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How do you get the biggest names in publishing, marketing and business to return your calls? How do you get them to join you for an intimate evening? How do you pack a private event with more than 40 top-tier journalists?



If you asked Sol Orwell, founder of Examine, he’d tell you it comes down to one ingredient: cookies. Well, maybe two: cookies and a cause.



On November 4, 2017, Sol Orwell and Tammy Tibbetts, CEO and co-founder of<a href="https://shesthefirst.org/about-us/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> She’s the First</a>, played host to a veritable who’s who of influencers at the first annual<a href="https://www.sjo.com/nyc-cookie-off/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> NYC Charity Chocolate Chip Cookie Off</a>. Notable attendees included best-selling author Seth Godin; personal finance guru Ramit Sethi; Nick Ganju, whose company ZocDoc was valued in the billions; Mark Manson, author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3PAGUOS" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Subtle Art of No</a>t Giving a F*ck; and the king of food-related networking himself, Keith Ferrazzi.



Part media event, part philanthropy, the Cookie Off reveals two ingredients perfect for not only leading your own networking event but also for networking itself. And just like any great recipe, what you leave out is often more important than what you put in.



<h2 id="h-the-cookies-networking-is-about-the-person-not-who-they-know">The Cookies: Networking is about the person, not who they know.</h2>



At first, cookies might sound like an odd centerpiece to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-make-networking-less-painful/">world-class networking</a>. But they serve as a metaphor. Take, for instance, the attendance of Seth Godin.



“Here’s the truth,” Orwell told me, “I don’t really know Seth Godin. Seth was there because his wife Helene’s bakery, By the Way Bakery, was competing with a gluten-free loaf she’s been perfecting for years. When I was chatting with Helene, at no point did I ask if her husband was coming. It wasn’t about him; it was about her. It was about what she did and her excitement. If she brought, Seth—cool.”



When I asked Brian Dean, a<a href="https://backlinko.com/about-backlinko"> </a>search-engine optimization entrepreneur, why he’d made the trip from Berlin, his answer echoed the same sentiments: “Was flying 3,965 miles worth it? Definitely. Do these folks know more people than the average Joe? Probably. But that’s not why I wanted to meet them. I didn’t fly all that way to meet person X because she knows person Y. Instead, I traveled halfway across the world to rub elbows with funny, smart and positive people themselves.”



The temptation in networking is to constantly trade up the chain, to let our egos taint and eventually spoil what would otherwise be a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/the-key-to-building-healthy-relationships/">healthy relationship</a>. One eye on the person in front of us, the other runs ahead to who they know and what they can do. Such an attitude not only ruins <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/13-key-traits-of-strong-professional-relationships/">one-on-one relationships</a>, but also any chance of who might come next.



Ferrazzi, author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3Nw0MAU" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Never Eat Alone</a>, put it to me like this: “It’s all about the person and being a high-quality person yourself. Game-changing relationships evolve in three phases: who you know and are connected to, how you create a supportive community among them, and how you<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/one-word-reshape-your-entire-organization-keith-ferrazzi/"> </a>co-elevate with each other to drive change.”



Instead of looking for greener pastures, our aim must be to focus both eyes on who we’re actually speaking to. Or, perhaps even better, all eyes on something beyond us.



<h2 id="h-the-cause-networking-is-about-giving-not-getting">The Cause: Networking is about giving, not getting.</h2>



When the big day arrived, more than 40 journalists from publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Men’s Health, Business Insider and SELF arrived as well. Naturally, they hadn’t found their way to the party by accident; they’d all been invited. But similar to the previous point, how they’d been invited holds the key.



“I wanted them to meet me and my friends and get to know the positive impact we’re trying to make,” Orwell explained. “Sure, I was organized about it. I had a spreadsheet with their names, emails, social handles and publications. But what I didn’t do was say, ‘Hey, you should come and cover this.’”



It’s a difficult line to walk: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-give-back-purposefully/">balancing giving with getting</a>. Is it manipulative to hide our “true” intentions in networking and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/6-ways-to-build-lasting-relationships/">build a relationship</a> on what some might call pretense? That all depends on what your true intentions are.



At the heart of the Cookie Off wasn’t Orwell, nor any of the big names, nor even the cookies. Rather, it was a cause. She’s the First is a New York based nonprofit committed to sponsoring “girls who will be the first in their families to graduate high school,” primarily in low-income nations beyond the West.



As an immigrant himself, partnering with She’s the First was, in Orwell’s words, “a no-brainer.” And handing over a $30,000 check stood out even more than Milk and Cookies Bakery’s dark chocolate toffee potato chip crunch (which won the event’s most interesting cookie award).



After the event, Dorie Clark, author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3Gh5yQA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Entrepreneurial You</a> and longtime contributor to Harvard Business Review, told me: “I recommend people wait at least a year before asking for favors. It’s that important to establish yourself as a giver, rather than a networking leech.”



Likewise, Troy Osnioff, co-founder of JUICE, noted, “It was remarkable watching everyone rally around Tammy and especially the girls; suddenly all our conversations took on a sense of gravity.”



This isn’t to say networking has to revolve around a charity. But it does mean that relationships are best established and nurtured upon causes larger than just us.



“True friends,” wrote C.S. Lewis, “don’t spend time gazing into each other’s eyes. They may show great tenderness towards each other but they face in the same direction—toward common projects [and] goals.”



Networking isn’t about you.



The truths about networking are counterintuitive, but powerful.



“I’ve built my network by giving,” personal-branding expert<a href="https://leonardkim.com/about-leonard-kim/"> </a>Leonard Kim says. “When I first started writing, my only intent was to make sure others would never have to experience any of the hardships I experienced. Sol’s philosophy of giving has driven genuine change to philanthropic missions and a sense of community within his network.”



Still, it never hurts to serve up something sweet, as well.



This article was published in November 2017 and has been updated. Photo by Jono Erasmus/Shutterstock

Part media event, part philanthropy, the Cookie Off reveals two ingredients perfect for not only leading your own networking event but also for networking itself.

Part media event, part philanthropy, the Cookie Off reveals two ingredients perfect for not only leading your own networking event but also for networking itself. | SUCCESS

The Perfect Recipe for Networking

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The Perfect Recipe for Networking | SUCCESS

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Aaron Orendorff is the Head of Marketing at Recart. Previously, he served as Editor in Chief of Shopify Plus; his work has appeared on The New York Times, Forbes, Mashable, Business Insider and more. If you’d like to connect with Aaron, reach out via social—he’s a sucker for DMs about ecommerce marketing, bunnies and rejection.

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Aaron Orendorff

The 7 Best Lessons From the 7 Best Business Books of 2017 (So Far)

Self-reflection fuels growth. Unfortunately, not all self-reflection is created equal. Too often, what we call “inventory taking” is little more than ego-building celebrations… or ego-crushing pity parties.

Although our own experiences certainly contain potent lessons, the only antidote to self-centered self-reflection is to temper it with the lessons of others. Even better, if those others are the best minds in the world.

Whether you’re entering your career or are a seasoned professional, these lessons on growth, resilience, leadership and success—straight from the pages of some of this year’s best business books—add the outside perspective we all so desperately need.
Related:&nbsp;<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/25-books-for-success">25 Books for Success​</a>

<h3>1. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Top-Mind-John-Hall/dp/1260011925/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=cf69c1277c6c8318a40b6c4bc2e619a6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Top of Mind: Use Content to Unleash Your Influence and Engage Those Who Matter to You</a></h3>
By John Hall

<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__36978 img__view_mode__full" style="float: left; width: 15%; margin: 4px;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/topofmind_businessbooks.png" alt="Top of Mind: Use Content to Unleash Your Influence and Engage Those Who Matter to You">Top of Mind, by co-founder and CEO of Influence &amp; Co. John Hall, examines how both leaders and brands build trust. Rather than rehash the interpersonal skills associated with authenticity, Hall orients his approach around content. Why? Because today, content is where relationships live.

