Jack Canfield — Selling 600+ Million Books, Success Principles, and How He Made The 4-Hour Workweek Happen (#833)

Jack Canfield (@JackCanfield), known as America’s #1 Success Coach, is a bestselling author, professional speaker, trainer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of the Canfield Training Group, which trains entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, sales professionals, educators, and motivated individuals how to accelerate the achievement of their personal and professional goals. 

He has conducted live trainings for more than a million people in more than 50 countries around the world. He holds two Guinness World Record titles and is a member of the National Speakers Association’s Speaker Hall of Fame.

Jack 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, The Success Principles Workbook, Jack Canfield’s Key to Living the Law of Attraction, The Aladdin Factor, Dare to Win, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers and has sold more than 600 million copies in 51 languages around the world.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by:

• Monarch track, budget, plan, and do more with your money
• AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement
• Helix Sleep premium mattresses

Listen onSpotify

Listen onApple Podcasts

Listen onOvercast

Additional podcast platforms

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform. Watch the interview on YouTube here.

Transcripts

• This episode
• All episodes

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

• Connect with Jack Canfield:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

Featured Jack Canfield Projects

• Chicken Soup for the Soul: 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
• The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer
• 100 Ways to Enhance Self-Concept in the Classroom: A Handbook for Teachers and Parents by Jack Canfield and Harold Clive Wells
• The Soul of Success: The Jack Canfield Story
• The Jack Canfield Podcast

25 Ways to Complete Before Moving Forward

From Jack:

How many things do you need to complete, dump, or delegate before you can move on and bring new activity, abundance, relationships, and excitement into your life? Use the checklist below to jog your thinking, make a list, and then write down how you’ll complete each task.

Once you’ve made your list, choose four items and start completing them. Choose those that would immediately free up the most time, energy, or space for you—whether it’s mental space or physical space.

At minimum, I encourage you to clean up one major incomplete every three months. If you want to really get the ball rolling, schedule a “completion weekend,” and devote two full days to handling as many things on the following list as possible.

1. Former business activities that need completion
2. Promises not kept, not acknowledged, or not renegotiated
3. Unpaid debts or financial commitments (money owed to others or to you)
4. Closets overflowing with clothing never worn
5. A disorganized garage crowded with old discards
6. Haphazard or disorganized tax records
7. Checkbook not balanced or accounts that should be closed
8. “Junk drawers” full of unusable items
9. Missing or broken tools
10. An attic filled with unused items
11. A car trunk or backseat full of trash
12. Incomplete car maintenance
13. A disorganized basement filled with discarded items
14. Credenza packed with unfiled or incomplete projects
15. Filing left undone
16. Computer files not backed up or data needing to be converted for storage
17. Desk surface cluttered or disorganized
18. Family pictures never put into an album
19. Mending, ironing, or other piles of items to repair or discard
20. Deferred household maintenance
21. Personal relationships with unstated requests, resentments, or appreciations
22. People you need to forgive
23. Time not spent with people you’ve been meaning to spend time with
24. Incomplete projects or projects delivered without closure or feedback
25. Acknowledgments that need to be given or asked for

Excerpt from The Success Principles™ by Jack Canfield, ©2005, 2015 Self-Esteem Seminars, L.P. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Books

• Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America 1619-1964 by Lerone Bennett Jr.
• The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance by Dr. Nate Zinsser
• Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold
• The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz
• The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss
• Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex by John Gray
• The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
• 1001 Ways to Market Your Books: For Authors and Publishers by John Kremer
• Anthony Robbins’ Personal Power II: The Driving Force! by Tony Robbins
• The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck
• The Success System That Never Fails: Experience the True Riches of Life by W. Clement Stone
• The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda
• Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century by Napoleon Hill
• Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss
• Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr. by Sammy Davis Jr., Jane Boyar, and Burt Boyar

Concepts and Related Resources

• George Carlin on “Heaven and Hell”
• George Carlin on “Stuff”
• Clean Up Your Messes (Incompletions)
• E + R = O (Event + Response = Outcome)
• Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions
• The Four Agreements
• Gestalt Therapy
• Goal Setting with Belief
• Ikigai
• Byron Katie’s “The Work”
• Limiting Beliefs
• Massive Action and Persistence
• Meditation
• Néng Piàn Jiù Piàn
• 100 Percent Responsibility
• Plant Medicine/Ayahuasca
• The Power of Community and Support
• Rule of Five
• Visualization and Affirmations
• Jocko Willink on the “Good” Mindset

Films and TV Shows

• Good Morning America
• The Secret
• Sleepless in Seattle
• Sliding Doors
• The Oprah Winfrey Show

Companies, Organizations, and Events

• American Booksellers Association (ABA)
• Anhui Publishing
• B. Dalton Bookseller
• Barnes & Noble
• Borders
• Combined Insurance
• ESPD50
• Inside Edge
• The Learning Annex
• Pachamama Alliance
• Rythmia Life Advancement Center
• SkillPath Seminars
• Strategic Coach
• Success Magazine
• SVASE (Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs)
• Thrive Global
• Transcendental Meditation
• W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation

