I was in Manhattan to meet with the publisher who was taking the message of my book The Compound Effect to the masses. I was escorted to a conference room where shelves filled
with best-sellers lined the walls. The marketing team pointed to a spot on the wall where mine would be.

Marketing staffers began the strategy discussion by saying they reached out to mainstream media and received great response: radio interviews, a few TV appearances and some online article requests. “We even got a request from CNN, wanting you to write an article for its website,” the web media publicist said. She practically giggled with glee as she said the letters C-N-N.

I laughed out loud. “You’re kidding, right?” Her startled eyes indicated she wasn’t. “Clearly they haven’t read the book,” I said. An awkward silence filled the room. “Even if they read only the introduction, they’d know they—along with all sensational news media—are my mortal enemy.” By seeing the confused faces, I knew I needed to give an explanation (and a rally cry).

“News media have become a competitive blood sport for our attention,” I said. “Their focus is on finding the half-dozen most violent, tragic, scandalous and read more »

I had lunch with my friend Andy recently at a sushi restaurant in San Diego.

It was a sunny day, so we sat outside while catching up. Andy is an engineer about my age, married with three kids. His wife, Amelia, is a third-grade teacher at a local elementary school. On weekends, Andy coaches his sons’ basketball/baseball/soccer teams.

I’ve known Andy since we were in our early 20s. I danced the night away (albeit poorly) at his wedding, and have watched, with admiration, the happiness that fills his everyday life. The combined incomes of a teacher and a midlevel engineer are not something Robin Leach would rave about, but they are happy. They have a nice home, drive safe vehicles, their children have college funds, and every year they take a terrific family vacation.

About halfway through our meal, another friend of mine walked down the sidewalk by our table. “Jake!” I called out as he passed. Jake looked up—obviously busy—but stopped to say hello. “Jake, good to see you,” I said. “This is my friend Andy. I’ve been meaning to introduce you. I bet your boys play soccer together—or at least against each other.” He chuckled, and we shared a short conversation before Jake reached his Aston Martin and peeled out down the Pacific Coast Highway.

“Man,” Andy muttered. “Imagine being that guy.”

I understood Andy’s envy. I

met Jake 20 years earlier. He works in finance and is one of the most talented businessmen I know. He built an empire and has the bottomless bank account and material checklist to prove it:

• Home on the Pacific Ocean, check.

• A flat on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, check.

• A private jet to take him between the two, check.

Jake’s reputation preceded him read more »

Let me acknowledge something:
It can be tough out there!

Every day we’re bombarded with scary, ugly, scandalous and tragic news.

Being an election year, the political rhetoric is at epic levels, with repeated messages of how broken, corrupt and terrible everything and everyone is.

Even your own friends, family and colleagues are parroting these sentiments around water coolers, in hallway conversations and at cocktail parties.

Over time you might even find these attitudes echoed in the voice in your own head. It can become maddening.

What do you do? Where do you turn?
How do you break this self-perpetuating cycle of fear, worry and negativity?

THAT is why we’re here. That’s the purpose of SUCCESS.

Through the fog of all the negative, fearful and worrisome messages that continually swirl around us, we are here to be your beacon of light and hope—a resource you can turn to for inspiration, optimism and to find out what’s right with the world.

We also show you what’s possible for you; if you take the wheel of your ship and captain your own destiny, we will be the wind in your sails. We will provide you the map needed to chart a course toward your long-held goals, dreams and ambitions, and to finally make them real.

These are times of the greatest opportunities in all human history. Don’t let anyone or anything convince you otherwise. There has never been a better time for the individual—the entrepreneur—to take control of his or her financial future.

Unlike any other time in history, you now have the entire globe as your marketplace literally right at your fingertips. And at SUCCESS magazine we are here to support, encourage and help you accomplish your entrepreneurial dreams.

Our empowering message is one thing that sets SUCCESS apart from other publications. Another thing that distinguishes SUCCESS is the CD enclosed in each issue, which has become the heart and soul of our experience together. This is a feature not available in any other national newsstand publication today or at anytime in publishing past. This is done at great expense and considerable additional effort. We think it’s worth it.

Why do we do it? read more »

To make 2013 your best ever year, to reach goals that may look impossible, you must be bold—possibly even to the point of seeming foolish.

Let me tell you how one such fool pursued his dream…

This guy

was no scholastic achiever. He looked a bit “dorky,” and some of his classmates teased him harshly. Rather than read his assignments for school, the kid spent his time shooting 8 mm movies of wrecks of his Lionel train set. For a small fee that would be donated to charity, he would show the film to friends; concession sales financed future projects.

He dropped out of high school his sophomore year. And when his parents persuaded him to return to school, he says administrators assigned him to a learning-disabled class. He quit again after a month. Only when the family moved to another town did he graduate from high school.

He applied to attend film school but was refused admission, so he enrolled at California State College at Long Beach. His story took a dramatic turn in 1965, when on a visit to Universal Studios he met Chuck Silvers, an executive in the editorial department. Silvers liked the kid who made the oddball 8 mm films. So he invited the teenager to come back and visit sometime.

The kid appeared the

next day. Without a job or security clearance (dressed in a dark suit and tie, carrying his father’s briefcase with nothing inside but “a sandwich and candy bars”) he confidently walked up to the guard at Universal’s gate read more »