Let’s be straightforward: if you want real power, face this truth head-on. Everything you were told as a child—that you’re uniquely special and destined for success in any pursuit—isn’t reality. You will fail, repeatedly, even after tasting initial success.
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What doesn’t destroy you makes you stronger. Embracing this unyielding fact separates the powerful from the powerless—it’s true today, tomorrow, until your final breath. Ignore “no.” Dismiss failure. Step up, swing harder, try again. That’s how the world operates. I didn’t write the rules; I’m just reminding you: if you buy into the negativity hurled your way, you design your own defeat. The power is yours to claim.
Take one of KISS’s earliest reviews from our first tour: The critic meant no harm and believed his words. So what? We ignored it, as we ignore all critics—and that’s why KISS thrives today. Critics don’t define you. Tune out life’s negatives, push relentlessly toward your dreams, and accept failure as inevitable. Like me, I fail daily—but I also win. You can too.
This mindset gap defines who rises to power and who doesn’t.
Consider Harland Sanders’ story, which might resonate: At age 7 in 1895, his father died of fever, leaving Sanders to feed his siblings while his mother worked. Penniless, he scavenged food, mastered cooking vegetables, then meat. Tragedy sparked his path. He left home for farm work, odd jobs, and eventually ran a Shell station in Kentucky during the Great Depression. Broke, he started selling chicken to supplement income.
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Customers wanted gas, not meals, so Sanders innovated: using a pressure cooker for his secret recipe, delivering crispier chicken faster than competitors’ pan-frying. Then disaster struck—a new highway bypassed his station. He sold the business, lived off savings, taught his recipe to a friend whose restaurant boomed. Convinced, Sanders hit the road at 65 with his cooker and spices, pitching franchises door-to-door. Sleeping in his car, surviving on free samples, his persistence paid off. Restaurants loved it; franchisees sought him out. He earned 4 cents per chicken sold, then cashed out for $2 million in 1964 (about $15 million today). He expanded to Canada, building KFC into a global icon until his death.
Even without resources, connections, or raw talent, relentless perseverance—never quitting—grants power.
Was Colonel Sanders born powerful? No breaks, no shortcuts. He chased success doggedly until he seized it. That “crazy” idea you have? Others called Sanders crazy too. Results will validate you, regardless of doubters.
Will you cold-call influencers, sleep in your car, grind endlessly? If yes, power awaits. Without that fire, you’ll fade. This gap separates the powerful from the rest. You won’t face steeper odds than Sanders or others in this book. They triumphed. So can you.
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From On Power: My Journey Through the Halls of Power and How to Get More Power by Gene Simmons. Copyright © 2017 by Gene Simmons. Reproduced with permission from Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copies of ON POWER are available everywhere books are sold, and signed editions through Soup Book, Fontaine Bookstore, and Premiere Collectibles.
