The Success Principles

This is not a book of good ideas. This is a book of timeless principles used by successful men and
women throughout history. I have studied these success principles for over 30 years and have applied
them to my own life. The phenomenal level of success that I now enjoy is the result of applying these
principles day in and day out since I began to learn them in 1968.
My success includes being the author and editor of over 60 best-selling books with over 80 million
copies in print in 39 languages around the world, holding a Guinness Book World Record for having
seven books on the May 24, 1998, New York Times bestseller list, earning a multimillion-dollar net
income every year for over the past 10 years, living in a beautiful California estate, appearing on
every major talk show in America (from Oprah to Good Morning America), having a weekly
newspaper column read by millions every week, commanding speaking fees of $25,000 a talk,
speaking to Fortune 500 companies all over the world, being the recipient of numerous professional
and civic awards, having an outrageous relationship with my amazing wife and wonderful children,
and having achieved a steady state of wellness, balance, happiness, and inner peace.
I get to socialize with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies; movie, television, and recording stars;
celebrated authors; and the world’s finest spiritual teachers and leaders. I have spoken to the
members of Congress, professional athletes, corporate managers, and sales superstars in all of the
best resorts and retreat centers of the world—from the Four Seasons Resort in Nevis in the British
West Indies to the finest hotels in Acapulco and Cancun. I get to ski in Idaho, California, and Utah, go
rafting in Colorado, and hike in the mountains of California and Washington. And I get to vacation in
the world’s best resorts in Hawaii, Australia, Thailand, Morocco, France, and Italy. All in all, life is
a real kick!
And like most of you reading this book, my life started in a very average way. I grew up in
Wheeling, West Virginia, where my dad worked in a florist’s shop, where he made $8,000 a year. My
mother was an alcoholic and my father was a workaholic. I worked during the summers to make ends
meet (as a lifeguard at a pool and at the same florist’s shop as my father). I went to college on a
scholarship and held a job serving breakfast in one of the dorms to pay for books, clothes, and dates.
Nobody handed me anything on a silver platter. During my last year of graduate school, I had a part-time teaching job that paid me $120 every 2 weeks. My rent was $79 a month so that left $161 to
cover all my other expenses. Toward the end of the month, I ate what became known as my 21-cent
dinners—a 10-cent can of tomato paste, garlic salt, and water over an 11-cent bag of spaghetti
noodles. I know what it is like to be scraping by on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder.
After graduate school, I started my career as a high school history teacher in an all-black school on
the south side of Chicago. And then I met my mentor, W. Clement Stone. Stone was a self-made
multimillionaire who hired me to work in his foundation, where he trained me in the fundamental
success principles that I still operate from today. My job was to teach these same principles to others.
Over the years, I have gone on from my time with Stone to interview hundreds of successful people—Olympic and professional athletes, celebrated entertainers, best-selling authors, business leaders,
political leaders, successful entrepreneurs, and top salespeople. I have read thousands of
books (I average one every 2 days), attended hundreds of seminars, and listened to thousands
of audio programs to uncover the universal principles for creating success and happiness. I then
applied those principles to my own life. I have taught the ones in my speeches, seminars,
and workshops to well over 1 million people in all 50 U.S. states…and in 20 countries worldwide.
These principles and techniques have not only worked for me but they have also helped hundreds
of thousands of my students achieve breakthrough success in their careers, greater wealth in their
finances, greater aliveness and joy in their relationships, and greater happiness and fulfillment in their
lives. My students have started successful businesses, become self-made millionaires, and achieved
athletic stardom received lucrative recording contracts, starred in movie and television roles, won
political offices had huge impact in their communities, written best-selling books, been named
teacher of the year in their school districts, broken all the sales records in their companies, written
award-winning screenplays become presidents of their corporations, been recognized for their
outstanding philanthropic contributions created highly successful relationships and raised unusually
happy and successful children.