It all starts with our most valuable resource: time.

Trust-building content means playing the long game, rather than looking for quick fixes and easy wins. This is especially powerful when it comes to transparency. Creating honest, open-handed relationships through content must be product agnostic: It has to first solve real people’s real problems and, only after that, move your audience toward what you want for yourself.
<h3>Best Lesson:</h3>
“Being helpful and building trust with people isn’t just good life advice; it’s also good business practice. It might sound counterintuitive, but one of the best ways to help yourself is to help others.”
<h3>2. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tools-Titans-Billionaires-World-Class-Performers/dp/1328683788/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=b86e43bf1a5b555442ad275965a34107" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers</a></h3>
By Tim Ferriss

<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__36979 img__view_mode__full" style="width: 15%; margin: 4px; float: left;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/toolsoftitans_businessbooks.png" alt="Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers">If 673 pages qualifies as “cliff notes,” then consider Tools of Titans Tim Ferriss’s cliff notes for life.

The text compiles a near-exhaustive list of tactics, takeaways and tips Ferriss has gathered over the last two years of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. Divided into three parts—Healthy, Wealthy and Wise—he distills life lessons, morning rituals, workout routines, investment strategies and (yes) must-read books from a veritable who’s-who of the successful.

Everyone from actors, such as Seth Rogen and B.J. Novak to fellow authors such as Brené Brown and Malcolm Gladwell to business leaders such as Jack Dorsey and Peter Thiel take the stage.
<h3>Best Lesson:</h3>
“10x results don’t always require 10x effort. Big changes can come in small packages. To dramatically change your life, you don’t need to run a 100-mile race, get a Ph.D., or completely reinvent yourself. It’s the small things, done consistently, that are the big things.”

“The superheroes you have in your mind (idols, icons, titans, billionaires, etc.) are nearly all walking flaws who’ve maximized one or two strengths. Humans are imperfect creatures. You don’t ‘succeed’ because you have no weaknesses; you succeed because you find your unique strengths and focus on developing habits around them.”
<h3>3. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Self-Employed-Signs-That-Might-Entrepreneur/dp/168350173X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=f9f8aeba8ecdd18cd9fbe2667ed33636" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Self-Employed: 50 Signs That You Might Be an Entrepreneur</a></h3>
By Joel Comm and John Rampton

<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__36980 img__view_mode__full" style="width: 15%; margin: 4px; float: left;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/selfemployed_businessbooks.png" alt="Self-Employed: 50 Signs That You Might Be an Entrepreneur">Have you ever wondered what skills and qualities set entrepreneurs apart from the rest?

In this book, Joel Comm and John Rampton discuss the qualities that unite successful entrepreneurs. Most notably, this includes drive, a natural tendency to take action, and a borderline compulsive desire to grow and move forward through adversity.

Written by two successful entrepreneurs, and featuring stories, insights and motivation from plenty more, Self-Employed offers serious inspiration for anyone running a business, looking to do so in the future, or even closet entrepreneurs who just haven’t discovered their passion yet.
<h3>Best Lesson: </h3>
“There’s power in the propensity for action, and that’s ultimately what separates entrepreneurs and successful business leaders from the rest.”
<h3>4. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Option-Adversity-Building-Resilience-Finding/dp/1524732680/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=debeeb569ca6df9f7598b7008ee00907" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy</a></h3>
By Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant

<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__36981 img__view_mode__full" style="float: left; width: 15%; margin: 4px;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/optionb_businessbooks.png" alt="Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy">After facing the sudden and untimely death of her husband, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg found herself searching for answers. The quest led her to Wharton business professor and Option B co-author Adam Grant. Together the two found peace in an unlikely place: data.

Option B is a rare breed that mixes storytelling with science, metrics with meaning, and depth with data. Sandberg’s deeply personal account of pain and recovery—along with several others who have embraced resilience in the face of striking setbacks—offers hope, a practical way forward and even laughter.
<h3>Best Lesson: </h3>
“Sometimes, life’s most painful, unexpected, and tragic experiences can give way to something positive. Building your resilience can help you move forward in business and in life.”
<h3>5. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Growth-Fastest-Growing-Companies-Breakout/dp/045149721X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=2e0291e68b901b2d336bc3a06a6d45b0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hacking Growth: How Today’s Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success</a></h3>
By Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown

<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__36982 img__view_mode__full" style="width: 15%; margin: 4px; float: left;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/hackinggrowth_businessbooks.png" alt="Hacking Growth: How Today’s Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success">Since being coined in 2010, “growth hacking” has become standard terminology far beyond the world of startups. Unfortunately, all that growth (pun intended) has led to misunderstandings about exactly what growth hacking is. Perhaps most dangerous among its myths is that growth hacking is a “silver bullet” that relies on breathtaking moments of sudden insight.

Written by the man who coined the term, along with GrowthHackers.com’s co-founder Morgan Brown, Hacking Growth is one part methodology and one part playbook.

After dispelling numerous myths surrounding “growth hacking,” the authors work through case study after case study, many of which they were involved in firsthand. The book delivers a comprehensive approach to what is often little more than a buzzword.
<h3>Best Lesson: </h3>
“Growth hacking provides a rigorous methodology for driving the discovery of opportunities through collaboration across functions and at a rapid-fire pace. It insists upon data-driven analysis and experimentation, providing the answer for how companies can systematically tap the power of the wealth of data they have invested so heavily in accumulating.”
<h3><img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__36983 img__view_mode__full" style="width: 15%; margin: 4px; float: left;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/theroadtorecognition_businessbooks.png" alt="The Road to Recognition: The A-to-Z Guide to Personal Branding for Accelerating Your Professional Success in The Age of Digital Media">6. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Road-Recognition-Z-Accelerating-Professional/dp/1940858364//ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=11e3e19cbaf6dd7cfe25884c74069851" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Road to Recognition: The A-to-Z Guide to Personal Branding for Accelerating Your Professional Success in The Age of Digital Media</a></h3>
by Seth Price and Barry Feldman

Much like growth hacking, the phrase personal branding often creates more heat than light. It’s ubiquitous, buzzworthy and vapid. But that usual emptiness is precisely what makes The Road to Recognition stand out.

Written by two of digital marketing’s pioneers, Seth Price and Barry Feldman break personal branding into 26 lessons.

Each lesson—A for Authenticity, H for Helping, Z for Zeal—contains key definitions, a direct contribution from one of business’s most recognizable names and a plan of action. The result is a blow-by-blow account of how to launch, sustain and promote the brand that matters most: you.
<h3>Best Lesson: </h3>
“Everyone loves a good listener. Identify the questions your audience seeks answers to. Ask questions. Ask people to tell you their stories. Ask for their ideas. And listen closely.”
<h3>7. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Undoing-Project-Friendship-Changed-Minds/dp/0393254593/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=3f364f254428ac1f9cdb4f6f3cbb3f2f" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds</a></h3>
By Michael Lewis

<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__36984 img__view_mode__full" style="width: 15%; margin: 4px; float: left;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/theundoingproject_businessbooks.png" alt="The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds">Although technically released in December of 2016, The Undoing Project is such an unlikely and powerful book that I couldn’t help but include it.

