Episode · The Tim Ferriss Show · 2025-10-29
Books mentioned on #833: Jack Canfield — Selling 600+ Million Books, Success Principles, and How He Made The 4-Hour Workweek Happen
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
Jack Canfield recommended Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss, and discussed Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, The Success System that Never Fails by W. Clement Stone and others, Before the Mayflower by Lerone Bennett Jr., Yes I Can by Sammy Davis (Jr.), The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus by John Gray and others, The One Minute Manager by Kenneth H. Blanchard and others, and The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Tim Ferriss discussed The Success Principles by Jack Canfield and others and The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Think and Grow Rich
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is a classic self-help guide focused on wealth creation, personal achievement, and the psychological principles of success.
Discussed“His best friend was Napoleon Hill, who wrote Think and Grow Rich. And together, they wrote a book together.”
Where to get it
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The Success System that Never Fails
Discussed“And then also, he wrote a book called The Success System that Never Failed. That's where I learned about motivation and setting goals”
Where to get it
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Before the Mayflower
Discussed“And I I found a book called Before the Mayflower and it was by a guy named Ron Bennett and it was a book about African-American history which is a paperback. I think it was like 3.95. I bought one for every one of my students”
Where to get it
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Yes I Can
Yes I Can by Sammy Davis Jr.
Discussed“cuz he'd written a book called I Can and he was there when I got the award.”
Where to get it
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The Road Less Traveled
The Road Less Traveled by M.
Discussed“So someone had told us that the book, The Road Less Traveled, the author of that book had done five interviews a day for the first year. Five interviews a day. Scott Peek.”
Where to get it
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Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus
Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus by John Gray is a widely recognized relationship guide that explores perceived psychological and communicative differences between men and women.
Discussed“and then read about Scott Peek and we talked to John Gray who wrote Menor from Mars.”
Where to get it
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The One Minute Manager
The One Minute Manager by Kenneth H.
Discussed“We talked to Ken Blanchard who wrote the one minute manager.”
Where to get it
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The Success Principles
The Success Principles by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer is a self-improvement guide that outlines practical strategies, habits, and mindset shifts for achieving personal and professional goals.
Discussed“And I have a first edition copy of the success principles, how to get from where you are to where you want to be. Because before the four I think the when when was the pub date on the success principles? 2005.”
Where to get it
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Tools of Titans
Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss is a comprehensive compilation of tactics, routines, and habits drawn from extensive interviews with billionaires, icons, and world-class performers.
Recommended“I mean, you've been your book, The Titans book, is just amazing. All these people telling you what worked. Thank you. If you haven't read that, by the way, guys, please do. It's incredible.”
Where to get it
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The Four Agreements
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is a spiritual self-help book that offers a code of conduct based on ancient Toltec wisdom to liberate individuals from self-limiting beliefs.
Discussed“Anyway, he had these the four agreements. That's the guy the book. Oh, this is Don Miguel. Don Miguel Ruiz. Yeah, there we go. So my wife and I decided we'll take the four agreements and we'll work on each agreement for 3 months.”
Where to get it
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The Teachings of Don Juan
The Teachings of Don Juan is a book by Carlos Castaneda that chronicles his claimed apprenticeship under a Yaqui shaman, which became a foundational text for the New Age movement.
Discussed“Also, for people who might be wagging a finger at me, I know that Carlos Castonado was not a shaman, but it was the teachings of Don Juan. I think a Yaki way of knowledge. That was the book that I was thinking of. That was one of the first books I read. That was a great book.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (4) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“So I went chicken soup for the spirit, chicken soup for the soul, and I got goosebumps. Told my wife, she got goosebumps. Told Mark, called Mark, what do you think of this? He got goosebumps. Called her agent, he got goosebumps. Went to New York, met with 21 publishers, seven a day for three days.”
“And later he said, "Yeah, you know," he took out an ad in New York on a billboard thanking all the publishers that rejected Chicken Soup for the Soul.”
“And now that then they had to go to a rotary press like you see in the movies when the newspaper's getting printed. And they had three shifts just doing nothing but printing chicken soup for the soul.”
“I would just say, you know, kind of self- servingly that if you would like to know more about my work, the book that Tim talked about, it's not his 20th anniversary edition, the success principles, how to get from where you are to where you want to be. It's really the basis of everything I do.”