Ambassador of Possibility

All successful people need a mentor.  I have had 44 mentors,including Bucky Fuller (pictured here), and the most valuable thing I have learned is to think like your mentor.   When you are fortunate enough to be in the company of a great mentor, you should study what they have studied, are studying, and will study.  Every successful person has learned and developed their own unique way of making decisions.  When you learn your own, you hold the key to your success!  This is one of the many reasons why having a mentor is so important!

I try to read as many biographies as possible because there is so much wisdom and information contained within their pages.  I would suggest that you do the same.  A person can be your mentor even if you have never met them, or never will.  I have learned many valuable lessons from reading biographies and autobiographies of great and inspiring men.  

I know people need mentorship, which is why I created Wealthy Writer’s Wisdom for anyone who has ever wanted to write a book.  I know you have a book in you because each and everyone of us has a unique and inspiring story to tell.  I am blessed to have arrived at a point where I can mentor others. It is a true gift.  When you become the master of your trade, you must “pass the brush” to another who is learning.  The greatest way to leave a legacy is to teach.

Whether you are giving or receiving mentoring, embrace the gift you have been given and share it with as many people as possible. 

-Mark

Don’t Just Think it, Ink it!!!  When you have a great idea or goal the first step to achieving it is writing it down!  When you do this, it acts as an indicator to the universe that you are ready!  Also, it protects you from forgetfulness. 

You must WRITE great ideas and goals down!  You can use a pen, pencil, keyboard, or typewriter…whatever works for you! Begin a habit of writing down your most inspired thoughts.  I always recommend keeping a tape recorder near your bed, sometimes my greatest inspirations hit me in the middle of the night. 

Action is the key to attraction!  Writing an idea down it the first step to fulfilling your dream or goal.  I encourage you to write down both your “stupidest” and you most grandiose dreams. 

I used to carry a piece of paper in my pocket that said “I will sell 15 million Chicken Soup for the Soul books by December 25^th” wrapped in a hundred dollar bill because that goal was so important to me.  I also used to replace the current best seller with my name.  I would visualize and focus on my goal of becoming a best seller, and we did it many times over with Chicken Soup for the Soul.

When you ink it, it becomes a real tangible thing, ready to be expanded on and explored.  This simple step can trigger even more brilliant ideas because you are open and ready to receive them.  

Teams are powerful, pivotal, crucial, and fundamental to success…but at times, choosing a team that will successfully accomplish what needs to be done can be difficult.   You need a group of individuals who compliment each other, and more importantly,compliment the focus of  your project.  My Wealthy Writer’s Wisdom program addresses this very issue in the lesson 5  workbook, The Discipline of Writing. Here is an excerpt to help explain the elements that make up a great team:

There will always be portions of the writing process that you aren’t good at, that is why it is so important to work with people who compliment your unique skills.  You need both starters and finishers to successfully produce a book, or anything for that matter. 

 

I want to share something with you that a good friend of mine, Paul Roper, taught me.  Within the realm of starters and finishers, there are 3 sub-groups: dreamers, builders, and drivers.  These groups are a less general way of breaking down the integral parts of a project, and the types of people that you need to complete one successfully.

 

Dreamers:  Dreamers fall into the starter category.  Dreamers dream big, and give the project initial direction, and it’s overall goal.  Dreamers are generally very imaginative, and are often accused of being eccentric.  I am a dreamer. Ford was a dreamer. Edison was a dreamer.

 

Builders: Builders are the people who provide a project with its structure.  They handle contracts, negotiations, and planning.  Builders are finishers and often appear as lawyers, consultants, and accountants.  They build the foundation of the project.

 

Drivers: Drivers are the people who make the project work everyday.  They make sure that the plan that the builders lay out is executed.  The drivers can fall into either the starting or the finishing category, depending on what they are doing, but most often fall into the finishing category.  Without drivers, the dreamers and builders would have a wonderful concept and blue-print, but no crew to execute it.

 

All of these elements need to work, and focus, together to make spectacular things happen, and that is exactly why you need to know where you fit into the relationship. 

When choosing your team, don’t forget to ask these three questions:

1.     Do I like them?

2.     Do I trust them?

3.     Do I respect them?

If your choice can’t get a yes to all three, they probably won’t be a good fit for your team.  

There are many aspects needed to pull a project together, particularly a book.  If you have ever been interested in writing a book, you should come to one of the free breakfast meetings I will be hosting this month!  For more information, on dates and venues, please click here!  I would love to see you there!

-Mark

Many people know me from the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, which are a collection of heart touching stories.  What many people don’t know is why I choose to teach using stories.  Stories communicate with people on a soulular level.  When an author writes, they become connected to their audiences in a unique way; a way that is unlike any other.  I wrote about a connection I made while at Book Expo America one year with my writing partner Jack Canfield.  This story appears in my Wealthy Writer’s Wisdom Workbook, lesson 1:

That particular year my partner Jack Canfield and I had attracted a massive crowd to our book signing, and we were trying to make the line move as fast as possible, while still taking the time to make each person feel special. About 30 minutes into the constant stream of signatures and “thank you’s”, my writing partner Jack Canfield leaned over, looked me in the eyes and declared with total sincerity, “You have got to hear this.”  

Jack allowed the emotional man to cross behind his signing table so that he could tell me his extraordinary story. I noticed that his friend, who was with him in line, had no hands and forearms that ended in war-mangled stumps.

“Mark and Jack, I needed to come here today to tell you that your book, Chicken Soup for the Soul saved my country.  You see, I am in charge of training troops in a country that is ravaged by a gruesome civil war. Everyday many soldiers are killed or left horrifically injured, like my friend.  Each night I would read the soldiers a Chicken Soup for the Soul story, and it would give them the strength and courage to go on, even in the face of extreme danger.”

A ball formed in my throat that felt like a golf ball, and my eyes immediately became heavy with tears. “Young man, I am so touched.  How can I help you?” 

“You have done enough my friends.  Please go in peace and god bless.”

There is no way that I could have ever predicted the stories in Chicken would have such an impact; but this is why I teach in stories.  Stories have this special way of getting to someone’s heart.  The lessons in stories hit them on a personal, highly relatable level.  They can feel themselves in the storyteller’s shoes.  Stories break down personal barriers, which means they relay hard-to-swallow information in a gentle way.

Stories have been, and always will be, one of the most effective ways to teach lessons.  From a marketing standpoint they are also the best way to connect with your audience. 

As a writer, be sure to let your own story come out in your writing.  People want to feel like they are connected to you.  They want to relate to the information you are sharing with them.  The fastest way to get to someone’s heart is through a story.  It is the superhighway to the heart. 

-Mark