Success isn't magic or hocus-pocus - it's simply learning how to focus.

Self-esteem does not mean feeling good all the time. Self-esteem means loving yourself even when you feel badly...even when you make a mistake. It means loving yourself even when you're depressed. It means that you accept yourself fully.

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.

Everything you should be an expression of your purpose. If an activity doesn't fit that formula, you wouldn't work on it. Period.

When Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bruce Jenner asked a roomful of Olympic hopefuls if they had a list of written goals, every one raised their hands. When he asked how many of them had that list with them right that moment, only one person raised their hand. That person was Dan O'Brien. And it was Dan O'Brien who went on to win the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Don't underestimate the power of setting goals and constantly reviewing them.

Life is simply a connect-the dots game, and all the dots have already been identified and organized by somebody else. All you have to do is follow the blueprint, use the system, or work the program that they provide.

If you go to a tree with an ax and take five whacks at the tree every day, it doesn't matter if it's an oak or a redwood; eventually the tree has to fall down.