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My name is Peep Vain (pronounced Pape Vine). The press often refers to me as a “business or motivational trainer,” though that’s only one thing I do. But at least they’re calling me something and they spell my name right. If I had to pick one thing, I would call myself a teacher.

When I was a younger man, after I had served in the Soviet Army, I went to the United States to seek my fortune. I became a door-to-door book salesman, which you probably know is not the most glamorous work around, nor is it the type of job of which society approves. I probably would have chosen something other than selling books, but this was the opportunity I was offered. And since in that December of 1989 I knew little about America and had no clue as to what selling (or doorto-door selling for that matter) was, I happily took the opportunity. As with most things in my life, I tried to make the best of it. It turned out that I happened to be pretty good at selling those books. I became one of the top salesmen in the company.

After my second summer of selling, I accomplished something that I had really longed for: I started my academic studies in the US. That may not sound like a big deal today, but back in 1991 when I started my studies, the Soviet empire was still intact. Even getting a student visa was a minor feat. The annual expense for tuition, room and board of $22,000 at Bentley University in Waltham, near Boston, Massachusetts, amounted to a staggering ten years worth of combined annual salaries of my parents.

In May of 1993, I graduated from Bentley – eleventh in my class of 868 students. My parents flew over to see me graduate, and it was one of the happiest and proudest days in my life. Not long before then I had been just a kid from the Soviet bloc who stepped off an Aeroflot jet with 37 borrowed dollars in his pocket. And there I was now – a summa cum laude graduate with a marketing degree. I was possibly the first from my country to ever get a US college education in business.

I returned to my country and began work as a sales manager at a food wholesale company. I turned a sales department of four into a team of sixty. It turned out I was not only good at sales but at sales management, as well. I began to teach and train salespeople in that company. That went well, too. But being a sales manager did not really seem to be my true calling. Ever since the days when I was trained to sell books door to door, I have been fascinated by men and women who stand on the stage and address huge crowds of people, motivating them to achieve their goals, make positive changes in their lives, or teach them simply how to feel better about themselves. I was inspired by several leaders of the Southwestern book company, especially Dan Moore and Tom McAuliffe. Other early influences were speakers and authors like Brian Tracy, Anthony Robbins, also the late Zig Ziglar, Charlie Jones and Stephen Covey.

After a while I went into the speaking and training business and built a successful training company in my homeland. We reached early success locally within a few years and continued on that course. My interests changed – the focus on selling shifted more to leadership topics, later to personal effectiveness, psychology and spirituality. But one theme that has constantly remained in my attention and interest is the topic of the book that you are holding in your hands.

It is the topic of having a vision of your life and being able to transform that into specific measurable goals. It is the topic of deciding firmly upon these goals, creating viable plans and taking action. It is the topic of making important things happen, while creating a life of balance, satisfaction and happiness.

I have realized many of my dreams and succeeded where I wanted to succeed. This is not said to boast, but rather to inspire and encourage. I have also failed, sometimes miserably. Oddly enough, the failures and hardships have been the most educational.