Michael Lewis, author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moneyball-Art-Winning-Unfair-Game/dp/1439566208/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1496952907&amp;sr=1-1&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=b5d40b159179f9b7c13aed322f561068" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Moneyball</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Big-Short-Inside-Doomsday-Machine/dp/0393072231/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1496953002&amp;sr=1-1&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=890a042c71c55c69594d391c0f788a86" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Big Short</a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Side-Evolution-Game/dp/0393330478/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1496953059&amp;sr=1-1&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=57222d63efed5839771ccd5173f61e47" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Blind Side</a>, chronicles the 30-plus-year friendship of Nobel Prize winning psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. Both Israeli citizens, Kahneman and Tversky pioneered the field known today as behavioral economics.

For a book that covers such a seemingly dry subject, it packs more than an intellectual punch. Kahneman and Tversky’s relationship, which Lewis likens to a “marriage,” faced good times and bad. Beyond their massive contributions to the science of human decision-making, cognitive biases and mental heuristics, emotions shine through. Without spoiling the ending, The Undoing Project’s two final chapters had me in tears. No small feat for the story about the birth of an academic discipline.
<h3>Best Lesson:</h3>
“‘That was the moment I gave up on decision analysis,’ said Danny. ‘No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.’ …. People did not choose between things. They chose between descriptions of things. Economists, and anyone else who wanted to believe that human beings were rational, could rationalize, or try to rationalize, loss aversion. But how did you rationalize this?”

Self-reflection is a double-edged sword. Although critical to growth, it’s easy to let this discipline become mired in self-congratulation or self-pity. What we need is a little help.

Whether you’re struggling with personal adversity or professional branding, longing to understand the human mind, or just in need of a crash course on life… the list above offers that help.

As Charles William Eliot put it, “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” Just be sure to choose your friends wisely.
Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/the-5-best-lessons-from-the-5-best-business-books-of-2016">The 5 Best Lessons From the 5 Best Business Books of 2016</a>
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7 Best Lessons: Top Business Books of 2017 (So Far)

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Your dream as an entrepreneur doesn’t end with you. After all, it’s one thing to find success for yourself and another thing to witness success take shape in the lives of your children.

Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/7-entrepreneurial-traits-to-teach-your-child">7 Entrepreneurial Traits to Teach Your Child</a>

We all want to pass on our entrepreneurial traits. Unfortunately, a host of recent studies agree those traits are struggling in upcoming generations. Combating cultural apathy and entitlement isn’t easy. And naturally, there’s no shortage of contrary advice from the so-called experts.

So instead, what if we turned the tables and went straight to the source, the very people who know the most about <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/how-to-make-sure-your-children-become-more-successful-than-you">raising success</a>… because that’s how they were raised?

To do that, I tracked down 10 teenage entrepreneurs who have already seen massive wins, and asked one question: “What’s the single best lesson you’ve learned so far?”

Here are their answers.
<h2>1. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/how-to-stop-sweating-the-small-stuff">Don’t sweat the small stuff.</a></h2>
Caleb Maddix isn’t your typical 14-year-old. As he unabashedly told Forbes earlier this year, “I don’t want to be 20 years old and looking for a job. I want to be 20 years old and providing jobs! My goal is to be a billionaire by 30.”

As the CEO of Kids 4 Success, a membership site for aspiring entrepreneurs, he’s well on his way. In fact, Caleb’s worked with greats such as Gary Vaynerchuk, Kevin Harrintgon, John Lee Dumas and soon Tony Robbins.

Surprisingly, the best lesson he’s learned so far didn’t come from any of those big names. Instead, it came from a security guard he met at a hotel:
<h3 class="rtecenter">“Don’t sweat the small stuff, because everything is small stuff.”</h3>
“I ended our conversation—as I always do with new people—by asking him for his own best piece of advice. He said something so simple that’s stuck with me: ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff, because everything is small stuff.’
“<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/the-3-emotional-challenges-youll-face-as-an-entrepreneur">Being an entrepreneur is not easy</a>, and I’ve seen many that get upset when they don’t make a sale, when they’re criticized or when they’re not valued because of their age. When I feel myself getting frustrated or overwhelmed, I force my mind to go back and remember, ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff, because everything is small stuff.’”
That’s good advice for any age, but given the challenges and pressures of being young, it’s especially powerful for your children to hear. Of course, more than just hearing it, embodying that principle and modeling how to take disappointments in stride are necessary.
<h2>2. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/why-failure-is-good-for-success">Failure isn’t the end.</a></h2>
As the 16-year-old founder of YOUTHXCO, an independent clothing company aimed at youth empowerment, Rachel Ji has already experienced the ups and downs of entrepreneurial life. Her parents were first-generation immigrants to New Zealand and hearing stories about her dad washing dishes for $3 an hour to support a blossoming family while attending college taught her two things.

First, obstacles are not an excuse: “If the odds are against you, all that means is you have to work harder than everyone else.” Second, it’s OK to fail.

As Rachel puts it:
“My parents’ hard work gave me the <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/21-quotes-about-failing-fearlessly">freedom to fail</a> because I didn’t have to immediately shoulder all the responsibilities of the real world. When you’re a teenager and your business falls apart—like my first did because I was too young to sign legal contracts—you’re not going to end up homeless and starving. Not if your family is behind you.”
Giving your child the freedom to fail doesn’t mean bailing them out or sheltering them from the downside of their mistakes. But it does mean creating a safe space in their lives to experiment, take chances and learn.
<h2>3. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/4-ways-to-find-passion-and-purpose-in-your-life">Mortality breeds passion.</a></h2>
Will Hewitt had a typical, small-town upbringing: His mother was a teacher and his father was a seafood marketer. In late 2015, Will, 16, co-launched the robotics company <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/thnkbot/posts/?ref=page_internal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thnkbot</a>, committed to introducing other young people to his passion: electronics and programming.

Since then, he has been invited to Silicon Valley multiple times to meet leaders from all over the startup spectrum, from three-person dream machines in someone’s garage to top-level management at Google.

What was Will’s impetus?
“If there’s one lesson, it’s that <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/videos/youtube/ted-talks-grit-the-power-of-passion-and-perseverance">passion is key to everything you do</a>. Time is very finite, and the sum total of what you manage to create in those 80, 90, maybe even 100 years is what you are going to be remembered for.
“I was taught that you have to question yourself every day, Is this what you want to be remembered for? And if that answer is ever no, then you may as well not even get up that day because something needs to change.”
Raising your kids beneath an awareness of their own mortality might sound strange, but that knowledge—reinforced by self-searching questions—shortcuts the wandering paths many young people get lost inside. Putting the limits of life front and center puts a premium on passion.
<h2>4. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/9-entrepreneurial-lessons-you-never-learned-in-school">Experience is the best teacher.</a></h2>
With $500 in their pockets and a 6-month-old baby, Shreyas Parab’s parents moved to the U.S. They were alone and scared, but they didn’t let that stop them for pursuing the reason they came: a better future.

<a href="https://twitter.com/sparab18" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shreyas</a>, 16, is an entrepreneur to the core. He started his first company, <a href="https://www.mynoveltie.com/about-us.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NovelTie</a>, when he was 14, and after almost $20,000 in sales, he started a second, SpellForSuccess, which was recently acquired by an education company in Chicago.

Where did Shreyas’ drive come from?
“The best gift my parents have given me is not doing everything for me. My parents were upfront that if I pursued these things on my own, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/rohn-what-basketball-can-teach-us-about-responsibility">it would be my responsibility</a>, not theirs.
“Some parents do all the nitty gritty work for their entrepreneur children, but my parents want me to learn on my own. They want me to learn through doing, making mistakes and through the best form of education possible: experience.”
The lessons that often mean the most aren’t always what parents do… but what they don’t.
<h2>5. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/7-practical-tips-to-achieve-a-positive-mindset">Resist the temptation to say “stop.”</a></h2>
At 17, <a href="https://connorblakley.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Connor Blakley</a> works with brands on youth marketing, specifically Gen Z; his tactics have been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc. and Huffington Post. In 2016, StartUp Grind named him the “number one high-school entrepreneur to watch.”

