Award-winning branding expert Steve Canal recently penned the Amazon No. 1 best-selling book, The Mind of a Winner. In his new book, Canal takes a deep dive into personal growth with the intent to inspire a winning mindset that will put readers on a fast path to achieving success with purpose. Canal’s powerful and insightful book is filled with power moves and methodologies from business mogul Daymond John, real estate tycoon Barbara Corcoran, sports champions and TV analysts Swin Cash and Kenny “The Jet” Smith, as well as entertainment industry power players including 2 Chainz and many more. Described as the “play-by-play” motivational handbook for business leaders, The Mind of a Winner swiftly reached the Amazon best-seller list in less than 24 hours and is quickly becoming a thought-leader favorite.
Rolling out nabbed an exclusive interview with the innovative thought producer to discover some of his winning philosophies. In the interview below, he touches on winning with purpose, winning as a team and winning with diversity.
What inspired you to write this book?
I wanted to give people access to some of the most classified minds of our era. I would have been a selfish person to lock away the insights and methodologies I’ve been able to digest along my journey. It was only right to give the high-level security clearance needed to [impart] this information to the world!
What is the mission you set out to accomplish with your voice in this book?
My mission is to transform the way people approach life. I want the majority to understand that they are the CEO of their own personal brand and that they need to control their message, appearance and respect accountabilities.
How and why did you pick the winners in your book as examples?
I’ve been fortunate to meet some amazing people along my personal and professional journey. I’m a true believer that each person that I’ve interacted with has left a piece of who they are and what they represent with me which in turn helped mold me into who I am today: a well-rounded individual. When I came up with the concept for The Mind of a Winner, I wanted to reach a wide range of people from all walks of life and I knew I could only accomplish that with diverse thinking and representation in the book. I wanted people to understand that regardless of what you wanted to achieve in life whether it’s being the best mom, athlete, entrepreneur or chemist, it all starts with your habits and principles, [which are] common threads throughout the book.
What did you learn about winning from family?
I learned early on that winning with purpose allows you to appreciate and enjoy the journey that much more. Selfless living helps you weather the storm and allows you to focus on the bigger picture. I talk about this in the book, when my parents decided to leave Haiti with nothing, just to give their children a better life. They sacrificed comfort for the bigger picture.
What does having a team mean to a winner?
It’s not a great strategy to think that you can take on life by yourself. You don’t have to continuously experience bumps in the road or hurdles when mentors and advisors can help guide you. And who wants to celebrate alone? That’s lame. Take those lessons you’ve learned along the way and invest in somebody who reminds you of you. That passion and heart help them reach the mountain top. Successful people want to help people the majority of the time, that’s just the winner in them wanting people to taste the champagne from winning.
How important is diversity to a winning mind-set?
Some people never realize how important diverse thinking is until the s— hits the fan. Then, you’re scrambling, trying to figure out a solution for your insensitive social posts or marketing creative. When you have diversity at the table you automatically become one with the community and culture. The mind of a winner understands that and always lends an ear to it.
Canal currently devotes his days to helping change the way America enjoys beer as an innovator and national community affairs lead for MillerCoors. Join the conversation at #TheMindOfAWinner and follow Canal @SteveCanal on all social media platforms.
