About the Author Tom Butler-Bowdon

Tom Butler-Bowdon is now recognised as an expert in personal development literature. His 50 Classics series has been hailed as the definitive guide to “the literature of possibility," and has won numerous awards including the Benjamin Franklin Self-Help Award and Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award. A graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of Sydney, he lives and works in both the UK and Australia.

Characteristics of Succesful Entrepreneurs

These questions fired the writing of each book covered in 50 Success Classics, and it is possible to draw out some common threads as answers. The following is only a brief and partial list, but may whet your appetite to discover for yourself some of the principles of success.

Optimism

Optimism is power. This is a secret discovered by all who succeed against great odds. Nelson Mandela, Ernest Shackleton, Eleanor Roosevelt - each admitted that what got them through tough times was an ability to focus on the positives. They understood what Claude Bristol called 'the magic of believing'. Yet great leaders also have an unusual ability to face up to stark reality, so creating a single powerful attribute: 'tough-minded optimism'.

Optimistic people tend to succeed not simply because they believe all will turn out right, but because the expectation of success makes them work harder. If you expect little, you will not be motivated to even try.

Definite aim, purpose or vision

Success requires concentration of effort. Most people disperse their energies over too many things and so fail to be outstanding in anything. In the words of Orison Swett Marden, "The world does not demand that you be a lawyer, minister, doctor, farmer, scientist, or merchant; it does not dictate what you shall do, but it does require that you be a master in whatever you undertake."

Have higher aims and goals and doggedly pursue their realisation. As the Bible says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish".

Willingness to labor

Successful people are willing to engage in drudgery in the cause of something marvellous. The greater part of 'genius' is the years of effort to solve a problem or find the perfect expression of an idea. With hard work you acquire knowledge about yourself which idleness never reveals.

A law of success is that, once first achieved, it can create a momentum that makes it easier to sustain. As Talleyrand put it, "Nothing succeeds like success".

Discipline

Enduring success is built on discipline, an appreciation that you must give yourself orders and obey them. Like compound interest, this subject may be boring, but its results in the long term can be spectacular.

The great achiever knows that while the universe is built by atoms, success is built by minutes; he or she is a master when it comes to their use of time.

Integrated mind

Successful people have a good relationship with their unconscious or subconscious minds. They trust their intuition, and because intuitions are usually right, they seem to enjoy more luck than others. They have discovered one of the great success secrets: that the non-rational mind infallibly solves problems and creates solutions when trusted to do so.

Prolific reading

Look into the habits of the successful, and you will find that they are usually great readers. Many of the leaders and authors covered in this book attribute the turning point in their lives to picking up a certain book. If you can read about the accomplishments of those you admire, you cannot help but lift your own sights. Anthony Robbins remarked that 'success leaves clues', and reading is one of the best means of absorbing such clues. Curiosity and the capacity to learn are vital for achievement, thus the saying "Leaders are readers". The person who seeks growth, Dale Carnegie said, "must soak and tan his mind constantly in the vats of literature."

Risk-taking

The greater the risk, the greater the potential success. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Have a bias for action.

The power of expectation

Successful people expect the best, and they generally get it, because expectations have a way of attracting to us their material equivalent.

Since our lives correspond pretty much to the expectations we have of it, the achiever will argue, why not think big instead of small?

Mastery

The advanced being can turn any situation to their advantage. They are 'masters of their souls, captains of their fate.'

When other parties are involved, they will seek solutions in which gains are maximised for all. In the words of Catherine Ponder, "You do not have to compromise in life, if you are willing to let go of the idea of compromise."

Well-roundedness

Achievements mean little if we are not a success as a person. The capacities to love, listen and learn are vital for our own well-being, and without them it is difficult to have the fulfilling relationships that we need to both renew us and inspire achievement.

50 Success Classics List of Books Included

1. Horatio Alger Ragged Dick (1867)
2. Warren Bennis On Becoming A Leader (1989)
3. Frank Bettger How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success in Selling (1947)
4. Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson The One Minute Manager (1981)
5. Edward Bok The Americanization of Edward Bok (1921)
6. Claude M Bristol The Magic of Believing (1948)
7. Andrew Carnegie Autobiography (1920)
8. Chin-ning Chu Thick Face Black Heart (1992)
9. George S Clason The Richest Man in Babylon (1926)
10. Robert Collier Secrets of the Ages (1926)
11. Jim Collins Good To Great (2001)
12. Russel H Conwell Acres of Diamonds (1921)
13. Stephen R Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989)
14. Michael Dell Direct From Dell (1999)
15. Henry Ford My Life and Work (1922)
16. Benjamin Franklin The Way To Wealth (1758)
17. Timothy Gallwey The Inner Game of Tennis (1974)
18. Robin Gerber Leadership The Eleanor Roosevelt Way (2003)
19. John Paul Getty How To Be Rich (1961)
20. Les Giblin How to Have Power and Confidence In Dealing With People (1956)
21. Baltasar Gracian The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)
22. Earl G Graves How To Succeed in Business Without Being White (1997)
23. Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich (1937)
24. Napoleon Hill & W Clement Stone Success With a Positive Mental Attitude (1960)
25. Tom Hopkins The Official Guide to Success (1982)
26. Muriel James & Dorothy Jongeward Born To Win (1971)
27. Spencer Johnson Who Moved My Cheese? (1998)
28. Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad, Poor Dad (1997 )
29. David Landes The Wealth and Poverty of Nations (1998)
30. Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz The Power of Full Engagement (2003)
31. Roger Lowenstein Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist (1995)
32. Nelson Mandela Long Walk To Freedom (1994 )
33. Orison Swett Marden Pushing To The Front (1894)
34. JW Marriott Jnr The Spirit To Serve (1997)
35. Margot Morrell & Stephanie Capparell Shackleton's Way (2001)
36. Donald T Phillips Lincoln On Leadership (1992)
37. Catherine Ponder The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity (1962)
38. Cheryl Richardson Take Time For Your Life (1998)
39. Anthony Robbins Unlimited Power (1986)
40. David Schwartz The Magic of Thinking Big (1959 )
41. Florence Scovell Shinn Secret Door to Success (1940)
42. Thomas J Stanley The Millionaire Mind (2000)
43. Brian Tracy Maximum Achievement (1993)
44. Sun Tzu The Art of War (4 th century BCE)
45. Sam Walton Made in America (1992)
46. Wallace Wattles The Science of Getting Rich (1910)
47. Jack Welch Jack: Straight From the Gut (2001)
48. John Whitmore Coaching For Performance (1992)
49. Richard Wiseman The Luck Factor (2003)
50. Zig Ziglar See You At The Top (1975)