Why all the buzz? Simple. Because Connor’s by-GenZ-for-GenZ advice comes directly from the hard-won experiences his parents never stood in the way of.

As Connor puts it:
“My parents played an important role in my formation as a young entrepreneur. But it’s what they didn’t say to me that mattered most. My parents never told me ‘Stop!’ whether that was selling door to door or littering my room with rock collections I was merchandising. They didn’t even get mad when I almost got in huge trouble for starting a homework-selling network. I can attribute all this to them seeing the bigger picture.”
It can be scary to let your child go all in on their entrepreneurial journey. But often, that fear is self-centered. Resisting the temptation to bubble wrap kids with the word “stop” is hard, but there’s no substitute for letting them make their own choices.
<h2>6. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/do-you-have-adaptability">Adapt to change.</a></h2>
Last February, Benjamin Stern, the now 17-year-old CEO and founder of <a href="https://www.nohboball.com">Nohbo</a>, appeared alongside his “bubbie” (his grandmother) on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SharkTank/videos/1128069673870836/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shark Tank</a> and closed a $100,000 deal with Mark Cuban in exchange for 25 percent of the company.

Although the episode highlighted Benjamin’s love of both innovation and the environment (Nohbo sells “the world’s first eco-friendly shampoo ball”), what it didn’t show was the lesson attending nine different schools over the past few years taught him:
“My parents seemed to have a strange addiction to moving. Even though there were moments of extreme discomfort, I think serendipitously, they taught me to adapt to the new—new challenges and new surroundings. It wasn't easy all the time, but the frequent moving is a character builder, and it makes an individual confront what they dread: change.”
Change is an inevitable and often painful part of entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, it’s also an ethereal concept to most young people. Teaching your child adaptability doesn’t necessitate moving. That’s one approach, but it can also be instilled by inviting them into the big decisions you’re facing as well as not sheltering them from the changes they themselves might experience.
<h2>7. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/true-success-begins-the-second-you-start-giving-back">Life is bigger than you.</a></h2>
When they were 12, twins Yashraj and Yuvraj Bhardwaj used to do their best thinking outside of the classroom. Not by choice, but because the doubts and questions they raised were far enough beyond the assigned curriculum that their teacher would banish them outdoors on a weekly basis.

Now 17, the brothers have authored 22 research projects, possess seven patent applications, presented at TEDx Delhi, and were awarded the 2016 REX Karamveer Global Fellowship in association with United Nations. Their passion for biochemistry and electronics was fueled at an early age.

As Yashraj told me:
“Our parents used to tell us that life is bigger than you. The truest life, fulfillment, meaning and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/how-30-days-of-kindness-made-me-a-better-person">joy is found in the service of others</a>. They encouraged us to create nontraditional solutions to problems that other people were either ignoring or letting this world down. You can make yourself immortal if you help others without being selfish.”
We’re all naturally selfish creatures. However, fulfillment comes not from pursuing our own ends, but from selflessness. Giving your kids a taste of that deeper fulfillment early on, the kind that comes from attaching themselves to a cause bigger than just them, sets them up to pursue it throughout life.
<h2>8. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/do-your-actions-reflect-your-values">Actions prove words.</a></h2>
<a href="https://jamescorneille.com/#onejamescorneille.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Corneille</a> is an Irish tech entrepreneur and founder of Positivity Pack, a box subscription service with one goal: “to spread happy vibes.” At 18, he’s collected a host of awards and accolades that’s too long to reproduce in full but includes top honors from the European branches of Microsoft, Facebook and Google.

So what’s the lesson that stands out most in James’s mind?
“It was seeing my mother and father follow their own dreams of helping people and changing the world that inspired me to do the same. I knew I wouldn't be happy doing anything else.
“While I was growing up they would say things like, ‘<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/7-steps-to-achieve-your-dream">Follow your dreams</a>’ or ‘Do what you love.’ Advice like that is easy to disregard as cliché because it is. However, once it becomes more than just words—real actions you can see from your parents—they get driven home and come to life.”
In other words, clichés are clichés for a reason: They’re true. But if you want to plant those truths in your children’s minds, repetition isn’t enough; you have to live them out.
<h2>9. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/10-steps-to-achieve-any-goal">Commitment before accomplishment.</a></h2>
Born with a life-threatening illness, <a href="https://marcguberti.com/about-marc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marc Guberti’s</a> mother left her job at Goldman Sachs to study food chemistry and become a medicinal nutritionist.

After his recovery, Marc, now 18, started a blog as an outlet for the voice he felt he’d lost. That small taste of online success snowballed into 15 books on marketing and high performance, a social-media following nearing 500,000, a podcast (where he recently interviewed Seth Godin), speaking engagements, and <a href="https://teenagerentrepreneur.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Business Whiz Kids</a>, an annual youth summer program he founded with his brother.

And it all comes down to a single idea:
“My mother’s commitment proved to me that if you put your mind into anything <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/9-ways-to-achieve-your-biggest-goals-quickly">you can accomplish any goal</a>, no matter how big. My health struggles silenced my voice for so long that it created a reservoir of desire for me to elevate the lives of others with my message. This commitment to spread my message combined with emerging social networks created a stream of endless possibilities.”

<h2>10. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/videos/youtube/ted-talks-success-is-a-continuous-journey">Make the struggle feel natural.</a></h2>
The oldest entrepreneur on our list, <a href="https://ulysesosuna.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ulyses Osuna</a>, is 19, but he’s also one of the most ambitious. As the founder of <a href="https://influencerpress.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Influencer Press</a>, Ulyses hasn’t just appeared in major publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur and Inc., he’s built a thriving business around getting his clients featured on those same publications themselves.

The public relations world is notorious for high levels of rejection, which is why Ulyses’ best lesson is all about reality:
“My parents didn’t tell me traditional things like, ‘Oh you got this,’ ‘Just do your best’ or ‘You can be anything you want.’ It was more things such as, ‘You know, very few people make it in the world, right? If you're going to do this, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/7-ways-to-develop-daily-discipline">you need to commit</a> because it’s hard out there.’
“They set the realistic expectations of what life as entrepreneur was like. And because I was taught at an early age that it was going to be a struggle, it was easier for me to pursue. The struggle felt natural.”
So what do all of these lessons have in common? Amid all the different stories, it comes down to two key ingredients. First, getting real about what entrepreneurial life is like: the disappointments, failures and pressure. This means giving children genuine autonomy: the freedom to make their own choices and face the consequences.

As <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/the-5-best-lessons-from-the-5-best-business-books-of-2016">Charles Duhigg wrote in Smarter Faster Better</a>, “We should reward initiative, congratulate people for self-motivation… applaud a child who shows defiant, self-righteous stubbornness and reward a student who finds a way to get things done by working around the rules.”

And second, raising success is about doing more than just speaking good advice, but putting it into action. After all, it’s not so much the lessons we teach with our words, but the lessons we teach with our lives that last.
Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/how-to-make-sure-your-children-become-more-successful-than-you">How to Make Sure Your Children Become More Successful Than You</a>

Raising success: What these successful kids learned from their parents

Raising success: What these successful kids learned from their parents | SUCCESS

10 Smart Life Lessons From Successful Teenage Entrepreneurs

10 Smart Life Lessons From Successful Teenage Entrepreneurs | SUCCESS

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The 5 Best Lessons From the 5 Best Business Books of 2016

I love best-of books lists… for the most part.

