The old cartoon strip character Calvin, from "Calvin and Hobbes," once said the difference between him and the rest of the world was, "Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!"

Calvin is right. You must live with enthusiasm. It's one of the most important attributes to success.

One of life's greatest tragedies is that the curiosity, enthusiasm and excitement about life that we are born with seem to erode as the years go by. When the challenges of daily life get in the way, it is easy to spend more energy on putting out little fires than on sparking enthusiasm for overcoming those challenges.

Henry Ford once said, "You can do anything if you have enthusiasm ... Enthusiasm is the spark in your eye, the swing in the gait, the grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of your will and your energy to execute your ideas. Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all progress. With it, there is accomplishment. Without it, there are only alibis."

You may recall Henry Ford's early struggles to make his fledgling company successful. His enthusiasm for building mass-produced cars that many middle-class Americans could afford revolutionized transportation and American industry. Enthusiasm prevented him from giving in to setbacks and pressure.

When my own enthusiasm wanes, and it sometimes does, I look for inspiration from three of my favorite resources. Their advice is timeless, far-reaching and well worth revisiting any time you feel your spirit flagging.

"Enthusiasm is the priceless quality that makes everything different. The men and women who achieve the most are invariably inspired by enthusiasm. They approach life, its opportunities and its problems with this vital characteristic," said Norman Vincent Peale, author of "The Power of Positive Thinking."

"Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success," according to Dale Carnegie, one of the most successful inspirational writers of all time. Do you know his books "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living"? They are great first steps to cultivating enthusiasm for living.

Napoleon Hill, another of my favorite authors, says in his classic work "The Laws of Success in 16 Lessons" that enthusiasm in life is an essential ingredient for success. Enthusiasm energizes, refreshes and motivates the person endowed with it.

Hill says some people are born with a natural enthusiasm, and some people have to develop it. How? Simple, he says. Work at something you love.

That's easier said than done, you might say, but you can be enthusiastic in practically anything you do, no matter how mundane. Perhaps the job has aspects that you truly hate. Maybe the office is unattractive, but the people there are top-notch. You're learning and contributing. Change is possible. Attitude is key.

No matter your situation, negative thinking will not improve it. Focus on the positive, even if it is a small thing. Train your brain to look for the silver lining, and then be amazed at how your improved attitude leads to enthusiasm.

Let me tell you a story that my friend the late Charlie "Tremendous" Jones shared with me about a guy who dreamed he inherited a million dollars. He dreamed he went to take a shower that morning and the shower wouldn't shower. He started to shave and the shaver wouldn't shave. He went to get some coffee and the coffee wouldn't perk, and the toaster wouldn't toast. He went to get the newspaper, but the newspaper wasn't there. He went to catch the bus and the bus didn't come. He waited 45 minutes, and finally a guy came puffing down the street.

"What's going on here?" he asked, and the guy gasped, "Haven't you heard? Everybody inherited a million dollars! Nobody's working anymore!"

Just then the man woke up. And he went and had a tremendous shower and a tremendous shave and a tremendous cup of coffee and a tremendous piece of toast. He read a tremendous newspaper and caught a tremendous bus to a tremendous job!

What a difference it makes when we are learning to get excited about the work we have today!

Mackay's Moral: There is one thing more contagious than enthusiasm, and that is the lack of enthusiasm.

"Trust flows from individuals, not organizations." That's the best summary I can provide of David Horsager's hot new book, "The Trust Edge -- How Top Leaders Gain Faster Results, Deeper Relationships and a Stronger Bottom Line."

Why is this book so valuable? The topic couldn't be timelier. In my opinion, the most important five-letter word in the English language is spelled T-R-U-S-T. It's so critical, publisher Simon & Schuster's Free Press has made "The Trust Edge" its leading business book this fall, with a publication date of Oct. 9.

Want another reason why I think it's so important? I know Dave Horsager, and I trust him! He is the perfect author for a book on this topic. He has been studying the topic for 10 years, and we can all benefit from his research.

Let me give you a sample of his wisdom: "Trust defined -- Trust is the confident belief in an entity:

-- To do what is right

-- To deliver what is promised,

-- To be the same every time, regardless of circumstances."

I can't imagine a person staying in business very long without trust from every angle. Your customers have to be able to trust you. Your employees must trust you. Your vendors must trust you. Even your competitors must trust you. It's that simple. If any of those relationships break down, close your doors and find another way to make a living.

Horsager says, "Without trust, the transactions cannot occur. Without trust, influence is destroyed. Without trust, leaders lose teams. Without trust, organizations lose productivity, relationships, reputation, talent retention, customer loyalty, creativity, morale, revenue and results."

