Have you ever heard that if you write your goals down, they come true? Imagine what you could accomplish if it really was that simple! I tried to imagine that in the middle of a two-and-half hour drive. My veins pulsed a sort-of heady excitement. A year ago I wrote down on a piece of paper my top 101 goals. The ninth one was to meet, be endorsed by, and become friends with the most successful non-fiction author of the 21st century, the creator of The Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Jack Canfield. I had no idea how it would happen—but I figured I’d give the old goal thing a shot! I was 20 years old at the time. A year removed from being a freshman in college where I read his famous book The Success Principles. In the book he made the claim that you could be whoever you want, meet whoever you want, and do whatever you want, if you set clear goals. He suggested writing down your top 101 goals—whether they were to achieve something, have something, feel some way, or meet somebody. When I read that I quit college, backpacked the world, and wrote a book about it, Into the Wind: My Six-Month Journey Wandering the World for Life’s Purpose. I took a huge risk and self-published the book when no publishers thought I could sell any books, because of my age. Now here I am, driving two-and-a-half hours to an event that a friend told me to buy an expensive ticket to, because Jack Canfield was emceeing. In the passenger seat I had a copy of my book Into the Wind already signed to him. I was acting “as-if,” although my mind had total doubts I’d meet him. “There are going to be 500 people there! What makes you think you’ll be able to meet him? Life isn’t this simple! You are nobody special!” the voices of fear in my head spoke louder with each mile I drove. Can you relate to those voices? When I hear them, I just try and keep going! Soon I arrived at the event as a sorely underdressed twenty-year-old aspiring author. The ballroom in the Hollywood hotel was packed! Everyone looking dressed up—while I hardly even matched! But hey, I was just a kid! It was one of those events where you are assigned a specific table in the ballroom to sit at. And when I purchased my ticket online, I had to choose what I wanted to eat as well. Then our desired dinners would be delivered to our specific seats. Our table was on the second of two floors. It was circular and fit about 6 people. I tried not to sound awkward when I talked to my tablemates when they asked why I came. I tried to sound normal when I told them I’d traveled that far just to try and meet Jack Canfield. Looking back, it was a good thing I was so young, because it made me seem like a passionate kid rather than a crazy person. Even though I was a kid, the odds of meeting him were still slim considering how crowded the event was. I sat in my seat at a small circular table that fit 6 people. There were hundreds of tables—both on my floor and the one below us. Jack’s was at the center of the bottom floor of the ballroom. I watched every time he took a break from emceeing as swarms of people lined for photographs. It looked impossible to meet him, unless I waited in a big line for a brief moment to get a photograph. I didn’t want his photograph though. That’s why I waited patiently, resisting the urge to go introduce myself. Toward the end of the night Jack went to his seat for dinner. That was when I walked over to introduce myself. “Hi, Jack. I am Jake Ducey! I wrote this book and you inspired it,” I said. “How did I inspire it?” Jack asked. “You say in your book The Success Principles that when someone says ‘No,’ you say ‘Next.’ And every time I was told I was too young to be an author, or when literary agents told me I needed more experience before they would represent me, I just kept saying ‘Next,’ and I didn’t quit. Now I am standing here with you, holding my book!” I said this with a zest for life Jack came to appreciate quickly. Jack’s face lit up with a smile. I could feel passion oozing out of him while he stared at me, slightly dumbfounded—perhaps by how absurdly unprofessional I was dressed. Still, he immediately welcomed me and introduced his wife. While the waiters began to serve dinner at his table, Jake and my wife chatted. Coincidentally, my mom and his wife went to the same high school. But what was more of a coincidence was that in that sold out event, where there seemed to be no empty seats, the chair to Jack’s left was somehow empty. Once the food was placed in front of us, Jack asked me if I was going to sit there and enjoy the plate of food at the empty seat next to him. I was so excited I hadn’t noticed that the chair was empty! What are the chances? What are the odds that out of a five-hour event, where there seemed to be no empty seats, I got the urge to come introduce myself at the exact moment the waiter was coming to serve dinner at Jack’s table—and that the person next to him had left early, but the waiter still brought food to the seat? How is it possible that the opportunity for us to connect happened so perfectly? Jack said it was possible because of belief. I told Jack I didn’t know “how” I would meet him—I just knew it was possible— that we’d become friends and I’d learn from him personally. So there I sat, my sweaty, nervous hands played with the forks while we talked for the rest of the night. That ride home was one of the most amazing rides of my life—I couldn’t believe that something so seemingly impossible became possible, because I wrote it down and took action! A few months later, Jack and his wife invited me to his birthday party. That evening I asked him, “Jack, what do I need to know in life to live my dreams?” “Write it down, make it happen,” he told me. I sat there, hoping he would explain himself in more detail. “Jake, you have within you the ability to achieve anything you desire, because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to have the desire in the first place,” Jack said. I let his advice sink in over the next few weeks before taking action. A few months after his birthday, I wrote him to let him know I followed his advice, and that Tarcher/Penguin/Random-House would be publishing my new book, The Purpose Principles, which was inspired by our chat and by his book The Success Principles. Jack was so impressed that he offered to write the foreword to the book! Can you believe it? Sometimes I can’t. Years ago I wrote a goal to: “Be friends with/become mentored, and endorsed by Jack Canfield.” Now all of it has happened without a logical explanation, other than that writing your goals down can make almost anything possible. 4 years ago when I quit college and backpacked the world to write a book, I was just hoping that Jack Canfield’s message was true—nothing is impossible if you write your goals down and go after them. Just like the guy who has sold over 500 million books and set the Guinness Book of World Records for having 7 books on the New York Times Bestseller List at one time- said in the foreword to my book, The Purpose Principles, “Your dreams aren’t out of reach, your fears and limiting beliefs don’t have to stop you, and you’re never too young or too old to live more confidently or to make a difference. You are fully capable of waking up every day to a more productive and meaningful life by simply choosing to apply these principles!” So my friend, now I guess the question for you to answer is, “What are YOUR 101 goals?”
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 21:06:49 +0000
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