Jack Canfield - The Aladdin Factor

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Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen DARE TO WIN CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: 101 STORIES TO OPEN THE HEART AND REKINDLE THE SPIRIT A 2ND HELPING OF CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: 101 MORE STORIES TO OPEN THE HEART AND REKINDLE THE SPIRIT THE CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL COOKBOOK: STORIES AND RECIPES FROM THE HEART (with Diana von Welanetz Wentworth) All possible care has been taken to trace the ownership of every selection included and to make full acknowledgment for its use. If any errors have occurred, they will be corrected in subsequent editions provided notifications is sent to the publisher. A continuation of copyright credits appears on . THE ALADDIN FACTOR A Berkley Book/ published by arrangement with the authors PRINTING HISTORY Berkley trade paperback edition / October 1995 Copyright. 1995 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Book design by Stanley S. Drate/Folio Graphics Co., Inc. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. For information address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. ISBN: 978-1-101-66635-7 BERKLEY Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. BERKLEY and the B design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc. Version_1

If there is something to gain and nothing to lose by asking, by all means ask!

W. Clement Stone

We dedicate this book to

Patty Hansen, who helped

us bring the magic of Aladdin to

this book and to our lives,

and to our children,

Christopher, Kyle, Oran, Elisabeth and Melanie,

who never seem to have trouble asking

for what they want.

Thanks for being such perfect models!

We also dedicate this book to the natural

child in you, who still has grand visions,

big dreams, high hopes and a willingness

to do whatever it takes to make his or

her dreams a reality.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the following people without whom we would never have been able to write this book:

Patty Mitchell Aubery, who orchestrated the entire magical team effort required to produce this book. She transcribed interviews, wrote stories, edited stories and retyped the final manuscript of this book several times. Her commitment to this project as well as to managing the Canfield Group included working many weekdays until 2:00 A.M. and lots of weekends. Thanks again, Patty!

Nancy Mitchell, our research assistant, who checked facts, located books and newspaper articles, verified quotes, typed many of the stories and orchestrated the entire permissions process for this book while staying on top of compiling and editing hundreds of stories for our ongoing Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.

Kim Wiele, who contributed very helpful information editing and typing many of the stories while successfully filling the biggest training of the year. Thanks, Kim!

Heather McNamara, who helped in every area of this book: typing, editing, retyping and researching stories, not to mention staying very late into the evenings to do whatever was necessary to complete this project.

Angie Hoover, Lisa and John Williams, Lynda McInturf, Julie and Judy Barnes and Michele Adams, who contributed in countless ways while keeping our offices running for the entire two months of April and May 1995, so that we could concentrate solely on this book.

Larry Price and La Verne Lee, who in addition to keeping Jacks Foundation for Self-Esteem and the Soup Kitchens for the Soul Project operating smoothly, supported our efforts in writing this book.

Wanda Pate, who transcribed over fifty hours of interviews for us. We could never have done this book without you!

Trudy Klefstad, President of Office Works, who transcribed numerous interviews and was there whenever we needed her.

Jeff Herman, our literary agent, who brought us and the book to the wonderful people at Berkley. Thanks for always being on the case!

The following people at The Berkley Publishing Group: David Shanks, President of Berkley; Hillary Cige, our editor, who believed in us from the beginning; Donna Gould and Liz Perl, our two genius publicists; Leslie Gelbman, Louise Burke and Lou Aronica, all of whom believed in this project and threw their entire organization behind it.

Arielle Ford and Kim Weiss, our publicists, who have worked diligently and effectively to make the world more aware of the work we are doing. Thanks for sharing the vision with such passion and professionalism!

Peter Vegso and Gary Seidler for always believing in us and taking us to the top.

Book Star in Culver City, California. We must have called them once a day for three months with endless questions, which they always quickly and cheerfully answered.

The hundreds of people who filled out questionnaires and granted us extensive interviews. There are too many people to list them all here, but the following people stand out for going way beyond the call of duty and the demands of friendship: Jay Abraham, Linda Albert, Thea Alexander, Kelle Apone, Dr. Gary Arthur, John Assaraf, Jeff Aubery, Dr. Harold Bloomfield, Jane Bluestein, Judith Briles, Jim Britt, Catherine Castle, Jim Cathcart, Stan Dale, Barbara De Angelis (who spent countless hours talking with and encouraging us), Vin Di Bona, Bernhard Dohrmann, T. Harv Eker, Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, Rick Gelinas (who is one of the all time great askersand getters!on the planet), David Gershenson (who helped us ask for and get a television deal with Vin Di Bona Productions for our Chicken Soup for the Soul books), Patricia Fripp, Mark Goulston, Kay Grace, Betty Mazzetti Hatch, Michael Hesse, Aime Hoover, Norman Howe, Ron and Mary Hulnick, Claudette Hunter, Michael Jeffreys, Tom Justin, Danielle Kennedy, Ken Kerr, Brian Klemmer, Marilyn Kriegel, Marianne Larned, Marcia Martin, Hanoch McCarty (who has asked millions of people to join the kindness revolution), Russ McGee, Jackie Miller, W Mitchell, Carla Morganstern, Jane Nelsen, Donna Nelson, Tim Peiring, Mary Phillips, Ken Pontius, John Prieskorn, Larry Price, Linda Price, Bob Proctor, Nido Qubein, Robert Reasoner, Maria Salomao, John Wayne Jack Schlatter, Mark A. Schnurman, Ron Scolastico, Frank Siccone, Bruce Bear Man Smith, Dr. Louis A. Tartaglia, Peter Vegso, Kay Walburger, Dottie Walters, Lilly Walters, Lloyd Weintraub, Diana von Welanetz Wentworth, Ted Wentworth, Brad Winch, Jack Wolf and David Yoho, Jr.

And especially Georgia Noble and Patty Hansen, our wives, who loved and supported us while we were not equally there for them during the final months of this project. Thanks for understanding one more time!

Jack wishes to acknowledge Anne Hyman, who opened it all up; Jack Gibb, who taught me to trust myself and the universe; W. Clement Stone, who taught me to ask for it all; Dr. Robert Resnick, who taught me to ask for it straight; and Martha Crampton, who taught me to ask my higher self. Thank you for teaching and inspiring me to not settle for anything less than the best and the truest in life.

Some of the names and other identifying characteristics of the contributors have been changed to protect their privacy.

When I was a beggarly boy, And lived in a cellar damp, I had not a friend nor a toy, But I had Aladdins lamp... James Russel Lowel

Contents

Introduction

Once in a faraway land, a grubby child sat in the dust and gazed at the battered lamp he held between his knees. Dirty, old and dented, yet somehow still beautiful, the lamp warmed to his touch. Aladdin ran his fingers across an inscription on the side, barely legible because of the dirt. He spit on his shirtsleeve and rubbed the lamp so he could read the words: Ask And It Shall Be Given. No sooner had he finished reading, than the lamp seemed to shake and turn in his hands. His skin crawled and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Aladdin heard a booming voice that seemed to come from every corner of the marketplace.Next page