Masters of Success: Proven Techniques for Achieving Success in Business and Life Ivan R. Misner and Don Morgan
Entrepreneur Press (2004)

Here are 65 enlightening perspectives on “success”

The subtitle of this book refers to “techniques for achieving success” but in my opinion, everything depends on having a mindset for success. This is what Henry Ford meant when observing, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” Only with the right mindset will a person be motivated to identify and then master the skills and then techniques that success (however defined) can be achieved. Ivan Misner and Don Morgan have collaborated on several volumes (including this one), selecting and then assembling material from a remarkably diverse range of sources, including themselves. For example, among the 65 articles, Misner is the author of “The Fundamentals of Success”; Morgan is the author of “Subconscious and SMART Conscious Goals” and “Goal-Setting Process (GSP).”They also co-authored the Preface and a brief introduction to each of the eight chapters.

There are several different ways to read this book, including cover to cover. My guess (only a guess) is that most readers will check out the Contents and then cherry-pick those articles whose author and/or title catches their eye. A word of caution: with all due respect to eminences such as Brian Tracy, Anthony Robbins, Tom Hopkins, Wayne Dyer, Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Allen, and Michael Gerber, some of the most valuable material is provided by those who are generally unfamiliar. Case in point: Peter Schutz, former head of Porsche, who shares his thoughts about “a culture of success.” He differentiates success from excellence, noting that success “must come quickly and may be fleeting and fickle” whereas excellence is “lasting and dependable,” adding that “an obsession for success can burn up the manager who seeks it. Excellence will build the manager who strives for it.”

Credit Misner and Morgan with selecting 65 articles that offer diverse and thought-provoking perspectives on how to achieve “success in business and life.” At this point, I presume to include one thought of my own. First, a great deal has been said and written about the importance of “balance.” Is it possible to be a devoted spouse and parent and still have a success business career? For whatever reasons, many men and women have found that very difficult to fulfill all of their obligations in both areas. I have become convinced that a person cannot balance everything but it is possible to balance what is most important, and be willing to accept compromises, adjustments, trade-offs, etc. with regard to everything else.

It remains for each of us to decide what is most important, both in business and in life, and then maintain a proper balance of these priorities. Directly or at least indirectly, all of those who contributed material to this volume can help readers to develop the right mindset so that they can make that determination, and then maintain that balance.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out other works authored or co-authored by Misner and Morgan well as two books by Tom Butler-Bowdon: 50 Success Classics and 50 Self-Help Classics.