The Success Principles
How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
Jack Canfield, the creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, gives us a book packed with Big Ideas on the fundamentals of success. In the Note, we explore some of my favorites—including an awesome exercise on how to discover our purpose, the importance of taking responsibility in our lives (that's Principle #1!!!), becoming an inverse paranoid (think: “OMG the universe is out to help me!!”), and recognizing that 99% commitment to something is a bitch and 100% is a breeze.
Big Ideas
- Push-UpsDo your own!
- Principle #1Take 100% responsibility.
- Principle #2Be clear why you’re here.
- Make an “I Want” ListSo waddya want?
- It’s All About AttitudeHow’s yours?
- 18/40/60Ages and perspectives.
- An Inverse ParanoidStay inverted.
- Clarity + Consistency= Mojo.
- 99% Is a Bitch100% is a breeze.
- A Whole New SetHabits & self-disciplines.
“You may also discover that you’re already familiar with some of the principles here. That’s great! But ask yourself, Am I currently practicing them? If not, make a commitment to put them into action—now! Remember, the principles only work if you work the principles.”
~ Jack Canfield from The Success Principles
You probably know Jack Canfield as the creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series or maybe you caught him on The Secret. He’s been living these “Success Principles” for the last several decades and his life is a demonstration of their power.
There’s a LOT of mojo in this book.
It’s kinda funny to do a PhilosophersNote on it because it’s essentially one (really!) Big Idea after another. In fact, I could prolly write at least 50 Notes on these “Success Principles”… but that’d kinda defeat the purpose of these Notes.
So, I trust you’ll enjoy and, if you’re feelin’ it, I *HIGHLY* recommend you get the book. (I first listened to it and then read it on my Kindle—both ways rock. :)
We’ll start with the most important factor to your success: doing your own push-ups, of course. :)
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Listen to the PodcastDo Your Own Push-ups
“As motivational philosopher Jim Rohn has so aptly put it, ‘You can’t hire someone else to do your push-ups for you.’ You must do them yourself if you are to get any value out of them. Whether it is exercising, stretching, meditating, reading, studying, learning a new language, creating a mastermind group, setting measurable goals, visualizing success, repeating affirmations, or practicing a new skill, you are going to have to do it. No one else can do these things for you. I will give you the road map, but you will have to drive the car. I will teach you the principles, but you will have to apply them. If you choose to put in the effort, I promise you the rewards will be well worth it.”
Hah. That’s genius.
“You can’t hire someone else to do your push-ups for you.”
Are you doing your “push-ups”?
What do you KNOW you need to be doing that you’re not currently doing?
Let’s Top 5 it:
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- _______________________________________________________________
- _______________________________________________________________
- _______________________________________________________________
- _______________________________________________________________
Sweet.
Now: Get on it. :)
Principle #1: Take 100% Responsibility
“It is time to stop looking outside yourself for the answers to why you haven’t created the life and results you want, for it is you who creates the quality of the life you lead and the results you produce. You—no one else! To achieve major success in life—to achieve those things that are most important to you—you must assume 100% responsibility for your life. Nothing less will do.”
I love this Principle.
It’s Covey’s Habit #1 (Be Proactive) of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (see Notes) and it’s the cornerstone of the wisdom of ALL great teachers—from East to West, classic to modern, philosophers to gurus to psychologists.
Canfield shares a really cool formula to help us get the idea: E + R = O.
The Event + Our Response = The Outcome.
An event happens. Sweet.
The event is, in itself, neutral. (To get all fancy-pants-Buddhist about it, the event is “empty.” It has no meaning in and of itself.)
We respond. We ALWAYS have a choice as to how we respond and it’s ALWAYS (!!!) OUR RESPONSE mixed with the Event that determines the Outcome.
Now, when peeps are playing in Victim-mode, they think the equation goes E = O. Something happens, there’s an outcome. Stimulus—> Response. Reactivity vs. Proactivity. Victim vs. Creator. Less than 100% responsibility vs. 100% responsibility.
Those of us committed to success, however, know that it’s OUR RESPONSE that determines the Outcome. In short, we need to take 100% responsibility for our lives.
Canfield shares a great story to bring home his point. After the earthquake in 1994 in Los Angeles (I still vividly remember being essentially *thrown* out of bed in Westwood where I was attending UCLA :), one of the major freeways took a beating. So, traffic was at a near stand-still. Some news reporters were knocking on commuters’ windows asking them what they thought.
