I think you know by now that I’m a pretty big fan of Tom Butler-Bowden and the work he’s been putting in over the last several years with his books on success, self-help, and spirituality.  See 50 Success Classics for more details about Tom and my review of that book.

So, I was pretty thrilled when Tom agreed to talk with me so that I could share some of his thoughts with you.

MW: Tom, what are you doing for work these days, and why?
TBB: I’ve just finished writing a book on the classic works of popular psychology (50 Psychology Classics, due for release in January) in which I look at some of the outstanding writings in the field, everyone from Freud, Jung and Adler to William James and Alfred Kinsey, and also pick out some of the best modern stuff from people such as Martin Seligman (Authentic Happiness) and Malcolm Gladwell (Blink). The book is basically about human nature, or what makes people tick. This is something we would all like to know more about – not just the psychologists! So I wanted to put in one volume many of the most intriguing ideas and research about motivation, the emotions, and intelligence.

MW: How did you get involved in doing the 50 series?
TBB: I had a regular job writing briefing notes for senior politicians, then happened to start reading Steven Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, followed by Anthony Robbins Awaken The Giant Within. I was amazed by what these authors were saying about personal possibility, and started taking notes about some of the best books in the personal development field. I read more, researched more, and the result was – a few years later – my first book, 50 Self-Help Classics. I never intended to create a series, but it became obvious that there were plenty more classics in the motivational area that I hadn’t covered, so I then wrote 50 Success Classics.

MW: Which other titles are in the planning or development stages?
TBB: We are going to do a book on the wealth creation-investing-entrepreneurial classics, which I’m excited about, plus I have a few other concepts ready to be translated into books when the time comes, but still along roughly personal development lines. I’m also working on a book about success of a ‘slow-cooked’ nature, looking at the hundreds of examples of people in different fields who express the fact that genuine achievement takes time. If there is one principle I can take from all my reading and research, it is the importance of the time factor in any kind of success.

MW: How would you describe your dream job?
TBB: Doing what I’m doing now is my dream job, as I really created my own career. I would do it no matter how much money I had. If you can say that about your work, then you are doing what you were meant to do.

MW: What would you suggest others do to find theirs?
TBB: Simply follow a path that intrigues you, where you believe something needs to be done, to be created, to be improved, and no one seems to be doing it at the moment. If you don’t do it, who will? This is not to say that following the path might be difficult, or involve some kind of sacrifice, but if you are energized enough by what is ahead of you, none of the difficulties will matter that much to you.

MW: If you were not able to be a writer, what career do you think you might have followed?
TBB:  I probably would have stayed on the path I was on, which was being a political advisor. I enjoyed doing research and providing recommendations on courses of action for political leaders - without having to take the rap for anything! In another life I might also have become a newsreader - I fancied myself sitting behind one of those big desks breaking the day’s news, but ultimately I probably would have come back to personal development, so I’m very happy with the path I’ve taken.

MW:  From your Self-Help and Success book lists, which three or four titles would you suggest someone start with, and why?
Anthony Robbins Awaken The Giant Within - just a great all-round motivational book if you want to change your life.
David Schwartz The Magic of Thinking Big - most of the time the big difference between what people achieve in life relates to the size of their vision or goals. It is no more difficult to think big that it is to think small.  Dale Carnegie How To Win Friends and Influence People - a timeless and powerful work of ‘people relations’ from the 1930s that is also a very enjoyable, witty read.  Napoloeon Hill Think and Grow Rich - another landmark work that has awakened thousands of people to the idea that they can create prosperity through the use of their minds.

MW: How do you define success?
TBB: This might sound like a cliché, but it is simply the achievement of meaningful goals, that is, not goals that society says you should have, but ones that you have genuinely created from inside yourself.

The important point is that everyone wants to be a success, no matter what they may tell you. Even the monk in the cave has a goal to achieve enlightenment. Humans are ‘goal seeking beings’ - unlike other animals, we are able to make a difference to many people, some of whom are not even yet born, through what we do in our lives today. Appreciate that your actions reverberate across the generations, so you might as well make those actions constructive.

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