When Rafael Badziag approached me five years ago with his idea to interview over 20 billionaires from all around the globe and get them to share the secrets of their success, I wasn’t at all convinced he could pull it off. Think about it. How do you convince over 20 billionaires to take serious time out of their incredibly busy schedules to work together on a book project? Millionaires, maybe. But billionaires who are running large multifaceted empires? I had been studying the principles and practices of successful people for more than 40 years, and I knew nobody had ever attempted that before.
As I continued to meet and correspond with Rafael several times over that five-year period, to my surprise I discovered how doggedly he was committed to the project, and by applying the same principles and disciplines he was learning from the billionaires he was interviewing, he actually pulled it off. And he did it on a global scale. And he not only managed to get access to 21 billionaires, he convinced some of the very best billionaire entrepreneurs in the world to work with him.
Since 2003, the most successful entrepreneurs from each country in the world have been coming together each year in Monaco to choose the World Entrepreneur of the Year, the person they believe to be the very best entrepreneur in the world that year. And since 2003, 8 of those 15 people named World Entrepreneur of the Year have been billionaires. And out of those 8, 5 chose to participate in this book and share their wisdom with Rafael and now you, the reader.
There is no other book available anywhere in the world that contains this much entrepreneurial experience, insight, and wisdom in it. From his countless hours of interviews with these highly accomplished billionaires, Rafael has managed to identify 20 powerful principles that led to their success … and that are now available to you to help you achieve your entrepreneurial and financial dreams.
You are now about to intimately get to know and learn from 21 no-nonsense business heroes who started with nothing and have gone on to build hugely successful companies, as well as contribute greatly to their local and global communities through their extensive philanthropic activities. They are now available as true role models for anyone with a compelling vision and who is willing to work hard and work smart to make that vision a reality.
As you will discover, Rafael has a unique gift in that he is able to get people who are mostly very private about their work and their wealth to open up their hearts and share their innermost thoughts and feelings about their journey to success. As you read this book, you are now the beneficiary of Rafael’s gift as you gain true insider access to the beliefs and behaviors that are required to achieve greatness in the business world. And because of the way Rafael has organized the book, it feels like you are right in the same room with them. They share the challenges they faced, the lessons they learned, the disciplines they developed, the solutions they created and discovered, and the results they produced in everyday, easy-to-understand language.
The end result is this astonishing book that you hold in your hands. As you turn each page, you will find old ideas and misconceptions about billionaires being gently washed away. One of the most powerful things you’ll discover is that these men did not start their careers by inheriting large sums of money that they were able to increase through a little bit of good luck. In fact, every one of the billionaires in this book is self-made. Some of them even came from extreme poverty and had seemingly hopeless beginnings, and you would have easily written them off if you had met them in their youth, but they never gave up and eventually achieved extraordinary things in business through their sheer, unbelievable tenacity.
As you get to know these remarkable men from their more human side, beyond what you would normally read about such people in Forbes or Fortune magazine, you’ll discover that they are basically just the same as you and me, but what sets them apart is that they have mastered the art of self-belief, and they came to realize that the only limitations any of us have are the ones we place upon ourselves. As you read their stories and come to understand their billionaire mindsets, you’ll see that when these psychological limitations are removed, the potential to achieve anything you desire is truly limitless.
You now have access to the inspiration, motivation, and information from 21 billionaires who will act as your mentors for the next 280 pages. And if you apply what they teach you with commitment, dedication, and perseverance, you’ll find that your potential for greatness is as limitless as theirs.
I’d normally end this by saying “Good luck,” but it is not luck that you need. It is simply the resolve and the courage to put into practice the life-changing principles and tools you are about to discover in this book. So instead I’ll end by saying, “Enjoy the journey!”
—Jack Canfield
#1 New York Times best-selling author of The Success Principles, How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, Dare to Win, The Power of Focus, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul series