The Tim Ferriss Show #833: Jack Canfield — Selling 600+ Million Books, Success Principles, and How He Made The 4-Hour Workweek Happen
Jack Canfield, bestselling author and co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, shares his incredible journey from poverty to Harvard. He reveals how he sold millions of books in China despite no royalties and discusses the importance of visualization through a $100,000 goal. Jack recounts overcoming 144 rejections to publish his work and emphasizes taking 100% responsibility for outcomes. He also shares transformative experiences with ayahuasca, daily practices for vitality, and insights into self-development that challenge limiting beliefs.
01:37:36
00:00 / 00:00
Chinese Textbook Windfall Without Royalties
- Jack described China printing Chicken Soup as an English textbook and not paying royalties.
- He learned to write tighter contracts after millions sold with no royalty payment.
00:00 / 00:00
From Poverty To Harvard
- Jack grew up poor, lived with his grandmother, then attended private military school after an adoption by a rich aunt.
- He worked through Harvard on scholarships and odd jobs, majoring in Chinese history.
00:00 / 00:00
Winning Teacher Of The Year
- Jack taught in an all-black Chicago high school and became Teacher of the Year by teaching African-American history and raising expectations.
- He used human-potential exercises daily to change student language and confidence.
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Intro
00:00 • 2min
How Tim's Single 'Yes' Changed a Career
01:32 • 4min
How Chicken Soup Sold Hundreds of Millions in China
05:18 • 2min
From Poverty to Harvard: Jack's Early Life
06:55 • 4min
Discovering Human Potential Through Teaching
10:58 • 55sec
Meeting W. Clement Stone and Learning Success Principles
11:53 • 11min
Concrete Habits from Stone: Stop TV, Add a 14‑Month Year
22:42 • 3min
The $100,000 Visualization and First Big Idea
25:43 • 13sec
How Chicken Soup for the Soul Originated
25:56 • 3min
144 Rejections and Perseverance to Publication
29:14 • 2min
Selling a Million and the Rule of Five
31:38 • 4min
Word-of-Mouth Momentum and Institutional Channels
35:43 • 5min
Unexpected Breakthroughs and Rapid Printing Growth
40:16 • 7min
Burnout, Saturation, and Selling the Chicken Soup Brand
47:32 • 3min
Transition to The Success Principles
50:46 • 3min
Why Jack Continued Live Seminars
54:02 • 1min
Retirement Decision and Prioritizing Personal Passions
55:30 • 1min
An Ayahuasca Experience That Shifted Priorities
56:55 • 3min
Daily Practices for Longevity and Vitality
59:44 • 3min
Plant Medicine Journeys and Their Impact
01:02:29 • 5min
What's Undertaught in Self-Development: Limiting Beliefs
01:07:10 • 3min
How to Take 100% Responsibility
01:10:06 • 9min
Practical Reminders to Change Habits and Beliefs
01:19:13 • 3min
Clean Up Your Messes to Free Cognitive Bandwidth
01:22:38 • 7min
Practical Feedback, Reading Aloud, and Testing with Audiences
01:29:25 • 23sec
Outro
01:29:48 • 8min
#19988
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
I Can
Josephine Perry
#21754
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The Success System That Never Fails
W. Clement Stone
#72785
100 Ways to Enhance Self-Concept in the Classroom
Wells
Jack Canfield
This handbook provides teachers and parents with more than 100 practical activities to foster positive self-concept in children.
It includes techniques from various therapeutic approaches and is structured to help students develop emotional awareness, self-acceptance, and better relationships with others.
The book is divided into sections that guide students through self-discovery and goal-setting processes.
#623
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The Road Less Traveled
M. Scott Peck
In this book, M. Scott Peck uses his experience as a psychiatrist to guide readers through the challenges of life.
He argues that life is inherently difficult and that spiritual growth and self-awareness can only be achieved by confronting and overcoming these difficulties.
The book is divided into four parts, focusing on discipline, love, spiritual growth, and the concept of grace.
Peck emphasizes the importance of discipline in delaying gratification, accepting responsibility, dedicating oneself to truth, and balancing conflicting factors.
He also discusses the myths and realities of love and how it supports spiritual evolution.
