Permission To Succeed - Softcover

The obvious answer is, they are important parts of many people's lives. However, what they also have in common is that they all describe effects that can be produced by doing certain things in a certain way.

For example, if you want to have better relationships, one thing you can do is to become a better listener. To help you do that, there are dozens of books, tapes and seminars that will teach you "how to become a better listener." The same goes for every one of the above phrases, along with hundreds of other subjects, ranging from "how to buy a house" to "how to build your own computerö to ôhow to raise ostriches."

The kind of self-help literature that I'm talking about is what I call "traditional success literature"&#I5Ithat is, the "how-to" information that you've been reading for years.

The purpose of traditional success literature is to teach you how to do something that you want to learn how to do. For example, when we put the words "how to" in front of the phrases listed above, we can see that the vast majority of self-help and personal-development literature covers what I call the "how to's of success." That is, it shows you how to do something that most people deem to be important in their personal or professional lives (e.g., "how to be a better manager," "how to lose weight," "how to get what you want in relationships," etc.).

At the risk of stepping on a few toes here, however, there is a question about traditional success literature that needs to be answered; and it is simply this:

If millions of people have studied traditional success literature for years, and they have truly dedicated themselves to the study of success—yet they still don't feel or are not successful—what does that tell us about traditional success literature?

There are three possible answers to this question. One possible conclusion is that people simply aren't trying hard enough to use the information they've been given. While this may indeed be the case with some people, it cannot be the case with all people who have tried to use this literature. In fact, the people I work with at The Success Clinic are among the hardest-working, most dedicated, intelligent, creative and committed people I've ever met. So I don't think that's the answer.

The second possibility is that traditional success literature is simply giving us the wrong information. Again, I don't think that's the case at all, because what's contained in most "how to succeed" books, tapes and seminars is actually very good material and can certainly help many people become more successful in life. (This is evidenced by the fact that it does work for many of the people who use it.)

What is it, then? If millions of people don't feel successful even after they've read and heard all the "how to succeed" information in the world—what does that tell us about traditional success literature?

The answer has nothing to do with either of the above factors: people not working hard enough or the information being wrong. The answer is that there is simply something missing from traditional success literature—and that without this missing piece, all of the hard work, good intentions and dedication in the world won't help a person succeed; and the best "how to" information on the planet will be rendered utterly useless.

What is this vital, essential piece of information that's been missing from traditional success literature all these years?

Before I answer that question, I'd like to share some words with you that were written by William James, who is often referred to as "the father of modern popular psychology." Near the beginning of the twentieth century, William James exploded onto the international stage by studying normal, healthy people and their responses to everyday life. He was the first person to take psychology out of the doctor's office and put it in the hands of regular people like you and me.

One of the most brilliant statements I've ever read about human beings came from the pen of William James. In The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy and Human Immortality, he wrote: "One thing is clear: when we talk about human beings, we can see that they are not driven by logic or reason. Ultimately, human beings are driven by their emotions—by their passional nature.ö

In short, William James hit it right on the nose. We human beings are NOT run by the logical or reasonable part of ourselves; we are, in fact, run by what James called our passional nature—that part of us that isn't logical or rational; that is driven by emotions, desires and feelings; the part that feels pain, pleasure, ecstasy, anger, happiness, joy and loss.

Many people, particularly those of us raised in Western culture, tend to feel embarrassed or ashamed about the mere existence of our passional nature. Why? Perhaps because many of our Western societal institutions are built upon the premise that our passional nature is bad, wrong or immoral!

The question is, does it make sense to try and bury that part of us which makes us human! I'm not implying that we should run around like a bunch of crazed animals; I'm suggesting that many people refuse to even admit their passions exist (let alone that we are actually run by them), and that this refusal to accept or acknowledge who and what we really are has led to a lot of pain and unhappiness for more people than we can imagine. (The irony is that when we try to deny or bury our passional nature, we end up giving it more strength. We will explore this further in Part Two: The Condition.)

What does our being run by our passional nature have to do with our success? Only everything.

You see, when I discovered the existence of a condition that prevents smart, creative, talented people from allowing themselves to succeed (and you will see exactly how I discovered this condition, and what it means to you, in chapter 4), I realized that something simple—yet profound—had been missing from traditional success literature all these years.

It is simply this:

There exists a population of men and women—intelligent, creative, sensitive, caring, compassionate people—who are not succeeding NOT because they don't have the intelligence, skill, talent, education, drive or persistence to succeed à

These individuals are not succeeding for only one reason:

They have never given themselves permission to succeed.

There is only one reason this book was written.

It isn't to teach you how to succeed, because you already know how to succeed.

It isn't to give you the latest tips, techniques or strategies of success, because you already know enough of them to be more successful than you can possibly imagine.

It isn't to motivate you, because you already have all the motivation you will ever need to get everything you've ever wanted.

It isn't to tell you to "think positively," because you've heard it a million times before yet you're still wondering why it doesn't seem to work the way it's advertised.

It isn't to get you to try something strange or weird, although you know that if you do the same thing over and over again, you'll get the same results.

The point is, you already know all of these things, and you don't need to hear them again from me. No. This book was written for only one reason.

This book was written so that you will finally—once and for all—give yourself permission to succeed.

Why?

Because if you don't... you will never, and you can never, succeed.

If everybody wants to succeed, why do so many of us stop ourselves from getting the very thing we want most in life?