My goal with this book was to keep it short; to encourage you to get interested in the Tao Te Ching and to ensure you that failing, making mistakes and experiencing rejection is exactly what you’re shooting for on your path to success.

Only through the darkness can you truly see the light, and only by failing can you succeed. The trick is in how you handle the times when things don’t go your way. The real winners in life know the way to handle these times is to be grateful for the lesson you’ve learned and move on...

I’m calling this volume Actually I am Going to tell you What to do with your Life because after the first book came out in the summer of 2011 everyone kept asking me, “so what do you think I should do with my life?”

Here’s how I’ve been answering that question – “do whatever you damn well please!” Seriously, that really is the key to happiness and personal fulfillment in life: do the things in your brief physical existence that make you happy whenever and wherever you can and as often as possible. 

In 1991 there was no better place in the world to be than Chicago. In the scant 120 years since Michael Ahern - the Chicago Republican reporter - admitted he made up the story about Mrs. O’Leary’s cow knocking over a lantern and starting the fire that killed hundreds and leveled four square miles of the downtown area in 1871, the city had become a melting pot of cultures and a mecca of art, music, sports and opportunity.

With its vibrant nightlife, world-renowned shopping and sophisticated lakefront, the city rightfully earned its nickname “The Paris on the Prairie.”...