"A tremendous resource for anyone seeking a 'bite-sized' look at the philosophies of many self-help legends, including sacred scriptures of different traditions. Because the range and depth of sources are so huge, the cumulative reading effect is amazing. Alternatively, it educates and edifies, affirms and inspires. Often both."

Stephen R Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

"Butler-Bowdon has summarized some of the most remarkable thoughts - thoughts with wisdom I must add - that will enlighten and lead the reader to understand the very nature of human nature. It will soon become the 51st self-help classic!"

Warren Bennis, author of On Becoming A Leader

"I am a mother of two young children, life coaching student and lawyer. I was supplied with a copy of your 50 Success Classics book and thought it was really brilliant and wanted to thank you. I felt really inspired and educated by your book. I am one of those people that has a voracious appetite for the sort of information that is contained in success and self help books but minimal spare time for reading. I intend to purchase the other 2 books and just cannot wait to get my hands (and eyes) on them. Congratulations on a fantastic effort".

"Many thanks for 50 Success Classics...and for the inclusion of so many impressive and well-known success authors. Many of their works I have studied, enjoyed and learned from. It is a delight to see them all included in one volume, in which one can be exposed to numerous success ideas so conveniently. I shall be recommending this book to my readers worldwide.

"What a magnificent tome! Tom has followed his best-selling "50 Self-Help Classics" with a focus on 'success' this time around.
The book collates the stories of 50 successful people and how they got there, and distills lessons from their lives to be adopted by motivated readers...and it would be hard for any reader NOT to get something out of this book to make life more 'successful'.
It's a book you might refer to over and over. The chapters are fully self-contained. You don't have to read it all in one hit. And if you like the particular ideas espoused in a particular book, you can buy the book and read it in its entirety."

"Many of the highly successful men and women included in this book are known to us, but the story behind the great accomplishments - along with the dynamics of how they succeeded - may not be as familiar. This is fascinating to read because it reveals these stories and gets to the essence of what leads to success...The guidance we receive in applying these principles in our own life makes 50 Success Classics an inspiring and enlightening resource."

"In 50 Success Classics, Australian author Tom Butler-Bowdon analyzes the messages of books dealing with leadership (e.g. Warren Bennis' On Becoming A Leader, motivation (Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, prosperity (Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dadand fulfilling your potential (Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz's The Power of Full Engagement).
In Butler-Bowdon's book, each success is analyzed in about six pages. He provides a short biographical sketch of the author, a couple of quotations and an analysis of what makes it worth reading. He writes with infectious enthusiasm. He's a true scholar of this type of literature."

Additional Reasons to get Tom Butler Bowdon's books:

• You can read 5 books to gather the ideas contained in 250 books. Just think of the effort, investigation and life-knowledge that went into writing each of those original books. And then how each of Tom Butler-Bowdon's books took at least a year or two to research, write and edit. You are getting lifetimes of experience and wisdom, and years of work, packed into a format you can devour in hours or a few days, but can keep as a handy reference and inspiration forever.
• You can quickly remind yourself of the main ideas of your favourite personal development books without having to wade through the whole thing again.
• You can be introduced to books and authors you might not know about. Reading the synopsis of a book may set you off on a learning love affair with a new author or idea system that could change your life forever.
• You can easily dip in to these books wherever you want, and read a chapter in 2-5 minutes getting salient points and getting a "quick fix" of inspiration, or a "quick hit" to redirect your thoughts into more positive directions.
• He doesn't muddy the ideas with his own thoughts, experiences or interpretations, but does a brilliant job of staying true to the author while compressing ideas into a more accessible format.
• Make great presents for anyone with even a little interest in self-improvement, getting ahead in life, or creating a more fulfilling happier life. I speak from experience having given some as Christmas presents. My mother-in-Law was thrilled with his latest book, 50 Prosperity Classics!
• You can become an 'expert' in a subject area very quickly. Great for life coaches, web gurus, would-be-conversationalists and writers!