For decades, Jack Canfield has inspired millions through the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, The Success Principles, and other personal empowerment bestsellers. He has spent a lifetime studying achievement, purpose, and human potential.
His depth of experience has enabled him to recognize ideas with the power to transform lives. That is exactly what happened when he encountered Matthew Cossolotto’s newest release, Harness Your PromisePower.
“When Matthew first told me about the heartfelt promise he made to his mother and that he was launching a special day called ‘Make a Promise Day’ on May 4th, I was hooked. You could say he had me at ‘I promise.'”
In Canfield’s foreword to Harness Your PromisePower, he explores why PromisePower may be one of the most overlooked forces behind lasting change and success and describes how Cossolotto develops it into an uplifting strategy for personal achievement.
Why Promises Matter: The Big Picture
Canfield has been a leading voice in the personal development field for decades. He has seen countless self-help trends come and go over the years. Armed with that background, he describes the concept of PromisePower as something that immediately stood out to him as uniquely powerful.
As he reflected on the subject while writing the foreword, he reached a broader conclusion.
“The act of making and keeping promises comes very close to being a universal value in human society.”
He goes further by pointing out that society depends on trust. Families, businesses, friendships, and communities all function successfully because people can rely on others to honor their word. Without that trust, relationships, institutions, and society as a whole suffer.
That reality gives Harness Your PromisePower a dimension that differentiates it from many traditional self-improvement books. The book doesn’t focus on productivity or motivation alone. It connects achievement with integrity.
Canfield captures this difference perfectly when he writes:
“There truly is something special about a promise, and I congratulate Matthew for shining a spotlight on this unique power through this book, his speeches, and his workshops.”
The Promise That Defined Jack Canfield’s Purpose
Perhaps the most memorable part of the foreword is Canfield’s deeply personal promise story.
He reveals that at age 27, while living in a dim apartment, he made a promise to God that shaped the rest of his life.
“I promised I would spend the rest of my life learning and teaching others about wisdom and love.”
That promise led him to collect inspirational stories that eventually became Chicken Soup for the Soul, a publishing phenomenon that has grown to more than 250 titles, over 610 million copies in print, and translations into at least 43 languages.
Canfield presents this story as proof that certain promises can go beyond goal-setting into the realm of defining your life’s purpose. He strongly agrees with one of Cossolotto’s main precepts.
“A promise is like a goal on steroids.”
Canfield enthusiastically embraces Cossolotto’s GPS Success Formula: Turn Goals into Promises = Success.
Matthew Cossolotto’s Promise to His Dying Mother Engendered a Movement
Harness Your PromisePower is deeply rooted in a life-changing promise.
More than twenty-five years ago, Cossolotto promised his dying mother that he would complete the book she had encouraged him to write and dedicate it to her memory. She looked up at him and said: “You do that, Matthew. You do that. This makes me very happy.” Cossolotto kept that promise.
That make-or-break promise put him on his current path as an author, speaker, and coach. Today, Cossolotto speaks to audiences about his book, The Joy of Public Speaking, the habits of SUCCESS, and PromisePower. His work also includes the creation of Make a Promise Day, observed on May 4, encouraging people everywhere to make meaningful promises that improve their lives and strengthen their integrity.
His professional background also adds depth to the book. Before becoming an author and speaker, Cossolotto served as a speechwriter for senior officials at NATO Headquarters, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Chancellor of UCLA, Fortune 100 executives, and as an aide to former Congressman Leon Panetta.
He believes that goals matter, but he has embraced the notion that promises can carry even greater emotional commitment.
High-Profile Voices Reinforce the PromisePower Message
In addition to Canfield’s foreword, Harness Your PromisePower features promise stories and insights from respected leaders and famous personalities, including Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins, Lewis Howes, Todd Newton, John Assaraf, Marques Ogden, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Lisa Nichols, Brendon Burchard, and others.
Best-selling author John Assaraf shares a poignant promise story in the book and explains why the PromisePower concept resonates so strongly with him.
“There is something uniquely powerful about making a promise that goes beyond traditional goal setting… We are neurologically wired to keep our promises.”
Former NFL player and bestselling author, Marques Ogden, shares a powerful personal example from one of the lowest moments of his life.
“At that moment, I made a promise to myself… I was no longer going to be a victim. I was going to become a victor. Making that promise to myself was absolutely the best thing for me in my entire life!”
Ogden credits that promise with helping him rebuild his life through discipline, accountability, and determination.
A Growing Conversation About the Power of Keeping Your Word
Canfield closes his foreword by encouraging readers to identify goals important enough to become promises to themselves, to God, or to someone they care deeply about.
“Because when all is said and done, we’re left with that simple truth: A promise is a promise. So, choose your promises wisely… and make sure you keep them.”
That admonition, based on an old-fashioned value, captures Cossolotto’s main message. Through Harness Your PromisePower and his speaking programs, he encourages people to think of PromisePower as “the New Frontier in personal change and achievement” and as an innate superpower that can help all of us change our lives and transform the world, one person and one promise at a time.