The first person was all angry and pissy and complaining about the fires and the floods and the earthquakes and how much he hated California, yada, yada, cry me a river yah.
The second person was beamingly happy and said she left for work at 5 am to do her best to get to work on time and, knowing there’d be delays, she brought some Spanish language learning tapes plus a book and a lunch and a full thermos. Life was good.
Event + Response = Outcome.
How are YOU responding to the events in your life?!?
If you want more success, happiness, joy, health, creativity, mojo, love, wealth, and all that is good in the world, you’ve GOTTA pay attention to Principle #1. Take 100% Responsibility for your life.
Make it a game. See how you can create better and better Outcomes by more and more consciously choosing your Responses to the Events in your life today!!!!
Principle #2: Be Clear Why You’re Here
“You see, without a purpose in life, it’s easy to get sidetracked on your life’s journey. It’s easy to wander and drift, accomplishing little. But with a purpose, everything in life seems to fall into place. To be ‘on purpose’ means you’re doing what you love to do, doing what you’re good at and accomplishing what’s important to you. When you truly are on purpose, the people, resources, and opportunities you need naturally gravitate toward you. The world benefits, too, because when you act in alignment with your true life purpose, all of your actions automatically serve others.”
Beautiful.
Again, EVERYONE talks about the importance of finding our purpose (that’s probably why it’s Principle #2. :) And we talk about it in nearly every one of these Notes.
The question, of course, is: How do I discover my purpose?!?
Canfield goes off on this. Starting with the fact that our guidance system will let us know if we’re on target or not by how good we feel doing what we’re doing. (Think: Joseph Campbell’s “Follow your bliss!” and Abraham-Hicks’ Emotional Guidance System.)
He also provides some cool exercises.
Here’s a quick look at one of the *really* cool ones:
“1. List two of your unique personal qualities” (My example: enthusiasm and optimism.)
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“2. List one or two ways you enjoy expressing those qualities when interacting with others” (My example: to inspire and empower.)
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“3. Assume the world is perfect right now. What does this world look like? How is everyone interacting with everyone else? What does it feel like? Write your answer as a statement, in the present tense, describing the ultimate condition, the perfect world as you see it and feel it. Remember, a perfect world is a fun place to be.”
(My example: Everyone is joyfully living their greatest lives, celebrating every moment as they give their greatest gifts in greatest service to the world.)
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“4. Combine the three prior subdivisions of this paragraph into a single statement.”
(My example: My purpose is to use my enthusiasm and optimism to inspire and empower others to joyfully live their greatest lives, celebrating every moment as they give their greatest gifts in greatest service to the world.)
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Got it? AWESOME!
Now write it down and read it at least once every day and ALIGN YOUR LIFE TO LIVE IN INTEGRITY WITH THIS PURPOSE! :)
Make an “I Want” List
“One of the easiest ways to begin clarifying what you truly want is to make a list of 30 things you want to do, 30 things you want to have, and 30 things you want to be before you die. This is a great way to get the ball rolling.”
That great exercise is from a section talking about the fact that we’ve GOTTA know what we want in life if we have any chance of getting it.
As Ben Stein says: “The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.”
So, what do YOU want? Everything goes perfectly in your life. What’s it look like?
If you’re like most people, you kinda sputter on that question. Why is that? One of the main reasons is that we spend nearly ALL of our time simply responding to the day-to-day challenges of our world and very little time reflecting on what we truly want.
So, make yourself an “I Want” list will ya? I just did it. It rocks.
30 things you want to DO, BE, and HAVE in your life. Get on that! :)
It’s All About Attitude
“When baseball great Ty Cobb was 70, a reporter asked him, ‘What do you think you’d hit if you were playing these days?’
Cobb, who had a lifetime batting average of .367, said, ‘About .290, maybe .300.’
The reporter replied, ‘That’s because of the travel, the night games, the artificial turf, and all the new pitches like the slider, right?’
‘No,’ said Cobb, ‘it’s because I am seventy.’
Now that’s believing in yourself!’”
HAH!!! That’s *so* cool.
As Henry Ford said: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
What do you REALLY want in your life?
Do you think you can?