The book highlights that avoiding problems leads to decreased growth and increased suffering, while facing them can lead to greater self-knowledge and inner peace.
#5700
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Exploring the world of lucid dreaming
Stephen LaBerge
This book provides a scientifically researched framework for lucid dreaming, based on Dr. Stephen LaBerge's laboratory work at Stanford University and the teachings of Tibetan dream yogis.
It guides readers in using lucid dreaming to enhance personal growth, creativity, and spiritual exploration.
The techniques outlined help individuals recognize and control their dreams, leading to profound personal transformations.
#1599
• Mentioned in 21 episodes
The Greatest Salesman in the World
Og Mandino
The book tells the story of Hafid, a young man living in ancient Jerusalem, who learns the secrets of success from a wealthy trader through 10 ancient scrolls.
These scrolls contain principles such as forming good habits, persisting until success, controlling emotions, and acting now.
The book emphasizes that becoming a better person is key to achieving success in sales and life.
It is known for its inspiring and motivating principles, which are relevant even today, and has been credited with changing the lives of many readers.
#22883
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Before the Mayflower
Lerone Bennett
Lerone Bennett, Jr.
Before the Mayflower provides a detailed and engaging history of African Americans, covering their experiences from the Colonial period through slavery, Reconstruction, and the civil rights upheavals of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The book emphasizes the deep roots of African Americans in American history, predating the arrival of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower.
It includes a timeline and archival images, making it a seminal study in African American history.
#254
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The Four Agreements
A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
Don Miguel Ruiz
The Four Agreements is a self-help book that provides a practical guide to personal freedom based on ancient Toltec wisdom.
The book introduces four simple yet powerful agreements: Be impeccable with your word, Don’t take anything personally, Don’t make assumptions, and Always do your best.
These agreements are designed to help readers break free from self-limiting beliefs, avoid unnecessary suffering, and achieve a happier and more fulfilling life.
The book has been widely acclaimed and has become a New York Times bestseller for over a decade, translated into 53 languages worldwide.
#769
• Mentioned in 35 episodes
The One Minute Manager
Spencer Johnson
Kenneth Blanchard
The One Minute Manager is a concise and easily readable book that tells the story of a young man's search for an effective manager.
The book reveals three key techniques: One Minute Goals, which involve setting clear and concise goals; One Minute Praisings, which emphasize recognizing employees when they do something right; and One Minute Reprimands (later updated to One Minute Redirects in the new edition), which focus on immediate feedback on mistakes while valuing the employee.
These techniques are designed to improve productivity, job satisfaction, and personal prosperity within organizations.
#316
• Mentioned in 65 episodes
Tools of Titans
The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers
Ryan Holiday
Mike Del Ponte
Therese Plummer
Ray Porter
Tim Ferriss
Kaleo Griffith
Kevin Rose
Jocko Willink
Tim Kreider
Tools of Titans is a comprehensive guide to achieving peak performance and personal transformation.
The book is divided into three main sections: Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise.
It features insights and strategies from over 200 interviews with successful individuals such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ariana Huffington, and many others.
Ferriss highlights common patterns among these high achievers, including daily meditation, disciplined routines, and the ability to turn weaknesses into strengths.
The book is designed to be a resource for continuous learning and improvement, providing actionable advice and tools for readers to enhance their health, wealth, and wisdom.
#2292
• Mentioned in 15 episodes
Success Principles
Janet Switzer
Jack Canfield
This book is divided into six sections: The Fundamentals of Success, Transform Yourself for Success, Build Your Success Team, Create Successful Relationships, Success and Money, and Success in the Digital Age. It emphasizes the importance of taking 100% responsibility for your life, clarifying your life purpose, setting and achieving goals, and surrounding yourself with positive and successful people.
The book includes exercises, lessons, and inspiring stories from successful individuals to help readers apply the principles in their daily lives.
#1942
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Chicken Soup for the Soul
Cartoons for Teachers
Mark Victor Hansen
Jack Canfield
Amy Newmark
This book is a compilation of short, inspirational stories and motivational essays gathered by motivational speakers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.