Getting a summary of <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/rohn-7-books-everyone-should-read">must-reads</a> from the previous year in January of the new year makes for great New Year’s resolutions. But it seems that those lists always come too late.

Ramping up your business with breakthrough insights for 2017 in 2017 is a problem. Instead, with all the ground you have to cover with strategic plans and goal setting between now and January 1, what you really need are innovative lessons right now.

That’s why, to jump-start your end-of-year planning, here are the five best lessons from the five best business books of 2016.
Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/25-books-for-success">25 Books for Success</a>

<h2>1. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Paperboys-Fable-11-Principles-Success/dp/1682610047/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480537712&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=A+Paperboy's+Fable:+The+11+Principles+of+Success&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=0df1e088d9ccb2e54c783c1b2c5e28d7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A Paperboy's Fable: The 11 Principles of Success</a> </h2>
<h3>By Deep Patel</h3>
<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__34701 img__view_mode__default" style="width: 20%; margin: 4px; float: left;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/bestbusinessbooks_1.jpg" alt="The 5 Best Lessons From the 5 Best Business Books of 2016" />Deep wisdom can come from unexpected sources. You might be tempted to overlook 17-year-old Deep Patel’s wisdom, but his biographical tale following one boy’s evolution from a high school student to entrepreneurial success is one you shouldn’t overlook.

With endorsements from Harvard Business professor William Kerr—“a delightful account of entrepreneurship and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/the-3-ss-of-success-and-how-to-achieve-them">the ingredients for success</a>”—and being named one of Entrepreneur.com’s best books of 2016, Patel’s story doesn't just come with heavy-handed stamps of approval; it also offers profound insights for young and old alike.
<h3>Best Lesson:</h3>
“Whether you are a top-flight entrepreneur launching a new startup or an underpaid paperboy, you can enhance your business through dedication, momentum and commitment. It might not happen overnight. But few success stories just spring up fully formed. Instead they evolve over time.”

“Half the fun of success is discovering what the future holds even as you live it!”
<h2>2. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hustle-Power-Charge-Meaning-Momentum/dp/1623367166/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480537744&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Hustle:+The+Power+to+Charge+Your+Life+with+Money,+Meaning,+and+Momentum&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=6f1da6a0e7b333ea5fd3cb266a281569">Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum</a> </h2>
<h3>By Neil Patel, Patrick Vlaskovits, and Jonas Koffler</h3>
<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__34702 img__view_mode__default" style="width: 20%; float: left; margin: 4px;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/bestbusinessbooks_2.png" alt="The 5 Best Lessons From the 5 Best Business Books of 2016" />For some, the word “hustle” is, at best, a buzzworthy hashtag. At worst, it’s a destructive and corrosive force inviting business leaders with already packed lives to give up their health, sanity and even their relationships all in service of <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/11-tricks-to-actually-get-things-done-on-your-to-do-list">getting the work done</a>.

Other than a litany of who’s-who endorsements, what saves Hustle from being just another voice urging you to “do more” is the first of its three fundamentals: heart. Weaving together a vision for the sacredness of our labor with a relentlessly aspirational focus, the authors offer a way out of work-for-work’s-sake and into the pragmatic habits that bring work to life.
<h3>Best Lesson:</h3>
“It’s not enough to simply have a dream, you have to actively pursue it. Most people who talk endlessly about dreams but don’t do anything about them are effectively choosing not to choose, and they end up with a life they don’t recognize. They wonder why they feel so beaten down and defeated, but deep down they know they have another choice.”

“The truth is, over the long term you have only one good option: Own your dream. If you refuse to, you become a tenant in someone else’s dream.”


<h2>3. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Smarter-Faster-Better-Transformative-Productivity/dp/0812983599/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1480537771&amp;sr=8-1&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=6b8172f4b7bb9fa9ad13d6b16ce1614a">Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business </a></h2>
<h3>By Charles Duhigg</h3>
<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__34703 img__view_mode__default" style="width: 20%; margin: 4px; float: left;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/bestbusinessbooks_3.png" alt="The 5 Best Lessons From the 5 Best Business Books of 2016" />Off the heels of his modern-day classic, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/081298160X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480537614&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=The+Power+of+Habit&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=a85f59642e60dace979ba256fcf38ddb" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Power of Habit</a>, comes Charles Duhigg’s latest book. Where Habit majored on theory, Smarter takes aim at the practical. Organized around eight productivity principles—motivation, teams, focus, goal setting, managing others, decision making, innovation and absorbing data—the book digs into the daily realities of the world’s most prolific leaders. Even better, Duhigg’s “here’s what to do” focus is upheld brilliantly by the same story-driven style that made Habit so impactful and easy to digest.
<h3>Best Lesson:</h3>
“Productivity isn’t about working more or sweating harder. It’s not simply a product of spending longer hours at your desk or making bigger sacrifices. Rather, productivity is about making certain choices in certain ways.”

“The way we choose to see ourselves and frame daily decisions; the stories we tell ourselves, and the easy goals we ignore; the sense of community we build among teammates; the creative cultures we establish as leaders: These are the things that separate the merely busy from the genuinely productive.”


<h2>4. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chief-Marketing-Officers-at-Work/dp/1484219309/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480537816&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Chief+Marketing+Officers+at+Work&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=4bc7f7d97bf3f548a52670c60accb9db">Chief Marketing Officers at Work</a> </h2>
<h3>By Josh Steimle</h3>
<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__34704 img__view_mode__default" style="width: 20%; margin: 4px; float: left;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/bestbusinessbooks_4.png" alt="The 5 Best Lessons From the 5 Best Business Books of 2016" />As Josh Steimle tells it, Chief Marketing Officers at Work was born out of necessity: “I was researching CMOs and had read some books in the ‘At Work’ series and assumed there was a CMOs at Work book. I went to Amazon to buy it, but couldn’t find it.” What followed for Steimle was an eight-month journey to connect directly with 29 CMOs from some of the world’s biggest and most successful organizations, including the Harvard Business School, GE, Spotify, PayPal, Expedia and even Comedy Central.

If your business depends on marketing in any way, which of course it does, then this book will help you see the future of marketing and where the top minds say it’s going.
<h3>Best Lesson:</h3>
“In a world that is increasingly on-demand and real time, our customers are just people. They’re human beings. The good experience they’re having on Uber, Amazon, or Airbnb is on-demand, customized, and fast. Increasingly, customers are expecting that from whoever they do business with.”

“For all of us, speed is the new intellectual property. We need to be fast.” — Linda Boff, CMO at GE


<h2>5. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Grit-Passion-Perseverance-Angela-Duckworth/dp/1501111108/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1480537883&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Grit:+The+Power+of+Passion+and+Perseverance&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=ba3df045d5d1b677b46e05dd9f31e9f9">Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance </a></h2>
<h3>By Angela Duckworth</h3>
<img class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__34705 img__view_mode__default" style="width: 20%; float: left; margin: 4px;" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/bestbusinessbooks_5.png" alt="The 5 Best Lessons From the 5 Best Business Books of 2016" />With advanced degrees in neuroscience and psychology, as well as being a full-fledged MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow, Angela Duckworth is a surprising person to forward Grit’s thesis: “as much as talent counts, effort counts twice.”

From stories about West Point, the National Spelling Bee, the world’s most dangerous schools to interviews with CEOs, professional coaches and artists, Grit stares down our world’s love of all things “genius” and instead opts for something far more human at the core of success: persistence in the face of failure. For all its academic rigor, Duckworth’s book reads like a love letter, and for someone like me, whose personal mantra is “Let’s get rejected,” is the one must must-read book on this list.
<h3>Best Lesson:</h3>
“<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/top-of-mind-6-ways-having-grit-improves-your-life">To be gritty</a> is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. To be gritty is to hold fast to an interesting and purposeful goal. To be gritty is to invest, day after week after year, in challenging practice. To be gritty is to fall down seven times, and rise eight.”

