~Discover how to get excited about life again~

~Unleash the power of dreams~

~Learn a five step formula for success~

~Find six words that can change your life~

~Acquire the three rules of communication~

~Develop thirteen ways to maintain a winning edge~

REVIEW

This book never fails me. I know I can always refer to it to get my life back on a positive track. It has become a good friend to me.

Reviewed by: Judy Clarkson, Businessperson

EXCERPT

INTRODUCTION

I wrote this book in response to the many people in this world who believe they'll never achieve their dreams...

You can get what you want from life. I know it's possible. I've got more than twenty years of personal experiences on which to base such a statement. Twenty years of collecting techniques and putting them to use - in good times and in bad. Techniques without which I'm convinced I wouldn't be here today. In fact, one of the most basic ideas outlined in this book brought me back from the edge of emotional, physical and financial disaster to embrace a way of thinking that got me doing the things I want to do, building the lifestyle I want to live and enjoying myself in ways I never thought possible.

My journey began with the failure of a business I was trying to establish. Things weren't going well, and I mistakenly believed that a little more time and money would allow me to overcome my obstacles. There were signs of impending disaster everywhere, but I stubbornly refused to see them. I kept on making poor decision after poor decision until I ended up with a lot of angry creditors and a personal debt of $50,000.

What happened then? You could say that the situation moved in on me like a hurricane and ripped my life apart. I ended up in some serious trouble. People I didn't know started sending me threatening letters. My friendly banker stopped being friendly. Family members shook their heads and said "I told you so!" I became so desperate to get out of the financial hole I'd dug for myself that I lowered my standards of conduct. I made a series of choices that cost me my self respect.

And it didn't stop there! The financial pressures mounted until I became so worried, so frightened, that I couldn't sleep. I lost my health. I even lost the woman I loved.

Then came the day when everything I owned had been taken away (except my car, and that was going at the end of the week). There was no money for rent, no money for food, and I'd just been served with another set of legal papers. I approached a trustee and was told I didn't have enough money to make it worth his while to help me declare bankruptcy. There seemed to be no way out of my predicament.

I became irrational and emotionally unbalanced. I found myself driving around on the Q.E.W between Toronto and Hamilton, trying very hard to summon up enough self-loathing to drive headlong into one of the concrete abutments along the way.

I'll probably never know how many of those inviting cement walls appeared in my headlights, beckoned to me, then drifted slowly off into the darkness. I don't even know how long it was before I began thinking again And it doesn't matter. What's important is that my lifelong fear of death finally cleared my head and allowed me to think when I most needed to think. I was given the chance to realize just how close I'd come to making an irrevocable judgement on myself.

I pulled my car over to the side of the road and stepped out into a world full of noise and light and movement. It was incredible! Cars and trucks whipped by at tremendous speeds, their engines and tires creating an ocean of sound that ebbed and flowed in ever-changing patterns. All around me the lights of Hamilton rose up and blended with the clouds. Nothing was still. The air moved. The grasses and trees moved. The cars and trucks, and the people in them, moved.

But not me.

I stood in the midst of all that activity for a long time, looking for some kind of answer, looking for a way out. I struggled with my problems until my head ached with the effort. I prayed as I'd never prayed before. And still no answers came.

I could sense the panic closing in. I could feel the desperation settling on me like a heavy blanket.

Then it happened. The inspiration I so desperately needed somehow found its way to me. A single phrase came into my mind. It came, and it wouldn't leave. A time-worn phrase, a clich , an old bromide straight from the pages of one of the many motivational books I owned, an idea that has been with me in one form or another ever since that night: As long as there's life, there's hope.

You might think I was grasping at straws, but it was impossible for me to ignore the sudden feeling that I must begin to hope again. So that's what I did. I made an on-the-spot decision to believe that I could make the long climb back. With nothing more than the expectation of something better, I looked to the future and started moving.

The journey to where I am today was hard and often painful. There were many times when faith was the only thing standing between me and the destruction of everything I desired. But I did it! I came out on the other side of a spirit-crushing set of problems. A simple decision I made so long ago has had the power to change my life, to lead me down a path I'd never have taken otherwise - of that I'm convinced.

Today I live in a different part of the country, I'm married to a terrific lady, I've been graced with three beautiful children, I've reclaimed my self-esteem, and I'm pursuing my life-long dream of writing. Things are still hard at times, but I'm enjoying myself. Possibilities abound. Life is great!

A single thought changed the entire course of my life. I chose to hope, to trust, to expect a better future - making the simple decision to have faith, then following through with the best solution I could find to my problems. It was a blind leap that landed me in the future I've always dreamed about. The same thing can happen to you...