I’m still amazed after the Best-Selling Authors Summit in Hollywood, CA. As a co-author with Brian Tracy of the best-selling “Against the Grain”, I had the opportunity to meet success legends Jack Canfield, Tom Hopkins, and “Rudy” Reuttiger.
No matter the industry, all of these successful people had one thing in common- they wanted something bad enough and tried. Jack Canfield went to 140 publishers and was turned down until one finally agreed to publish “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” It stayed number one on the New York Times Best Sellers’ list for over a year! Today the “Chicken Soup” franchise has over thirty books and numerous products.
Tom Hopkins, one of America’s foremost authorities on sales training, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the summit. He shared a touching story with us. After quitting college during his first semester, his father told him “Son, I love you, but you’re never going to amount to anything.” Tom said to us, “I wish more than anything my father could be here, so he could see me now.”
“Rudy”, the kid at Notre Dame who never gave up, talked about leadership. He reminded us that what we do in the here and now prepares us for the future. When his mother made him and his thirteen siblings fold their underwear on a Saturday night, he later realized that his mother had taught him discipline at an early age. Even when everyone told him he would never make it at football, he decided to “Keep on truckin’” as he implored us to do. The coach finally decided to put him in at the end of the last home game of his senior season, and he sacked the Georgia Tech quarterback. Rudy was the first Notre Dame player to be carried off the field. That happened in 1975. In 1993 the movie “Rudy” was released about Rudy and his time at Notre Dame. His success continued for years.
Co-authoring “Against the Grain” was an opportunity for me to share my success principles with a worldwide audience. The ten principles outlined are applicable to anyone in any industry, whether you’re in real estate, medicine, or selling industrial equipment. Here are some examples: having passion for your product or service because you live it, and your customers buy you because of this and the fact that you see your customers as people, not paychecks; excellent communication, as fully 85 percent of all dealings in business and in life occur with some form of communication with other people; increase your competitive advantage through continuing education, as knowledge doubles in each industry every two to five years; and being the boss of your own success, as your current employer is your best customer!