So why create a best books list for 2016 before 2016 ends? Because now is the time to get a jump on 2017.
Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/41-books-to-motivate-you-to-become-your-best-self">41 Books to Motivate You to Become Your Best Self</a>
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Are you constantly looking for ways to improve your business?

Are you constantly looking for ways to improve your business? | SUCCESS

The 5 Best Lessons From the 5 Best Business Books of 2016 | SUCCESS

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Personal Development

Personal Development Archives

Personal Development | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

I love everything about Thanksgiving except one thing: giving thanks.

Don’t get me wrong, thankfulness is great. In fact, gratitude is one of the most restorative and physiologically beneficial emotions we can experience. Gratitude impacts everything from our brains to our bodies to our <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/make-time-for-gratitude-in-business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">businesses</a>.

As Zig Ziglar says, “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”
Related:&nbsp;<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/rohn-begin-with-gratitude-and-watch-the-miracles-flow-your-way">Begin With Gratitude and Watch the Miracles Flow Your Way</a>
Unfortunately, gratitude isn’t our default response to life. Why?

Because as humans, we’re hardwired for survival, and that means <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/john-addison-5-ways-to-turn-your-fear-into-fuel">fear is the most dominant human emotion</a>. Psychologists call this “loss aversion”: the natural human tendency to avoid loss rather than acquire gain. In other words, we’re constantly on the lookout for what’s wrong.

Beyond biology, nothing feels more inauthentic than being asked, “What are you thankful for this year?” and trotting out some well-worn cliché through gritted teeth.

But it turns out that “faking” thankfulness—that is, taking mental and physical action prior to the feelings—actually makes you more thankful.
<h2>Why You Should “Fake” Thankfulness</h2>
Philosophers have long known that as the mind goes, so go the emotions. A pithier way to say that would be, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/what-you-think-you-become">we become what we think</a>.

Just in case that sounds a bit too ethereal for you, this truth is a bedrock principle in treating depression through cognitive therapy.

Along with neurological chemistry, people with depression are often caught in “negative feedback loops.” Someone feels negative, so they think—i.e., tell themselves—negative thoughts. Those negative thoughts reinforce the original negative feelings leading to more negative thoughts… and down and down we go.

Fortunately, that downward spiral also works in reverse, not by first feeling positive and then <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/15-uplifting-quotes-for-positive-vibes">thinking positive thoughts</a>, but instead by intentionally thinking positive thoughts that lead to genuinely positive emotions.
Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/7-practical-tips-to-achieve-a-positive-mindset">7 Practical Tips to Achieve a Positive Mindset</a>
As Alex Korb, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Upward-Spiral-Neuroscience-Reverse-Depression/dp/1626251207/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=41d8b30b4e97dad9c49ad79de0cae78f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Upward Spiral</a>, explains: “You can turn a tendency toward a downward spiral of depression and anxiety into an upward spiral of joy and clarity in your life. Expressing gratitude activates serotonin production, which improves your mood and allows you to overcome bad habits, giving you more to be grateful for.”

Or consider the words of fellow cynic, Arthur C. Brooks from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/opinion/sunday/choose-to-be-grateful-it-will-make-you-happier.html?_r=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>:

&nbsp;
<h3 class="rtecenter">“Building the best life does not require fealty to feelings in the name of authenticity, but rather rebelling against negative impulses and acting right even when we don’t feel like it. In a nutshell, acting grateful can actually make you grateful.”</h3>
&nbsp;

Even more powerful than just thinking thankful thoughts is giving them concrete written form. Tools like the <a href="https://www.intelligentchange.com/products/the-five-minute-journal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Five Minute Journal</a>, which Tim Ferriss calls a “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-ferriss-explains-his-journaling-habit-2015-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">therapeutic intervention</a>,” are designed to jumpstart your day with a mental infusion of gratitude.
<img alt="The Scientific Reason Why Faking Thankfulness Actually Makes You Thankful" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__34609 img__view_mode__default" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/thescientificreasonwhyfakingthankfulnessactuallymakesyouthankful.png" style="width: 75%;" typeof="foaf:Image">
SAMPLE FROM THE FIVE MINUTE JOURNAL DAY PAGE
&nbsp;

Why this “intervention?” Because, in Ferriss’s words, being a “happier person, a more content person… is not something that comes naturally to me.”

Hear, hear.

And that’s really what “faking” is all about: If you wait until you feel grateful to act grateful, you’re rolling the dice and will end up falling back on your default emotional state. The best way to experience the benefits of gratitude is to start with action, develop your mental and physical “gratitude muscles.” This can be as simple as devoting your <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/rohn-5-ways-to-be-more-grateful-on-the-daily">thoughts to thankfulness</a> or digging <a href="https://iconicontent.com/blog/love-lives-in-the-details/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deep into the details</a>.
Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/rohn-5-ways-to-be-more-grateful-on-the-daily">5 Ways to Be More Grateful on the Daily</a>
Check out the infographic below to learn just a few of the scientific benefits of thankfulness and exactly how to put gratitude into action.
<img alt="The Scientific Reason Why Faking Thankfulness Makes You Thankful" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__34565 img__view_mode__default" src="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/sites/default/files/infographic_fakingthankfulness.jpg" style="width: 100%;" typeof="foaf:Image">
SOURCE: <a href="https://www.intelligentchange.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">INTELLIGENTCHANGE.COM</a>
&nbsp;
Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/129-reasons-to-be-thankful">129 Reasons to Be Thankful</a>

If you wait until you feel grateful to act grateful, you’re rolling the dice and will end up falling back on your default emotional state.

If you wait until you feel grateful to act grateful, you’re rolling the dice and will end up falling back on your default emotional state. | SUCCESS

The Scientific Reason Why Faking Thankfulness Actually Makes You Thankful

Faking Thankfulness: The Science of Cultivating Gratitude

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Late last year, Stephen Colbert took over as host of The Late Show.

The move was a long time in the making. From The Daily Show, to The Colbert Report, to a rabid social media following, to being dubbed the “most trusted name in news” by <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/americas-anchors-20061116" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a>, to his breakthrough into network television, one thing is sure: Mr. Colbert knows how to take over a market.

And thankfully, you don’t have to be a celebrity to learn from his success.

In fact, you can apply Colbert’s own <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/7-entrepreneurial-traits-to-teach-your-child">entrepreneurial</a> recipe directly to your business by following these five steps and investing in practical tools along the way:

<h2>1. Focus on your team.</h2>

While Stephen Colbert is indisputably a star, the truth is it takes a village to take over a market. Case in point, like <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/the-jimmy-fallon-guide-to-customer-love">Jimmy Fallon</a> and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/and-now-here-he-is-conan-obrien-finally-comfy-in-success">Conan O’Brien</a> before him, Colbert brought the majority of his team—both writing and production—from The Colbert Report with him to The Late Show.

At the interpersonal level, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/4-ways-to-be-a-more-collaborative-leader">leading collaboratively</a>— i.e., focusing on your team—means investing in traits like transparency, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/do-these-6-things-to-be-more-humble">humility</a>, and a shared approach to both <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/why-failure-is-good-for-success">success and failure</a>.&nbsp;

It also means staying dead set on the real goals behind those working relationships. As Colbert’s head writer <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/08/the-colbert-report-writers-15-surprising-facts_n_4242916.html" target="_blank">Opus Moreschi told The Huffington Post</a>, "I sit in a room full of incredibly talented, funny people and make sure they don't have too much fun."

<h2>2. Then... focus on your audience.</h2>

Again, it's not about you... it's about them.

