One of the best books I recommend is The Success Principles, How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be by Jack Canfield with Janet Switzer. It is practical, down-to-earth, motivating, inspiring, filled with memorable stories of success and just enough oomph that will make you re-think your life and make the changes necessary for success.

As proof that I liked it so much, I bought both the ebook and the paperback version (and won/took the hardbound version from Jack’s hands.. Read on to find out how this happened.)

Today, 2 October 2006, I met, shook hands, got photographed and asked for Jack Canfields signature twice. But these were all just icing on the cake.

The seminar, with the same title as the book brought me to a higher level of awareness and possibility. You see, I’ve already read his book and am doing my best to live the principles he gave. There is something about hearing it with vibrancy and spirit from the mouth of a master teacher. It is alive and the words sink deeper, growing roots in your heart and leaving you with a different perspective.

The first principle he covered was “Taking 100% Responsibility for Your Life and Your Results.” He illustrates this with the equation E + R = O or Events + Response = Outcome. To hold yourself accountable and stop blaming others. To give up complaining, justifying and making excuses.

He also talks about Goal-Setting or Clarifying Your Purpose, your life plan. To think positive thoughts and using the power of visualization.

He demonstrated the power of thought with the attendees participating. Being a firm believer in the scientific method, I do not easily believe until I see proof. One thing he made us do was to compare the length of our hand. He made use touch the thickest line on both wrists and note which hand was shorter. My right hand was about a clear 3 or 4 millimeters shorter.

Then he made us do what seemed bizarre. He made us tell our shorter hand—my right hand-to “grow longer.” Then he made us compare again. My right hand was longer! Amazing. I was trying to rationalize and look around if somebody can prove that it was a hoax or hallucination of some kind. I re-compared and my right hand was still longer. Then he made us say “return to normal” to the same hand. True enough, measuring them again resulted in my left hand being longer. The Power of Thought in action!

There were a lot of other principles he discussed but what lingered in my mind were the principles about asking, taking action and the mastermind group.

In simple terms, if you do not ask, do not make an offer or make a request, nothing happens. If you ask and get rejected, you will not be worse off than what you were before.

In one instance, he held out a signed, hard-bound book of The Success Principles, and asked: “Who wants to take this book?”

Having read about a similar situation before, I walked toward him with purpose, seeing no one was standing up. Thoughts were racing in my mind: surely these people, many of them conducting seminars and courses on motivation and leadership and personal growth are familiar with this bait and am I blushing or making a fool of myself. And then I was about 5 paces from him. Suddenly, a woman darted running towards Jack. Having the advantage of moving first, faster legs and higher reach (he was standing from a raised platform and was holding the book high up), I grabbed the book without fanfare. The lady was a few seconds and maybe a few centimeters too late, grasped nothing but air and landed on me. That’s how I ended up with the hard-bound copy of The Success Principles.

For me, the last point and maybe the highlight of the event was of the principle the mastermind group. In it, you get accountability to keep you focused on what’s important. He stressed the importance of having other minds helping each other out. For it to work, truth, confidentiality and trust should be the guide of each member. If you can’t find a group, the alternative is to get an accountability partner. I wonder if this will work online.