Book Review: The Success Principles

by Jack Canfield
Buy from Amazon.com

Best known for his Chicken Soup for the Soul franchise of books, Jack Canfield is a well known motivational speaker and success coach. Most recently, he’s one of the official teachers of The Secret home study course.

In The Success Principles, Jack Canfield shifts from his “ask… believe… achieve” philosophy of The Secret to focus on taking action. He quotes motivational philosopher Jim Rohn and says

“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 will worth it.”

It’s nice to see Canfield shift from some of the fluff of The Secret and provide some hard, actionable advice. In fact, the title of chapter one explains that it’s up to you to take 100% responsibility for your life. You’re not entitled to a great life. It’s up to you to create the life you want - and that means taking responsibility for everything in your life from the quality of your relationships, your health, your finances and your feelings. Canfield even tells us “this is not easy” and “if you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.” If only that was mentioned in The Secret.

In the next few chapters, Canfield walks you through crafting a life’s purpose, becoming clear on what it is you want, believing in yourself, and learning to set goals. One of Canfield’s keys to success is visualization. He quotes a number of professional athletes who visualize their performance perfectly before they get out there and play. If you aren’t sure what to do, he provides clear instructions on adding sounds and feelings, using printed pictures, and using vision boards.

It’s not until Chapter 12 when Canfield first mentions the law of attraction - and even then, it’s a passing reference to explain how one must “act as if” it’s impossible to fail. Or in other words, have confidence and believe in yourself that you’ll make it. But in Chapter 13, he is quick to explain that “talk is cheap” and “nothing happens until you take action.”

Canfield’s book is divided into seven sections: The Fundamentals of Success, Transform Yourself for Success, Build Your Success Team, Create Successful Relationships, Success and Money, and Success Starts Now. The book is massive, coming in at around 450 pages and 64 chapters, but it is well worth reading. This is the missing manual to The Secret that discusses how to overcome your fears, being persistent - even in the face of failure, not denying bad situations, embracing change, and dealing with your inner critic.

Canfield is primarily a motivational coach, so this book is primarily concerned with mindset and how we hold ourselves back. As an executive coach once said to me, “The quickest way to learn about all your inner demons is to start your own business.” Any small business owner soon learns just how much they have to learn - and what weaknesses they have to face - in order just to stay afloat. It happened to me, and I see it with my own clients.

This book is a great overview of the soft skills involved in running a successful business or getting ahead in your career. This isn’t a how to on crafting a successful business plan or ways to market your business, but a primer on mastering yourself, mastering relationships you have with your team, your vendors, your mentors and our clients, and keeping control of your finances. Buy from Amazon.com