18/40/60
“I like Dr. Daniel Amen’s 18/40/60 Rule: When you’re 18, you worry about what everybody is thinking of you; when you’re 40, you don’t give a darn what anybody thinks of you; when you’re 60, you realize nobody’s been thinking about you at all.
Surprise, surprise! Most of the time, nobody’s thinking about you at all! They are too busy worrying about their own lives, and if they are thinking about you at all, they are wondering what you are thinking about them. People think about themselves, not you. Think about it—all the time you are wasting worrying about what other people think about your ideas, your goals, your clothes, your hair, and your home could all be better spent on thinking about and doing the things that will achieve your goals.”
Hehehehe. That. Is. Funny.
And so true, eh?
Dale Carnegie says something similar in his great book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (see Notes): “I realize now that people are not thinking about you and me or caring what is said about us. They are thinking about themselves—before breakfast, after breakfast, and right on until ten minutes past midnight. They would be a thousand times more concerned about a slight headache of their own than they would about the news of your death or mine.”
Let’s quit wasting our precious energy worrying about what others think of us and direct it into creating our ideal lives, shall we? :)
Become an Inverse Paranoid
“My earliest mentor, W. Clement Stone, was once described as an inverse paranoid. Instead of believing the world was plotting to do him harm, he chose to believe the world was plotting to do him good. Instead of seeing every difficult or challenging event as a negative, he saw it for what it could be—something that was meant to enrich him, empower him, or advance his causes.
What an incredibly positive belief! Imagine how much easier it would be to succeed in life if you were constantly expecting the world to support you and bring you opportunity.
Successful people do just that.”
Well, that’s one awesome way to look at the world!!!
What’s the biggest challenge/disappointment/Ack! thing in your life right now? How can you see the seed of opportunity in it? How can you make your current perspective 10x more positive and constructive?
And remember to ask yourself: “Self, are we inverse paranoids or just plain ‘ol straight up paranoids?”
Choose wisely. :)
Clarity + Consistency = Mojo
“Think of it this way. If you are clear where you are going (goals) and you take several steps in that direction every day, you eventually have to get there. If I head north out of Santa Barbara and take five steps a day, eventually I have to end up in San Francisco. So decide what you want, write it down, review it constantly, and each day do something that moves you toward those goals.”
Simple, powerful stuff.
S.N. Goenka, my Vipassana teacher says: “Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you’re bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.”
Same rules apply whether we’re talking about enlightenment or financial freedom.
Know what you want. Move toward your goals. You’re gonna get there eventually.
99% Is a Bitch; 100% is a breeze
“Successful people adhere to the ‘no exceptions rule’ when it comes to their daily disciplines. Once you make a 100% commitment to something, there are no exceptions. It’s a done deal. Nonnegotiable. Case closed! Over and out.”
This has been, by far, one of the most powerful Ideas I’ve *ever* integrated into my life.
What are you committed to in your life? Waking up with the sun? Meditating in the morning? Exercising daily? No longer lashing out at your family? Removing refined sugars/red meat/etc. from your diet?
Whatever it is, check in and see how committed you REALLY are.
And, know this: 99% is a bitch. 100% is a breeze.
Let’s say you decide that meditating EVERY day will be your new ritual. You’ve done the research, see the benefits and decide to go for it. (Good decision, btw.)
Now, if you have to think about whether or not you’re going to honor that commitment every day, there’s NO way you’re going to honor it. IM-POSS-UH-BLE.
You’re gonna have that little whiney voice pop in that says something along the lines of: “Oh! You deserve a little more sleep this morning. Plus, it’s just a day. You deserve a day off. And those peeps who are so committed are way too rigid anyway. Relax. Be flexible.”
So, figure out what daily practices define your destiny and then make your commitments to those rituals NON-NEGOTIABLE. Period. (Make that an exclamation point. :)
Seriously.
Try it out. It may sound harsh but it’s REALLY liberating. Frees up so much energy when you don’t need to think about whether today’s the day you’ll break. :)
A Whole New Set of Habits & Self-Disciplines
“You can’t do everything at once. But if you keep adding a little progress every day, over time you will have built a whole new set of habits and self-disciplines. Remember, anything valuable takes time. There are no overnight successes. It took me years to learn and implement all of the principles in this book. I have mastered some and am still working on mastering others.”
I LOVE that!!!
As Epictetus (see Notes on The Enchiridion) tells us: “No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.”
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