Jake Ducey - The Purpose Principles: How to Draw More Meaning into Your Life

The circumstances surrounding my first meeting with Jake Ducey illustrate some of the reasons why I wanted to write this foreword.

It was 2013 and I was emceeing a fund-raising event in Los Angeles. The event was sold out and the ballroom was full. Someone had told Jake that I would be speaking there, so he bought a last-minute ticket in the hopes of meeting me. He was twenty years old and was about to publish his first book, Into the Wind, which he said was inspired by me. He drove two and a half hours to the event carrying a signed copy of his book for me. His sole intention was to introduce himself and give me the book. But the odds were slim considering how crowded the event was.

Toward the end of the night I went to my seat for dinner. That was when Jake walked over to introduce himself.

Hi, Jack. I am Jake Ducey. I wrote this book and you inspired it, he said.

How did I inspire it? I asked.

You say in your book The Success Principles that when someone says No, you say Next. And every time I was told I was too young to be an author, or when literary agents told me I needed more experience before they would represent me, I just kept saying Next, and I didnt quit. Now I am standing here with you, holding my book! Jake said this with a zest for life I came to appreciate quickly.

My face lit up with a smile. I could feel passion oozing out of him. I immediately welcomed him and introduced my wife. While the waiters served dinner at my table, Jake and my wife chatted. Coincidentally, his mom and my wife went to the same high school. But what was more of a coincidence was that in that sold-out event, where there seemed to be no empty seats, the chair to my left was somehow empty. Once the food was placed in front of us, I asked Jake if he was going to sit there and enjoy the plate of food at the empty seat next to me. He said he was so excited he hadnt noticed that the chair was empty!

What are the chances? What are the odds that out of a five-hour event, where there seemed to be no empty seats, Jake got the urge to come introduce himself at the exact moment the waiter was coming to serve dinner at my tableand that the person next to me had left early? How is it possible that the opportunity for us to connect happened so perfectly?

I believe it was possible because of Jakes belief. He says he didnt know how he would meet mehe just knew it was possible that wed become friends.

A few months later, my wife and I invited him to my birthday party. That evening he asked me, Jack, what do I need to know in life to live my dreams?

Write it down, make it happen, I told him.

He sat there, hoping I would explain myself in more detail.

Jake, you have within you the ability to achieve anything you desire, because if you didnt, you wouldnt be able to have the desire in the first place, I said.

A few months after my birthday, Jake wrote me to let me know he followed my advice, and that Tarcher/Penguin would be publishing his new book, The Purpose Principles, which was inspired by our chat and by my book The Success Principles.

As I have become older, one of my passions is inspiring and empowering young people to live their highest vision through the Success Principles seminars I conduct. One of those Success Principles is Ask for What You Want. I believe that everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask for it.

Just as Jake illustrates in this book, your dreams arent out of reach, your fears and limiting beliefs dont have to stop you, and youre never too young or too old to live more confidently or to make a difference. You are fully capable of waking up every day to a more productive and meaningful life by simply choosing to apply these principles!

Jake considers me his mentora role I relish. Just as important, I consider him an inspiration in my life. Jake is such a radiant and inspirational being because he has chosen to live a life committed to the full expression of his unlimited potential. And because of that, he has the ability to inspire others to live their dreams, too. I am confident that through this book Jake will now inspire you to achieve your most heartfelt dreams, and by so doing, contribute to a more equitable, just, and compassionate world.

Jack Canfield
coauthor of The Success Principles and the Chicken Soup for the Soulseries