Success Secrets took much longer to write that I thought it would. My earlier book in this vein, Seven Secrets to Success, was the complete opposite as it virtually wrote itself. I’d sat down to write a letter to a friend who was going through a difficult time and ended up writing a complete book. It was the easiest book I have ever written—because I did not plan, outline, or think about it in advance. When I started to write, the words appeared as if by magic.

After that book appeared, I received numerous letters from

people who had been helped by it. This was extremely gratifying, as I had written the book to help my friend, and had not given any thought to a wider audience. Many of the letters I received asked me to write a sequel.

I felt this was a good idea, but the system I had used before of sitting down and letting the words come, did not work this time. I tried to outline the sequel, but none of the ideas I came up with seemed good enough. I started to write something on several occasions, but always gave up after writing a chapter or two. I became extremely frustrated.

One of my personal success secrets is a Master Mind group to which I belong. There are five of us in this group, and we meet once a month to share ideas; to set goals; and to motivate, inspire, and help each other.

I first heard of Master Mind groups when I was seventeen and read about them in Napoleon Hill’s classic book Think and Grow Rich. Although I had been familiar with the concept for most of my life, I had not done anything about it, and was flattered to be invited to join a new group that was being set up.

I was slightly dubious at first, as my goals were different than those of the other members, all of whom are professional speakers. I do a lot of speaking, but see myself primarily as a writer. Their goals, naturally enough, related to advancing their speaking careers. In fact, this did not matter. We have been meeting regularly for three years now, and the progress of every member of the group over that time has been incredible.

In the group, we are able to discuss anything at all. Our goals relate to every aspect of our lives. We are able to celebrate individual members’ achievements when things are going well, and encourage and help each other through the more difficult times.

I would recommend a Master Mind group to anyone who has a dream and wants to achieve it. The energy and motivation provided by everyone in the group will propel you to greater success than anything you could achieve entirely on your own.

One month, we met at the home of Michele Comeau, the founding member of the group. She had enjoyed Seven Secrets of Success so much that one year she bought copies to give as Christmas presents to her friends and family. I knew she would ask me if I had started work on the sequel. As I was driving to the meeting, I wondered how to tell her that there would not be a sequel after all. I had not been able to think of anything, and had decided to abandon the whole idea.

I felt comfortable with this decision. I could forget about the sequel and concentrate on something completely different.

However, the universe was not about to let me off that easily. About halfway to Michele’s house, the basic idea of the book came in a flash of inspiration. The book would be a series of letters written by a wise old school teacher to a former student. As soon as that idea popped into my mind, the rest of the book came to me.

I contributed little to the meeting that night. I wanted to get back home and start writing. I began the next day and, once again, the book virtually wrote itself.

Success Secrets and its predecessor are unashamedly motivational books. They can be read as stories, but the underlying aim is to motivate you to action.

Mr. Nevin, the teacher in Success Secrets, was never a great success in worldly terms, but he was hugely successful in other ways. He followed his passion, which was teaching. He loved what he did. He focussed on the positive. He nurtured others. He had a purpose in life. He made a difference in the lives of others, and he was successful in his own way.

Mr. Nevin’s greatest thrill was seeing a light bulb go on inside the heads of his students. My hope is that Success Secrets will light a bulb inside your head, and start you on the road to success.