Colbert hasn't just built an audience and connected with them—he's championed the "Colbert Nation" and constructed his entire persona around them. His audience’s love extends well beyond TV and includes contests, charities, social media and even audience submissions.

As Colbert himself said during a micro-debate on social media with expert and author of the book Connected <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/08/james-fowler-on-colbert-a_n_416207.html" target="_blank">James Fowler</a>: “I have a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/rohn-8-traits-of-healthy-relationships">very close relationship</a> with everyone who watches my show. They’re like my children.”

And he’s right. Colbert even made a strongly backed-by-followers push to take over the Swedish government’s Twitter with <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23artificialswedener" target="_blank">#artificialswedener</a> in 2013. While taking over countries probably isn’t on your to-do list (yet), take it from Colbert: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/8-ways-to-expand-your-network-today">Networks work</a>.

In other words, taking over a market comes down to how deeply you connect.

Prioritizing the “human touch” is especially vital if you operate in the B2B space. Capital One’s Spark Pay blog captured this principle in their recent examination of <a href="https://www.sparkpay.com/blog/b2b-ecommerce-best-practices" target="_blank">B2B versus B2C</a>.

“Don't make the mistake of thinking that B2B cuts out customers. Instead, bring the human face to the B2B space.”

At the end of the day, “People don't buy from businesses. People buy from people”

<h2>3. Flood the market.</h2>

Colbert has been spotted all over recently, and it’s no surprise.

From Thursday Night Football ads to launching a “Lunch With Stephen” segment, the guy is good.

Amy Vernon, social marketing consultant, co-founder and CMO of Predictable.ly <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3047232/ask-the-experts/how-to-use-social-media-to-market-your-business" target="_blank">gives this advice when it comes to being where your fans are</a>: "Find out who's talking about what, where they're talking about it and then start listening there." Search out topics that are important to them and make them important to you.

Don't be indiscriminate.

Focus on "being" in the places that research reveals are the richest. Even better, create those spaces—just like Colbert—not merely on social media platforms, but with branded webinars and meetings tailored to fit your company and your audience.

<h2>4. Dig serious data.</h2>

You don’t become Stephen-Colbert level successful without doing your research.

And, as an organization, you won’t be taking on more customers—let alone taking over your market—if you haven’t spent the time gathering data and making the most of what you know about your market.

Colbert has a whole team sifting news coverage for nuggets of comedic gold, but most of us aren’t that lucky.

So what’s the key? Economist and data analyst <a href="https://www.workflowmax.com/blog/making-data-meaningful-to-your-business" target="_blank">David Maher recently told WorkflowMax</a>, “You want your intelligence system to point out (or at least point you in the direction of where to look further) what is a good product, client, supplier, staff member, site, tool or any other moving part in your business—versus a bad one.”

That can sound obvious, but the problem is not that most companies have a lack of data, but instead they have too much data. Most notably, too much siloed data sitting in departments and assorted programs, platforms, spreadsheets and databases.

Combing your disparate data into a <a href="https://www.cyfe.com/" target="_blank">single, all-in-one dashboard</a> brings the separate pieces of the puzzle together and places social media and marketing metrics next to sales, IT and project management.

Regardless of the platform you use, be sure you’re not just collecting data, but that you’re collecting it in one place.

<h2>5. Truthiness trumps all.</h2>

Lastly, what really sets your company apart and leads to market dominance is not making up quippy-yet-useful terms… but by <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/15-trust-building-practices-for-leaders">being honest</a>.

Colbert Nation can count on one thing: bite-sized truths wrapped in comedy.

Customers flock where their trust takes them.

Being an honest company is easily overlooked, especially when you’re taking over a market. Offer stand-apart <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/the-5-very-best-ways-to-thrill-your-customers">customer service</a> to support any issues or questions. Be transparent when it comes to policies and procedures. Don’t change deals under your customer's feet. Set their expectations and follow through on promises.

Most importantly, create an honest community following, not with spendy ads or flashy promotions, but with value.

<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/why-you-hate-comcast-is-the-reason-you-love-netflix">Build customer loyalty</a> by embodying “truthiness” from the inside out.

<h2>Taking Over…</h2>

Stephen Colbert did it. And so can you. Just remember these five points to taking over your market:

1. Focus on your team. 
2. Then… focus on your audience. 
3. Flood the market. 
4. Dig serious data. 
5. Truthiness trumps all.

Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/the-jimmy-fallon-guide-to-customer-love">The Jimmy Fallon Guide to Customer Love</a>

The Late Show host knows how to take over a market. And so can you. Just remember these 5 points.

The Late Show host knows how to take over a market. And so can you. Just remember these 5 points. | SUCCESS

How to Become Stephen-Colbert Level Successful

How to Become Stephen-Colbert Level Successful | SUCCESS

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On a list that includes heavy hitters like Apple CEO Tim Cook, humanitarians Bill and Melinda Gates, and the Pope, it’s a little surprising to see someone whose basic job description is “late night talk show host.”But that’s exactly what happened when Fortune named Jimmy Fallon one of 2015’s <a href="https://fortune.com/worlds-greatest-leaders/" target="_blank" title="World's Greatest Leaders | Fortune.com">World’s 50 Greatest Leaders</a>.So why did they?Simply put, because Fallon loves people… and people love him. Maybe <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/02/jimmy-fallon-the-tonight-show-new-york" target="_blank" title="Heeeeere’s Jimmy! | VanityFair.com">Paul McCartney put it best</a>: “He’s a major fan of people, and… it comes across to the audience—here’s this guy who has the same enthusiasms as you, but he happens to have his own talk show.”So, what can one of the most loveable and hardest-working men in show business teach us about captivating our audiences’ hearts? A lot.Here are four lessons you can apply directly to you and your business:1. Be authentic.He might be the king of impressions, but Jimmy Fallon’s authenticity is real. And authenticity goes a long way.Fallon’s start in late night TV wasn’t easy. It took trial and error before finding the successful mix and quirky persona that so many now adore. But it’s that authenticity—the honest and sometimes uncomfortable real-life connection—that fans return for night after night.The funny thing about authenticity is that is it “doesn’t happen naturally.” That’s what Talk Like TED author Carmine Gallo says: “An authentic personation takes hours of work, digging deeper into your soul than you ever have, choosing the right words that represent the way you feel about your topic, delivering those words for maximum impact, and making sure your nonverbal communication—your gestures, facial expressions and body language—are consistent with your message.”Do you want to be more authentic? Be open… to new ideas, to new people and especially with your true personality. Experiencing the world with an open approach reduces the judgment and fear that keeps you from being authentic.In business, this means not only sharing your mission, your passion and your purpose but also taking the time to really listen to other people.2. Focus on relationships.As simple as this may seem, many of us struggle to pay attention to other people. Not Fallon.Genuine relationships are what make truly diehard fans, and Fallon’s rise to late night fame has hinged on his ability to develop them. With a natural ability to form lasting bonds with anyone, it’s impossible to ignore his relational focus.He knows that conversations build rapport, and when those conversations take place in front of an audience, he’s building rapport with the whole room simultaneously.How can you build relationships with your customers, especially at the enterprise level? The key is personalization.Take email for example. Personalizing emails to build relationships means more than simply using each customer’s name. Instead, focus on utilizing your subscriber’s purchase and viewing history to tailor each message, their open and click-through rates to measure engagement and scheduling, and their preferred device (mobile versus desktop) to optimize the experience.A full 75 percent of marketers surveyed by <a href="https://www.getresponse.com/" target="_blank" title="World’s Easiest Email Marketing | GetResponse.com">GetResponse</a> agreed that personalization has a “significant impact” on customer retention rate and 73 percent on lifetime customer value. Those are powerful benefits of developing relationships.3. Play games.Fallon and his crew are experts at this, because on late night TV, play is as natural as breathing. After all, what’s funnier than watching puppies predict the Final Four championship or your favorite celebs compete in a lip sync battle? Games have been so successful for Fallon that he even created his own spinoff show.While it might sound like a stretch, for businesses, generating customer love also requires playing games—the technical term for this is “gamification.” And implementing gamification through web and mobile apps maximizes at least three vital areas of productivity: education, creativity and enthusiasm.“Engagement can be enhanced by incentivizing real-life behavior, which leads to improved productivity, better customer value and organizational learning,” says Gal Rimon, co-founder and CEO at <a href="https://www.gameffective.com/" title="Gamify Performance | GamEffective.com">GamEffective</a>.To be a lovable company, you have to have a fun side. So what better way to engage customers and employees than with a full arsenal of gamified motivators and calls to action?4. Stoke social media.For Fallon, social media means instant connectivity with his audience. And his social media presence is enviable.Every week, he pumps out a new hashtag and invites the audience to participate in the show by telling their stories. Hashtags like #worstsummerjob and #bestprankever are directly targeted to his audience.Fallon’s ability to stoke social media has translated, on countless occasions, into onscreen skits, jokes and millions of laughs.For businesses, the problem is finding the time to manage all your social media outlets. Whether you’re on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn checking, updating, posting and ensuring real-world ROI can be exhausting. So instead of going it alone, consider using automation tools like <a href="https://bufferapp.com" target="_blank" title="buffer | bufferapp.com">Buffer</a> for your personal social media and <a href="https://www.oktopost.com/" target="_blank" title="oktopost | oktopost.com">Oktopost</a> for your B2B interactions. Dashboards make it easy to monitor multiple accounts and users.As Fortune puts it, “Fallon has led late night TV to an unapologetic joy—and his nearly 4 million nightly viewers… and 6.7 million YouTube followers—to an unapologetic joy.”“My goal,” Fallon says, “is just to make you laugh so that you go to sleep with a smile on your face and live a longer life.”And shouldn’t that be the whole goal of what we’re all doing? To have fun?<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/the-5-very-best-ways-to-thrill-your-customers" target="_self" title="The 5 Very Best Ways to Thrill Your Customers | SUCCESS.com">Check out the 5 very best ways to thrill your customers—and keep them coming back.&nbsp; </a>

