I just got off the phone with another reporter asking for a comment about the new ordinance San Francisco passed last week banning McDonald’s from putting toys in high-calorie Happy Meals. This is about the 10th interview I’ve done on this, the biggest of which was CNN World News in London. (You can see the CNN interview by clicking on ‘Steve on TV’ on the Mental Toughness Blog header)  This story goes far beyond kids getting fat eating happy meals. The larger issue is this: does any government have the right to tell companies what they can sell to their customers?

How well do you handle criticism? On a scale of 1-7, 7 being best, how good are you at this essential success skill? Since most people operate through fear and scarcity, they tend to react hyper-emotionally to criticism. The masters of handling criticism respond to it through logic-based, unemotional thinking and are able to separate the truth from the fiction. The bottom-line benefit is the value in what we learn from the truth of the criticism. In 26 years of interviewing self-made millionaires, this is one of the skills they’ve most often cited as a substantial contributing factor to their success.

Do you ever get irritated by the little things in life? I think we all do, even though we know better. It’s a part of the human condition and we could all use some improvement. I was doing a radio show in Atlanta recently when I got hit with one of these pain-in-the-butt, but no big deal situations. After the interview, I ran into a small problem and found myself overreacting. I caught myself in the process and immediately whipped out the camera to capture myself on tape. What can I say: I’m working on it! 🙂 My attitude eventually improved,

Have you ever wondered where world-class performers start? If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed along your journey to success, don’t feel bad, because all of us have. The great news is your feelings of overwhelm are an indication of your burning desire to succeed. After interviewing some of the most successful people in the world over the past 26 years, I have great news: they’re no smarter than us. With mental toughness you have the potential to do anything you want to do. Do you believe that? Many people don’t. Watch this video I filmed during the European leg of my book

This blog has 15,945  subscribers, among whom are some the smartest, most successful, goal-oriented people I’ve ever encountered. You can read it in the quality of their comments. Our community is group of people who know how to get what they want, which is what mental toughness is all about. In this short video post I pose what believe is the single most important question a lot of successful people fail to ask themselves and their families. It’s a question so far out of the average person’s belief system that it never crosses their mind. It never crossed my mind before

Have you ever wondered how ordinary people break into the circles of the wealthy and successful? How do you gain the trust of someone who earns 10, 20 or 100 times as much as you? I get this question in almost every interview I do, and it’s a subject I’ve spent a lot of time studying, and even more time practicing. I started this process in 1984, and it’s still something I employ every day. Not only will it help to catapult your career, but it will give you a level of security for you and your family that most people

Mort Zuckerman, the editor of U.S. News and World Report, wrote an article recently in the Wall Street Journal, entitled, The End Of Optimism in America. I received several calls from the press asking for a comment on the article, and have given my response on numerous radio and TV shows. I like Mort Zuckerman. He’s a smart guy. This time he’s wrong. I’m proud to be an American, but I’ll refrain from beating my chest too much on this one because I think the question extends far beyond our shores. There are so many great countries in the world struggling in