairman of The Canfield Training Group which trains entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and motivated individuals how to accelerate the achievement of their personal and professional goals. He is the founder of The Foundation for Self-Esteem in Westlake Village, Calif., which provides self-esteem resources and trainings to social workers, welfare recipients and human resource professionals. Canfield also wrote and produced the “Goals Program,” a video training program for California welfare recipients which has helped more than 450,000 people get off welfare.

As the originator of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series, Jack Canfield fostered the emergence of inspirational anthologies as a genre– and watched it grow to a billion-dollar market. Jack Canfield is a man who is uniquely qualified to talk about success.

Canfield’s 10 Keys to Success

1. You are responsible for your happiness— while most people think that the path to finding happiness and success is influenced by the external world, Canfield says that we are 100% responsible for our failings and our success. Blaming others can prevent real success.

2. Know your purpose— everyone has a purpose and the secret is finding that purpose and pursuing it with everything you have. According to Canfield, the true measure of success is knowing your purpose and spending your life achieving that purpose. He acknowledges that we can excel in different areas in life but if these areas are not where the purpose lies, then true happiness will be elusive because this is not the meaning of true success.

3. Decide on what you want— deciding to steer your life in the direction of your major purpose can be a giant step for most people. People tend to prefer the place where they are comfortable, so the decision to leap and make a drastic career change can be scary. However, he says that wasting your life on careers that do not make you happy will only leave you drained, disillusioned and nowhere near to accomplishing your life’s purpose.

4. Believe that anything is possible—The mind can be a very powerful tool so, let go of doubts and start believing that you can do whatever it is you set out to do. Keep a positive attitude.

5. Believe that the world is a good place— fear of failure and ridicule in the event of failure can cripple even the most confident entrepreneurs. Believe that the world is good… not everyone is dying to see you fail. When you do that, you see that you become more kind, more open to help and more open to positive energy.

6. Be flexible— things will always come up, problems will clutter the road to success. The most successful people faced problems head on and were flexible enough to bend and change.

7. Be persistent— Jack Canfield persisted despite the hundred publishers who thought that his book was no good. Rejections happen but it only takes one positive step to take a new idea or a passion to greater heights. According to Canfield, the longer you hang in there, the greater the chances of something positive happening for you.

8. Create and focus on a goal— creating a goal for yourself creates a tool with which you measure your actions and progress. This helps you turn your dreams into reality.

9. Take the first step— a first step is all that it takes to get started. Many people have big dreams but these will remain ideas without action. Taking the first step is the difference between pursuing your passion and just dreaming about it.

10. Take risks— every effort to pursue something new and novel comes with risks. Especially if you have done a complete u-turn from the life you are used to, it will be uncomfortable. If you truly believe that this is where your passion lies and you are willing to work towards it, Canfield says the risks and uncertainty will eventually be worth it.

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