Mark Victor Hansen (born January 8, 1948)is an American inspirational and motivational speaker, trainer and author. He is best known as the founder and co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series.
Mark Victor Hansen was born to Danish immigrants, Una and Paul Hansen. He grew up in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from Southern Illinois University in 1970 with a B.A. in speech communications.
Along with business partner, Jack Canfield , Hansen is best known for creating what Time magazine called “the publishing phenomenon of the decade”. Chicken Soup for the Soul books are one of the most successful publishing franchises in the world today, with more than 500 million books sold internationally and more than 100 licensed products. The name “Chicken Soup” was chosen because of the use of chicken soup as a home remedy for the sick. The first Chicken Soup book, published by Health Communications, Inc., sold more than 2 million copies. There are now over 500 million copies in print and in 54 languages worldwide.
In 2005 he co-wrote, along with Robert Allen, the book "Cracking the Millionaire Code" in which he highlights several self-made millionaires such as Bob Circosta, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Alexander Graham Bell, Oprah Winfrey, and others, using them as examples of how to build wealth.
Interviews
An interview with Mark Victor Hansen for Performance Magazine – Hansen’s keys to success in business and in life
Sep 25, 2014
1. You established the best-selling world record with more than 500 million books sold, translated in 54 languages. How did you do that? What made the difference?
Jack and I are a dream team that had it as a magnificent obsession and we had it written on a 3×5 card that we read to ourselves at breakfast, lunch, and dinner and most importantly before we went to sleep. On the 3×5 card it said “I am so happy that I am selling a million and a half books in a year and a half by Dec. 25, 1994”, and we just continued to upgrade that goal and procedure.
2. How much is important to be focused on the objective?
See above. Incredibly important! Whatever you impress you express!
3. How is it possible to find out your own individual talent in order to maximize it?
Before you go to sleep at night, ask yourself 50 times in a row this question: “What is God’s destiny for my talent”: then you’ll wake up with THE Answer – write it down and do it!
4. You believe that success and self-realization are things related to the enhancement of personal habits and having a persistent aim. What is it and how is it possible to implement the Formula of the Winning Habits?
We are all coded at DNA level for success, achievement, and accomplishment. We either cultivate habits that facilitate that to our greater self-realization or habits that are detrimental to our greater good.
To get rid of a bad habit you have to transplant it with a good habit …and keep doing that.
5. What has been the biggest obstacle you faced and what has been the greatest challenge both in your personal and in your professional life?
The biggest obstacle you ever face is yourself. Self-success is always a work under construction. You have to continually do self-discipline and self-initiative to action to generate the results you want.
6. You have been rejected by more than 140 editors when you began to publish the success series Chicken Soup for the Soul. How were you able to go ahead when giving up seemed to be the only thing to do?
All success initially meets with rejection. Each of us has to decide to say “NEXT” to overcome the hurdles choosing to go over, under, around, or through to get to the other side. And the challenge and the rewards are worth the effort.
7. What have been the things that you did at the beginning of your career to set up the basis of your success?
My greatest blessing is that my parents insisted that I start working for money at age nine and the taught me good work habits, and that ownership follows pride of earnership. And there’s no free lunch!
8. What do you think is the greatest obstacle that keeps people far from the realization of their own goals?
If they have 1% doubt they’re out.
9. Many of us become exhausted by personal daily duties so they are forced to mentally reject their higher objectives. How we can overcome this feeling of being restricted, devastated by the tasks of daily duties?
You’ve got to start each day in the first critical minutes meditating positively and correctly. Then your day will have effortless, energetic flow.
10. You wrote that, if you really want to succeed, rather than just dream it, it is important to formally work hard. One of the commitments that you advise is related to training, learning, and to take some weekly time for personal growth. What you advise to do to train as best as you can?
You have to work hard, you have to work smart, but most importantly you have to work different.
11. What advice can you give to the readers of Performance Magazine to help them in realizing their bigger goals?
The best advice I can give you is to addictively read of all of my positive self-help action books.