[node:summary] - 4 lessons on captivating your audience from the loveable late night talk show host

On a list that includes heavy hitters like Apple CEO Tim Cook, humanitarians Bill and Melinda Gates, and the Pope, it’s a little surprising to see someone | SUCCESS

The Jimmy Fallon Guide to Customer Love

The Jimmy Fallon Guide to Customer Love | SUCCESS

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Everybody loves a good secret. In fact, the juicier, the better. Why? Because we all love being insiders. We love the feeling of exclusivity, of knowing something that’s just ours and no one else’s.

But in business, secrets do more than just stroke our egos. We love having the upper hand. We love having the “<a title="Real Unfair Advantages | blog.asmartbear.com" href="https://blog.asmartbear.com/unfair-advantages.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unfair advantage</a>,” to borrow entrepreneur Jason Cohen’s term.

So when someone like Dr. Ivan Misner, founder and chairman of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization boasting 5.4 million referrals and more than $6.5 billion in resulting revenue, asks, “Do you want to know the secret to success?” you listen.
<blockquote>Related:&nbsp;<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/5-simple-questions-successful-people-ask-themselves-every-day" target="_self" rel="noopener noreferrer">5 Simple Questions Successful People Ask Themselves Every Day</a></blockquote>
What’s “the secret”? Well, there isn’t just one. But think about this: “Success is the uncommon application of common knowledge.”

In other words, when it comes to success, what matters isn’t so much learning something new but putting into practice what we already know.

Here are four not-so-secret secrets of insanely successful people:
<h2>1. They have a vision.</h2>
According to Warren Bennis’s classic On Becoming a Leader, leadership is “the capacity to translate vision into reality.” This means that success starts with answering a fundamental question, What do I really want?

Whether you call the answer to that question your mission statement, core values, brand identity or just your goals doesn’t really matter. Because “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Here’s how Bennis unpacks the idea: The leader has a clear idea of what he or she wants to do—professionally and personally—and the strength to persist in the face of setbacks, even failures.

The key word is “clear.” And clarity means writing it down.

In fact,&nbsp;two of the most statistically significant factors that set the richest people apart from everyone else is that 81 percent of them maintain a to-do list and 80 percent focus on accomplishing a specific goal.
<h2>2. They are honest.</h2>
Successful people tell the truth.This sounds so obvious that you might think it doesn’t even need to be said. But in a climate where the pressure to look good, perform well, eke out profits and win by any means necessary is constantly increasing, honesty is becoming a scarce commodity.

And yet, honesty pays.

According to research in Robert B. Cialdini’s Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, when companies “explained failures in their annual reports, those that pointed to internal and controllable factors had higher stock prices one year later than those that pointed to external and uncontrollable factors.”

In other words, taking responsibility for our mistakes and admitting when we’re wrong isn’t just relationally smart—it’s financially savvy.

Another study, conducted by the Corporate Executive Board, found companies that “rated highly in the area of open communication” and encouraged honest feedback among their staff delivered a “10-year total shareholder return that was 270 percent more than other companies.”

And what’s true for companies is just as true for us. As Bennis wrote, “Leaders never lie to themselves, especially about themselves…. You are your own raw material.”
<h2>3. They show gratitude.</h2>
Without gratitude, you aren’t being mindful or totally thankful of the good things in life—and your perspective is probably skewed to the negative as a result. You might even have less motivation to go after more good things, if you aren’t grateful of the ones you already have.

We tend to think of gratitude as a spontaneous emotion, something that just happens to us in moments of triumph or success. In reality, though, gratitude is something we develop.And just like all the other not-so-secret secrets on this list, it is something we choose, something we make a wide-eyed, premeditated, self-determined decision to experience.

How? By actively looking for reasons to be grateful and second, by simply saying, “thank you.”

When we look for reasons to be grateful—when we make that our intentional focus—we find them. On top of that, when we call attention to those reasons, we cultivate gratitude not only within ourselves but within our relationships and organizations.
<h2>4. They are adaptive. </h2>
Success isn’t about avoiding failure. It’s about learning from failure.

Take Thomas Edison’s famous quote about inventing the light bulb: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

The key is to cultivate what Eric Ries in The Lean Startup calls “validated learning.”“Validated learning is not an after-the-fact realization or a good story designed to hide failure,” he says. “It is the principal antidote to the lethal problem of achieving failure: successfully executing a plan that leads nowhere.”

For Ries, this antidote comes down to one skill: the ability to adapt.“What differentiates the success stories from the failures is that the successful entrepreneurs had the foresight, the ability and the tools to discover which parts of their plans were working brilliantly and which were misguided, and adapt their strategies accordingly.”

All this means is that instead of hiding from failure, insanely successful people anticipate and integrate failure into their lives in ways that transform it from an end into a means.

We all love a good secret. But the truth is, when it comes to success, there’s no such thing. So start small, but start today. Pick one of these four “secrets” and put it to work.
<blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/12-simple-habits-that-set-ultra-successful-people-apart">12 Simple Habits That Set Ultra-Successful People Apart</a>
</blockquote>

We all love a good secret. But the truth is, when it comes to success, there’s no such thing. So start small, but start today. Pick one of these four “secrets” and put it to work. | SUCCESS

4 Secrets of Insanely Successful People

4 Secrets of Insanely Successful People | SUCCESS

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