“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle
When Jack and Mark co-published a book, they have big ambition and they wanted to make their book into the best-seller lists.
Once they got their book written and published, they wanted to promote and market the book.
So, they asked many other successful authors such as John Gray, Barbara DeAngelis, and even sought advice from Ken Blanchard, the ground-breaking author of The One Minute Manager about how to sell and market their book.
John and Mark even bought and read John Kremer’s 1001 Ways to Market Your Book.
And soon enough, they received so much useful and insightful advice and suggestions for how they can promote their book.
But guess what, they became a little confused and overwhelmed with ideas and suggestions. They were searching for ideas, but they didn’t take much solid action.
Until one day, both Jack and Mark got an “aha” moment from their friend, Ron Scolastic, a psychologist and meditational teacher.
Ron told them:
“If you would go every day to a very large tree and take five swings at it with a very sharp ax, eventually, no matter how large the tree, it would have to come down.”
And so, Jack and Mark developed a rule called The Rule of 5.
From the Rule of 5, they both needed to take 5 action steps every day that will lead them to their goal — which is to make their book a best-seller.
Here’s what Jack and Mark came up with…
They can send 5 review copies to editors who are keen; they can call 5 network marketing companies and ask them to buy their books as a motivational tool for their salespeople; they can give a seminar to at least 5 people and sell the book; and on someday, they can just send 5 copies of the book to celebrities like Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, and Sidney Poitier; and they did all of that.
They made phone calls to people who could review the book; they wrote press releases; they called talk shows and give away their books for free, some of the shows were at 3am; they gave talks using stories from the book in churches; they even got gas station, restaurant, and bakeries to sell the book; all in all, they did a lot of things and put in a lot of consistent effort.
Eventually, the book went on to sell millions of copies. However, it did not happen overnight. The book hit the best-seller list after a year.
Who are Jack and Mark and what is the best-selling book they published? They are Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.
The book I’m talking about is Chicken Soup for the Soul.
The book became so successful that it spawned into different series, sold over 500 million copies, been translated into 43 languages, and Time Magazine called it, “the publishing phenomenon of the decade”.
Jack Canfield then compiled all his years of learning and experiences into this book, shared his success with the public, and show you how you too, can achieve the success you want:
How to Produce 1,825 Wins in a Year
Imagine you are 100% committed to achieve your goals and make your dream a reality. And so, you decided to use and stick to the Rule of 5 for a year.
Every day, you take 5 small action steps that will get you closer to your goals and dreams.
In a day, you take 5 action steps, which means, you produce 5 little wins. In a week, you will have produced 35 wins. And in a month, you will have created 150 small wins. And within a year, you will have produced 1,825 victories.
Don’t you think these 1,825 small wins will accumulate and completely change your life for the better?
With 1,825 small steps taken throughout the year, you will surely get way closer to accomplishing your goals and reaching your dreams.
This is the power of being consistent. And this is the power of the Rule of 5.
How to Use The Rule of 5
Here’s what you need to do.
- List down and brainstorm every possible action steps you can take to achieve your goals.
- Make a plan and take 5 little action steps as what you have learned from the story about how Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen became successful authors.
- Stick to the Rule of 5 for at least a year.
It doesn’t matter what you do every day, as long as you are making progress and moving forward toward your ultimate destination.
Some days, you will take massive action and make huge progress. And some days, you feel tired and lazy, and you only take 5 baby steps and make little progress.
But that’s okay.
Because success isn’t created overnight. Success is created over time.
If you want to learn more about the Rule of 5, check out my blog post here: https://stunningmotivation.com/rule-of-five/
