Real Success: Based on the Writings of SUCCESS Magazine Founder [Hardcover]

Ken Shelton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 1999

Orison Swett Marden (1850-1924), founder of SUCCESS magazine, is also considered to be the founder of the modern success movement in America. He certainly bridged the gap between the old, narrow notions of success and the new, more comprehensive models made popular by best-selling authors such as Napoleon Hill, Clement Stone, Dale Carnegie, Og Mandino, Earl Nightingale, Norman Vincent Peale, and today's authors Stephen R. Covey, Anthony Robbins, and Brian Tracy.

In this refreshing update of Mardens timeless writings, Shelton and the editors of Success magazine revisit the application of character-based success, including case examples of how America's top executives, then and now, have applied Marden's thinking to their own achievements.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tracy (Maximum Achievement and Advanced Selling Strategies) presents his thoughts about success and personal development in a form as old as literature itself: a man goes on a journey, and readers discover what he learns along the way. In this case the journey is a trip to Africa Tracy undertook with two friends when he was 21. But while Tracy provides a roadmap of the lessons he wants a reader to remember (the secret to accomplishing your goal is having a plan; you should never be deterred; etc.), the details get confusing. For one thing, you are never quite sure where Tracy started from or exactly how and why he traveled as he did. (The trip seems to have started from England, although Tracy was apparently raised in Canada.) And while some of the advice is sound ("People will often encourage you in a risky venture as long as it means nothing to them... the acid test is to invite them to invest their own money"), much of it is contradictory. We are told at various times that the secret to success is to keep plunging ahead, to wait and do nothing and to pace yourself. More worrisome, an overarching theme to achieving what you want seems to be "leap and the net will appear." While the details of the trip can be mildly engaging, the reader's journey would have been far smoother here if as much hard work had been put into ferreting out the inconsistencies and contradictions of the text as in trying to reach Africa. $100,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Dec.) FYI: Executive Excellence will also publish Real Success: Based on the Writings of SUCCESS Magazine founder Orison Swett Marden, by the house's editor-in-chief, Ken Shelton, in November. $75,000 ad/promo. ($21.95 288p ISBN 1-890009-52-0)
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Ken Shelton is chairman and editor-in-chief of Exeuctive Excellence Publishing and publisher of Executive Excellence and Personal Excellence magazines. He is author of Beyond Counterfeit Leadership and, in the past 25 years, has written over 5000 articles for publication in major magazines, drafted award-winning copy for advertisements and marketing brochures, and co-written best-selling books. He is well-known and respected among Fortune 500 and other major organizations, with whom he consults.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Executive Excellence Publishing (March 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890009520
• ISBN-13: 978-1890009526
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,467,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Business & Investing > Business Life > General
  • #88 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Management

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great overview of success strategies, October 30, 1999

By 

Paul Misner (Columbia, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real Success: Based on the Writings of SUCCESS Magazine Founder (Hardcover)

I liked it so much I ordered it after getting it out of the library. I think that it should sit on everybody's book shelf. If they had 1/2 stars, I would have actually given it 4.5- because it can get a little dry sometimes. You won't go wrong reading a chapter of this book every morning.