The Powers

**Nonfiction Book Awards Gold Winner and Winner of the Illumination Book Awards' 2018 Gold Enduring Light Medal**

The Powers is written for people who have a drive to become highly successful in their chosen field of endeavor. Throughout this revised edition, you will meet many who came from ordinary backgrounds to achieve extraordinary things in a variety of pursuits. They came from different circumstances with a wide range of gifts as well as many personal limitations. All have experienced failure and some were serial failures. The Powers they discovered within themselves are the same Powers Erwin has identified and discusses. Through study, they can become your Powers.
While everyone has different dreams and goals, everyone also possesses their own set of Powers, even if some are hidden deep within. Erwin has found that intellectual curiosity, developing a grand vision, setting clear goals, practicing persistence, and other concepts included in this book are common traits among the most successful people. After years of studying works by great authors such as Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale, and Dale Carnegie, befriending highly successful people, and exploring an experimental learning style, Erwin has found common traits that not only create success but also allow one to go from ordinary to extraordinary. Mark Erwin has mentored hundreds of people, and has collected life-changing lessons throughout his journey that brought him from a sixteen-year-old in a jail cell to a multimillionaire before he was forty. In The Powers, he shares personal stories, philosophical and practical advice, and a one-of-a-kind collection of wisdom and insights from some of the most successful people in history, many of whom are his friends.
This book creates the blueprint for you to become exceptionally successful and maps out how using the Powers, in combination with your unique personality and emotional intelligence, will help you stand out and make a difference in whatever area you choose to pursue. Read and reread this book and your true path for success on your terms will be revealed, and you will know exactly how to make your dreams come true.

Mark W. Erwin is an author, businessman, and retired United States Ambassador. He is also a philanthropist, an ordained lay minister, a fair golfer, and the recipient of many honors, including an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters, several Honorary Knighthoods, and The Order of the Long Leaf Pine. He has served innumerable civic, charitable, cultural, and educational organizations. He resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his family.

"Mark Erwin's The Powers is terrific. It not only inspires and motivates, it educates and thoroughly entertains. Drawing on motivational research, the experiences of some of history's greatest achievers and Ambassador Erwin's own remarkable personal life, The Powers offers us specific, actionable ideas for career, financial and emotional success; all without preaching and with unexpected humor. The Powers is much more than a motivational book, it is a handbook for a successful life.
—Mark Ethridge, Pulitzer Prize-winning editor and author of Grievances and Fallout

"An inspiring read for everyone who sometimes wonders if they can really be successful in achieving their goals."
—Examiner.com

"Mark's new book The Powers is a great way to spend a few minutes every now and then to absorb some inspiration. It so helps to remember how so many successful people have had some significant struggles during their climb to greatness."
—Birch Street Capital

"Thank you for writing this book as I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made me think of several things that I need to change, which has already begun."
—Mark Crockett