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Dr. Greg Reid has been published in 82 books and 45 languages, with 36 best-sellers to date. Blink and there might already be another one added to the list. Yet Dr. Reid refers to himself as the “least qualified person” to do what he does.

Dr. Reid explains what he means. “I’m dyslexic, I can’t spell, I can’t write, I can’t read. [But] I understood the power of working your strengths and hiring your weaknesses,” says Dr. Reid.

His strength? The gift of gab. Explains Dr. Reid, “I can talk from a stage, I can share a message, however, I’m not really good at writing. So I found people that were the best ghostwriters and editors that could take my words and craft them in a way that people would actually want to read it.”

As you can see, Dr. Reid is an expert at achieving his goals, becoming a doctor being one of them. “I had a bucket list when I was a kid,” says Dr. Reid. “Like 17, 18, I made these impossible goals of 80 things: running with the bulls in Pamplona to swimming with sharks to writing books and making movies. Impossible at the time. And the last thing that was on the bucket list was to get a Ph.D. to be a doctor ‘cause I barely graduated high school.“

Indeed, Dr. Reid managed to get an honorary degree from the Indian version of Harvard University, giving commencement speeches all over the country in return.

He also succeeded in making a movie, having granted Frank Shankwitz, founder of the Make-a-Wish Organization’s, own wish of having his story told. It took six years and millions of dollars, but the film is now Oscar-qualified and available for streaming everywhere.

And the accomplishments don’t end here. Dr. Reid has also been honored with a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Fame, right at the Eiffel Tower of the Paris hotel, just a few stars down from Elvis Presley. Not too shabby.

So how did he do it? First, Dr. Reid sings the praises of sticking to it. His first book, The Millionaire Mentor, was turned down by 268 publishers, agents, and printing houses before the 269th agreed to print him. Explaining his persistence, Dr. Reid says, “The bottom line is that you have to have stickability. First, there is a dream, then there’s a challenge and then there’s victory. Almost everyone quits in the challenging times. You got to keep pushing through.”

Also important? Don’t be discouraged by rejection. Explains Dr. Reid, “What I did is I took those [rejection] letters and I literally taped them on the wall of my office and it became wallpaper. So when you walked in, it was all of this rejection. And I used that as my vehicle to keep going because I knew I was onto something. I just didn’t know how to do it. And I didn’t let that unknowing part stop me. So I kept those letters as an inspiration.”

Dr. Reid is also a huge proponent of surrounding yourself with people who are succeeding in the goals you’re pursuing. In fact, he invented a secret, exclusive annual speakeasy event called Secret Knock just to allow people to do so. Getting an invite is pretty hard, but the core concept can be applied even if you don’t end up attending: “Surround yourself with people who give you counsel and not opinion.” That is, reach out to people who are walking the walk. If you want help becoming a magician, talk to successful magicians. It’s that simple.