Have you felt how easier it is to give up on your dreams than try again? I guess the road to surrender is always wider, but the road to pursuing your passion is always steeper. Learn it from one of my mentors, Jack Canfield who along with his book partner Mark Victor Hansen received a hundred “Nos” before arriving at that one single “Yes!” to publish their book Chicken Soup for the Soul Series which became worldwide bestsellers.

He said, “One of the things that may get in the way of people being lifelong learners is that they’re not in touch with their passion. If you’re passionate about what it is you do, then you’re going to be looking for everything you can to get better at it.”

“Are you in touch with your passion?”, he asked in a previous seminar I attended. He said that if we are not, we can get wayward and unfocused in our pursuit of success. In his best-selling book The Success Principles, Mr. Canfield stressed on these two important self-resolutions: “Be Clear Why You are Here” and “Decide What You Want”.

The last few years since I’ve written the Tale of Juliet, I have been attending Mark Victor Hansen’s Mega Book Marketing event in the United States. This is where I met Jack. Since I’m a frequent attendees of their events in Norh America, Jack, in one of the events, recognized me and said, “Jhet, I love Manila (Philippines) and the warm and friendly people. I was just in the Philippines in 2006 and was toured around by this nice fellow Anthony Pangilinan.” He said he met then Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the presidential Malacanang Palace and spoke at the Philippine Senate.

What a coincidence that Anthony Pangilinan also became my friend, business associate, and mentor to me and my two daughters. I was also at the Palace, had a warm reception at the music room and was interviewed and featured on national TV. After that, I was a guest at the Senate flag raising ceremony not too long before Jack’s visit in the Philippines.

With Monsignor Unson, the priest who sent me to school and my daughter Michelle at the Malacanang Palace

What a coincidence it was! A few years later, we were both in Los Angeles in the same Mega Book Marketing. Here, Jack showed how calm, spiritual and collected he was. He was on the stage when suddenly, one of the thousands of the attendees, suffered a seizure. As the first aid team came in, he led the audience in silent meditation to send good energy to this person. He asked us to connect with our higher spirits to send healing light to this person. It took a while for the ambulance to come, but Jack managed to hold himself and more importantly, all of us in the conference hall. It was truly a moment of inspiration.

Thanks to Jack, I am motivated to continue following my passion and pursuing a higher path – sharing my experiences to others and the success principles I learned from him. I am paying it forward, planting seeds of inspiration to others to live their fullest potential.

I just came back from a two-month amazing and life changing trip in South America – hopping from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, to Venezuela, I will fly again from Canada to the United States to attend Jack’s “Breakthrough to Success” Seminar on August 8 to 14, 2010.

Home sweet home for a week and back to my passion as a life-long learner. Jack’s words reverberates in my mind “Ask, Ask, Ask!” For me “learn, learn, learn” are the principles for success. My passion towards success never dies!

How about yours?