The stories are drawn from their audience members and focus on themes like kindness, love, and compassion.
Despite initial rejections by major publishers, the book became a huge success and spawned a series of similar titles.
It has been a New York Times bestseller and has sold millions of copies worldwide.
The stories range from motivational tales of people overcoming challenges to acts of kindness and poems that inspire reflection on life's possibilities.
The book aims to warm the reader's heart and remind them of the good things in the world, promoting a sense of love, kindness, and compassion.
#9719
• Mentioned in 4 episodes
Personal Power
The Driving Force
Tony Robbins
This program, often referred to in the context of 'Personal Power II,' is a 30-day guide that teaches individuals how to harness their inner power to achieve significant personal and professional growth.
It includes strategies for setting clear goals, overcoming fears and phobias, creating instant rapport with others, and duplicating the success of others.
The program emphasizes the importance of taking massive, focused actions to produce desired results and improve various aspects of life, such as relationships, finances, and emotional well-being.
#15
• Mentioned in 334 episodes
Think and Grow Rich
Napoleon Hill
Published in 1937, 'Think and Grow Rich' is a seminal work in the self-help genre.
The book is the result of over twenty years of research by Napoleon Hill, who studied the habits and achievements of more than 500 successful individuals, including Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford.
Hill distills their wisdom into thirteen principles that, when practiced with persistence and faith, can transform dreams into reality.
These principles include the power of desire, faith, specialized knowledge, organized planning, and the role of the subconscious mind.
The book emphasizes the importance of maintaining a positive mental attitude, setting clear and specific goals, and taking consistent action to achieve success.
It also explores the concept of the 'Master Mind' alliance and the need to overcome fears and doubts to achieve one's objectives.
Jack Canfield is the coauthor of more than two hundred books, including, The Success Principles™: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be and the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers and which has sold more than 600 million copies in 50-plus languages around the world.
This episode is brought to you by:
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Timestamps:
- [00:00:00] Who is Jack?
- [00:01:57] How a single “yes” from Jack shaped my career.
- [00:04:55] A contract lesson: How Chicken Soup for the Soul sold millions in China with zero royalties.
- [00:06:45] Jack’s background: From poverty to Harvard.
- [00:09:43] Discovering Chinese history and the “easy A” that changed everything.
- [00:11:07] Winning “Teacher of the Year” teaching Black history.
- [00:14:35] High praise from Sammy Davis Jr.
- [00:17:37] W. Clement Stone: The $600 million mentor who turned motivation into a science (and insurance).
- [00:21:35] Stone’s challenge: Take 100% responsibility and stop watching TV (a 14-month year hack).
- [00:22:40] From visualizing $100,000 to a million.
- [00:25:42] Chicken Soup origins.
- [00:27:35] Mark Victor Hansen joins.
- [00:29:15] 144 rejections later.
- [00:31:28] The ABA miracle.
- [00:34:05] The Rule of Five.
- [00:36:05] Selling The Soul and splurging on sweaters.
- [00:37:27] The Soup sourced from the universe.
- [00:39:33] The big break.
- [00:41:22] Word-of-mouth magic.
- [00:45:37] Lessons from live feedback.
- [00:47:27] The burnout years.
- [00:49:25] Life after Chicken Soup.
- [00:51:05] Late-night typing marathons and pun-laden chapter transitions that led to The Success Principles.
- [00:54:02] How Jack’s love of transformation beats any royalty check.
- [00:55:07] Retirement reflections.
- [00:59:32] Jack’s longevity formula: Laughter, organic food, love, and letting go.
- [01:02:10] An ayahuasca awakening.
- [01:03:39] The story of Rythmia Life Advancement Center and how it’s affected Jack.
- [01:06:43] Breaking belief loops and understanding community as medicine.
- [01:10:06] E + R = O and strategies for taking 100% responsibility of one’s life.
- [01:22:27] Why “clean up your messes” is first in Jack’s list of productivity tips.
- [01:29:27] Where to begin if you’re unfamiliar with Jack’s work.
- [01:31:08] Ken Blanchard: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”
- [01:32:13] Parting thoughts.
Show notes for this episode: https://tim.blog/2025/10/29/jack-canfield/
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