The title of this book comes from a story in Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, who is widely considered to be the father of the self-help and the power of the mind movement. After the first strike, a prospector could not get his claim to yield any more gold. He finally gave up, sold his equipment to someone who brought in an engineer, as expert council, and found that Darby had stopped drilling – you guessed it – three feet from gold. The problem was he was digging in the wrong direction. He had not brought in an expert, he tried to do it on his own, even though he didn’t know much about mining. Also, the guy who bought it had a passion for mining. Darby didn’t. He just saw it as easy money.

So, the lesson in this story is three-fold: A) never give up, B) get expert council in what you are not an expert at, and C) follow our passion. And that’s what this book tells you over and over again, with real stories that will inspire you to never give up.

The two main characters in the book are not real, which is a shame in the case of Jonathan Buckland. He’s a wonderful character! But the book is full of real-life Bucklands. That’s one of the messages of the book. “The most successful people are the most accessible people. The most successful people want to teach others how to become successful.” This is, in fact, the profile of the almost all highly-successful people.

The interviews with these people you meet in the book really did take place with one or both of the authors of the book. This includes Truett Cathy (Chick-Fil-A), Debbi Fields (Mrs. Fields’ Cookies), Jack Mates (Velcro), Evander Holyfield, Greg Maguire (FedEx), and the list goes on and on. Each one, when they first meet Greg (Buckland sets up all these interviews), the first thing they say to him is, “How can I serve you.” I’m here to tell you, that is what happens with people like this; I have experienced it. It’s quite humbling.

This is a really valuable book and an easy read. Getting a glimpse inside the minds of these people is amazing. It will not look like you think it will. And all of them have essentially the same message: You can do it, whatever “it” is for you, whatever your passion is. Get expert council, not advise. And most important, never give up. When I was leaving to do my first triathlon, the guy who was coaching me gave me a bunch of last-minute tips. He said the same thing: “Don’t. Give.Up. Don’t. Give. Up. Five minutes after you give up, you’ll feel fine. Just keep going!” Those words honestly are what got me through that first race and I was immensely grateful to him for it.

That’s the main point of this book: Never, ever, ever give up. That’s exactly when you’ll be Three Feet From Gold.

when you’ll be Three Feet From Gold.