The classic inspirational parable from the top motivation and marketing trainer and number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Millionaire Messenger – a triumphant tale of personal growth and change that will inspire anyone who has ever wished for a second chance.
What if you were handed a golden ticket that could magically start your life anew?
That question is at the heart of Life’s Golden Ticket. Brendon Burchard tells the story of a man who is so trapped in the prison of his past that he cannot see the possibilities, the choices, and the gifts before him. To soothe his fiancée, Mary, clinging to life in a hospital bed, the man takes the envelope she offers and heads to an old, abandoned amusement park that she begs him to visit …
I have followed the work of Brendon Burchard since the beginning of 2019 when I joined his transformation week and started learning more about myself and his high-performance methodology. I have taken a few of his courses and watched his YouTube videos, read his High-Performance Habits book and bought the planner of the same name.
But none of it really stuck until I stumbled upon this parable – a fictionalized account of one man’s journey through a “theme park of life” after being implored by his dying fiancée to go and discover it for himself.
So why was this book so different?
It’s a story, and I like stories. I write occasionally. More importantly, it’s excellent life wisdom wrapped up with clear examples of why these choices matter and how the wrong choices have deep consequences. It also explains how we become conditioned by early life experiences, the impact these have subconsciously on us and how we can change the consequential internal auto-pilot which keeps us on the wrong course.
Having read Brendon’s other, non-fiction work I can clearly see each of the elements contained in this book, but this book wraps each with emotion and an engaging story that carries you through from the inciting incident at the outset to a happy ending through a series of “trials” our hero goes through on his journey.
Although it’s not fully clear in the audiobook, the story carries us through four ‘gates’ or key areas in life – Awareness, Acceptance, Accountability and Action – which I discovered in researching the book afterwards. There are 6 sections and 22 key steps along the way, all of them with their own insights, story and message. Here’s a summary:
Come One, Come All
- Finding the Park of Transformation
- Admission Charges
- The Truth Booth
- The Staging Tent
Gate 1: Awareness
- The Ferris Wheel
- The Park’s Theme
- The Screaming Carnies
- The Hypnotist’s Secret
Gate 2: Acceptance
- The Elephant’s Leash
- The Pirate Ship
- The Merry-Go-Round
- The House of Mirrors
Gate 3: Accountability
- The Livestock Pavilion
- The Bumper Boats
- The Loop-de-Loop
- The Fortune Teller’s Clues
Gate 4: Action
- The Tightrope
- The Lion Tamer
- The Strong Man
- The Center Ring
When It’s Time to Go
- The Last Ride
- Opening the Envelope
I won’t go into details of any of the sections as, like the transformative experience our hero has on his journey through the park (and as Henry, his guide says), every person will experience something different and unique to their life.
I will say that I found the story totally engaging and hard to put down – I listened to it over 2 days. While a few elements felt a little trite or clichéd, they fitted in with what the story was doing and served the greater whole. Each section clearly delivered its message and I could relate to many experiences and patterns of behaviour in my own life. The audiobook was excellently narrated – which made it come alive even more – and I was moved to tears at the end. The book is told in the first person, so you feel more connected to the hero from the outset as it’s all about ‘me’ and ‘I’.
This is one book I can safely say has had a profound impact on me and one I will re-read and apply its many lessons. I will revisit Brendon’s courses and take action rather than just learning the theory.
Time for me to change for the better, time to use the Golden Ticket this book gave me.
And yes, I think you should pay the price of admission to the theme park and buy it.
