I worked from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. every night for a year to write the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book.

Making mistakes, getting it almost right, and experimenting to see what happens are all part of the process of eventually getting it right.

You only have control over three things in your life - the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take (your behavior). How you use these three things determines everything you experience. If you don't like what you are producing and experiencing, you have to change your responses.

There are only two words that will always lead you to success. Those words are yes and no. Undoubtedly, you've mastered saying yes. So start practicing saying no. Your goals depend on it!

If you want to be really successful, and I know you do, then you will have to give up blaming and complaining and take total responsibility for your life -- that means all your results, both your successes and your failures. That is the prerequisite for creating a life of success.

When you're connected to a source and to each other through conversation, through making love, through meditation, playing games with your kids, all that stuff, then your self-esteem's going to go up.

Self-esteem is made up primarily of two things: feeling lovable and feeling capable.