People

• Patty Aubery
• Lerone Bennett Jr.
• Ken Blanchard
• Jane Boyar
• Burt Boyar
• Buddha
• George Carlin
• Dale Carnegie
• Carlos Castaneda
• Barbara De Angelis
• Sammy Davis Jr.
• John Gray
• Stephen Hanselman
• Mark Victor Hansen
• Trip Hawkins
• Jesse Jackson
• Napoleon Hill
• Jesus
• Byron Katie
• Chiang Kai-shek
• Stephen King
• Stephen LaBerge
• Jay Leno
• Og Mandino
• Nick Nanton
• M. Scott Peck
• Vladimir Putin
• Howard Rheingold
• Tony Robbins
• Don Miguel Ruiz
• W. Clement Stone
• Dan Sullivan
• Janet Switzer
• Lynne Twist
• Peter Vegzo
• Harold Clive Wells
• Jocko Willink
• Mao Zedong
• Nate Zinsser

TIMESTAMPS

• [00:01:57] How a single “yes” from Jack shaped my career.
• [00:04:55] A contract lesson: How Chicken Soup for the Soul sold millions in China with zero royalties.
• [00:06:45] Jack’s background: From poverty to Harvard.
• [00:09:43] Discovering Chinese history and the “easy A” that changed everything.
• [00:11:07] Winning “Teacher of the Year” teaching Black history.
• [00:14:35] High praise from Sammy Davis Jr.
• [00:17:37] W. Clement Stone: The $600 million mentor who turned motivation into a science (and insurance).
• [00:21:35] Stone’s challenge: Take 100% responsibility and stop watching TV (a 14-month year hack).
• [00:22:40] From visualizing $100,000 to a million.
• [00:25:42] Chicken Soup origins.
• [00:27:35] Mark Victor Hansen joins.
• [00:29:15] 144 rejections later.
• [00:31:28] The ABA miracle.
• [00:34:05] The Rule of Five.
• [00:36:05] Selling The Soul and splurging on sweaters.
• [00:37:27] The Soup sourced from the universe.
• [00:39:33] The big break.
• [00:41:22] Word-of-mouth magic.
• [00:45:37] Lessons from live feedback.
• [00:47:27] The burnout years.
• [00:49:25] Life after Chicken Soup.
• [00:51:05] Late-night typing marathons and pun-laden chapter transitions that led to The Success Principles.
• [00:54:02] How Jack’s love of transformation beats any royalty check.
• [00:55:07] Retirement reflections.
• [00:59:32] Jack’s longevity formula: Laughter, organic food, love, and letting go.
• [01:02:10] An ayahuasca awakening.
• [01:03:39] The story of Rythmia Life Advancement Center and how it’s affected Jack.
• [01:06:43] Breaking belief loops and understanding community as medicine.
• [01:10:06] E + R = O and strategies for taking 100% responsibility of one’s life.
• [01:22:27] Why “clean up your messes” is first in Jack’s list of productivity tips.
• [01:29:27] Where to begin if you’re unfamiliar with Jack’s work.
• [01:31:08] Ken Blanchard: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”
• [01:32:13] Parting thoughts.

JACK CANFIELD QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“When you were a kid, your grandmother gave you chicken soup when you were sick. … People’s spirits are sick. They’re in resignation, hopelessness, and fear.”

— Jack Canfield

“When I went off to college, my stepfather, he gave me $20. He looked me in the eye and he said, ‘If you need a helping hand, look at the end of your own arm. There’ll be no more gifts coming from me.’”

— Jack Canfield

“Nobody ever complains about gravity. You’ve never seen an old person walking through the mall, all bent over going, ‘Gravity, I hate gravity. If it wasn’t for gravity, I wouldn’t be all bent over. Gravity sucks.’ Never said that. Why not? Because you can’t change gravity. Everyone knows gravity just is, so we don’t complain about it. So anything you’re complaining about, you have to have a reference point in your mind of something better.”

— Jack Canfield

“[W. Clement Stone] said to me, ‘Do you watch television?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘How many hours a day?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. Good Morning America, the news, maybe a movie at night.’ He said, ‘That’s three hours a day. Cut out an hour a day, because that’ll give you 365 additional hours a year to be productive. Divide that by a 40-hour work week, that’s nine-and-a-half weeks. It’ll give you a 14-month year. You’ll be much more competitive than all the people in your field if you do that.”

— Jack Canfield

“E + R = O — event plus response equals outcome.”

— Jack Canfield

On retirement: “I realized there were things I want to do that I haven’t done. I want to become a really good chef cook. I want to learn how to oil paint. I play guitar mediocrely. I want to learn to play the piano.”

— Jack Canfield

This episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. Right now, get a FREE Welcome Kit, including Vitamin D3+K2 and AG1 Travel Packs, when you first subscribe. Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive your 1-year supply of Vitamin D—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones!

This episode is brought to you by Monarch! Traditional budgeting apps can help, but they don’t compare to the complete financial command center you get with this episode’s sponsor, Monarch. Monarch was named The Wall Street Journal’s Best Budgeting App of 2025, and it’s the top-recommended personal finance app by users and experts, with more than 30,000 5-star reviews. Get control of your overall finances with Monarch. Use code TIM at monarchmoney.com/Tim for half off your first year.

This episode is brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the best overall mattress of 2025 by Forbes and Wired magazines and best in category by Good Housekeeping, GQ, and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk-free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, Helix is offering 20% off all mattress orders at HelixSleep.com/Tim.

Want to hear another episode with someone who built a publishing juggernaut through consistent principles and daily discipline? Listen to my conversation with bestselling author James Clear, in which we discussed launching a mega-bestseller that’s sold 10+ million copies, building an email list to two million+ people, the power of identity-based habits, strategies for consistent creative work, finding leverage in your life and career, and much more.