You may remember Ben Stein from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , or his smarty pants performances on the game show Win Ben Stein’s Money.  What you may not know is that he is a lawyer, economist, and financial author - to name a few. His wide range of experience makes him a very appropriate author instructor for How successful people win.

Throughout the book,  Stein uses the metaphor of the cowboy to develop what he calls “bunkhouse logic”, a down to earth, action oriented code for living. To have success, bunkhouse logic suggests two major themes, Activity and Inner Mobility. Like the cowboy, you’ve got to wrangle life and work - no amount of moping will get anything worthwhile done.

The book is a straightforward, pleasant read and actually quite refreshing in the self-help genre. Stein doesn’t philosophize about your body’s vibrational energy frequency or how you just need to visualize attracting more abundance in your life. Instead, he gives a pragmatic and accessible road map. For instance, he talks about self-esteem and happiness saying, ” The one and only way to break out of the cycle of low self esteem is by achievement . [...] Success is the cure. Go for it and the rest will follow.”

Ben addresses some of the rules of bunkhouse logic as, “Concentrate on how to; Forget why not”, “Nothing happens by itself”, and “Persistence”.  The book covers the actions you must do if you want to see success as the world’s reaction.

His book is a solid read, filled with old-school wisdom and interesting modern anecdotes. It’s short enough to consume it in a day or two, and long enough to motivate yourself to saddle up and get moving.