Aloha, I’m J.R. Parrish, author of You Don’t Have to Learn the Hard Way. Yes, this book was written as the Perfect Graduation Gift for your high school or college graduate. It will teach them the things they were not taught in school that they will need to know to have success in the real world.

Those things include how to win with people, the habits that will lead them to success, how to make their dreams come true, how to make good decisions about dating, marriage and parenting, how to pick the right career and succeed with finances, and all about love and truth. It was also written for the parents of those children.

The reason you are going to want to learn what is in this book is it contains the four most important keys to success and happiness in life and you were not taught any of them in school. At age 20, I was a milkman in Fresno, California when a mentor came into my life and changed it forever by teaching me these four things.


1. The Power of Thought. What to think, how to think it and why. There is nothing more important than our thoughts yet we are not taught how to think. We are what we are today because of our previous thinking and our current thoughts are our preview of our life’s coming attractions. We become what we think about. Why then do we think things we don’t want to be true? Nothing is more crucial to our success and happiness than our thoughts yet we are still not taught how to control our thoughts. How many people really understand that thoughts only have the power they give them?

2. Habits. Good habits are the key to all success and bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Everyone needs to know what habits will lead to their success and how to acquire them. They also need to be taught the habits that approach with the hand of friendship but can destroy them and how to eliminate or avoid them. Even how we think is a habit.

3. Human relations. How to effectively deal with each other. When is the last time you used algebra, chemistry, or biology? We were all taught them in school yet don’t use them. You have not been taught human relations skills yet you need them all day every day of your life. The people with the best human relations skills get the best jobs, the raises and promotions and have the best social lives. To minimize bullying, reduce shootings, fights and anger in our schools and workplaces we must start teaching our children and employees how to get along with each other and win with people.

4. How to make your dreams come true. There is a proven six step no nonsense formula to make dreams come true, yet we don’t even teach our children to have dreams leave alone the formula to make them come true.


You Don’t Have to Learn the Hard Way teaches all four of these subjects. Read and applied they can grow a person ten years in one year and give them the edge they need to succeed. Parents need to learn them and then teach them to their children. This book will open conversation with your child that you cannot open on your own. If you want to give yourself and your child the gift of a lifetime read and apply what you will find in this life guide.

If applying these principles could take me from being a milkman, to top salesman in the United States for a Fortune 500 Company, to founding one of the most respected and successful commercial real estate firms in Silicon Valley, to retirement in Hawaii at age 55 imagine what they can do for you and your loved one’s.

Aloha, JR