As he was studying top organizations and leaders, Horsager found that some had a clear advantage over others. "Those leaders or organizations that could weather storms, charge higher prices, maintain respect with customers and clients, and foster long-term growth were special," Horsager writes. "The greatest leaders and organizations of all time have had the same competitive edge. They were trusted."

He confirms what I have learned over my decades in business: Trust doesn't happen overnight. "While it may appear to be static, trust is more like a forest -- a long time growing, but easily burned down with a touch of carelessness," he says.

Several years back I wrote about a study by Forum Corporation, which Horsager also cites as evidence of the importance of trust. Using hundreds of salespeople from 11 companies in five different industries, the investigators found that the unique trait of top producers was honesty -- not charisma, ability or knowledge.

For as long as I have been in business, I have believed that the most charming, most educated, most technically astute sales- and businesspeople will be abject failures unless all those traits are wrapped in honesty. When we trust people, we are optimistic not only that they are competent to do what we trust them to do, but also that they are committed to doing it. They will be totally honest with a customer even when it is difficult or potentially costly. Their reputations are more important than any deal.

In that spirit, Horsager has identified the eight pillars of trust that are key attributes of successful leaders: clarity, compassion, character, competency, commitment, connection, contribution and consistency. He includes terrific advice and even study questions to drive home every point. In other words, as Horsager says, "The Trust Edge is the competitive advantage gained when others confidently believe in you!"

"The Trust Edge" is extremely well organized, with terrific and easily relatable examples, providing convincing support for his points. Useful graphics like tabbed pages lead you to specific chapters and sections, and also remind you on every page of the eight pillars of trust.

This book has arrived not a moment too soon for the trust crisis we are facing in the world. Developing and cultivating trust is fundamental to a successful business, personal relationship or even a functional government. Trust me, if you follow David Horsager's advice, you'll have an unbeatable edge.

Mackay's Moral: Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing to do.

Ken Blanchard believes corporate America is in desperate need of a different leadership role model. And I couldn't agree more.

Ken is a walking management encyclopedia: He's written 50 books with more than 90 contributing authors. His blockbuster book, "The One Minute Manager," has sold 13 million copies around the world. He has a practical, no-nonsense style that I love.

Ken has been a good friend for years. In fact, I owe a lot of my book-writing success to Ken because he's the one who asked me to write a book with him before I decided to author "Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive" back in 1988.

While most leaders think that leadership is in your head, Ken thinks effective leadership starts in the heart. Your heart controls your motivation, your intent and your leadership character.

I invited Ken to speak to my Roundtable group of 30 CEOs. His memorable message was that the No. 1 leadership style around the world today is "seagull management." He explained: "Managers might set goals and then disappear until you screw up. Then they fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everybody and fly out. They think that's great leadership."

He compared what he calls self-serving leaders to servant leaders and mentioned three main differences.

The first difference is feedback. If you've ever tried to give negative feedback up the hierarchy of a self-serving leadership team, you know the difference. You get destroyed.

Self-serving leaders thrive in critical environments, whereas servant leaders prefer supportive environments.

Ken said: "I travel around the world, and I'll say to people, 'How do you know whether you're doing a good job?' The No. 1 response I still get is, 'Nobody's yelled at me lately.'"

He went on to say that if he could teach only one thing, it would be to develop great relationships. He advised that to develop great organizations, you have to wander around and catch people doing the right things and then praise them in front of everyone.

The second major difference is that self-serving leaders don't want anyone else to look really good, while servant leaders want to build leadership in their group. They have no problem with someone rising up. They don't mind sharing leadership.

My philosophy is you'd be amazed at how much you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit. I also believe that three opinions are better than two and five are better than four.

The third difference is ego. "Self-serving leaders are caught in the trap that they think their self-worth is a function of their performance plus the opinion of others," Ken said. "They have this scorekeeping system. The only way they can keep going is they've got to get more. Their scorekeeping centers around three things: accumulation of wealth, recognition/power and status."

Ken advises that there is nothing wrong with accumulating money, getting recognized or having some power and status. "What's wrong is if that's who you think you are, because then your self-worth is tied up there, and you're going to have to keep on performing," he said. "That's why people have to keep on accumulating more and more and take huge bonuses when that money could be spent in other ways."

Servant leaders define self-worth differently. They are comfortable in their skin. Ken cautions that this doesn't mean they don't have some weaknesses. They know that their positions are not a given. Their job and possessions are on loan and can be taken away at a moment's notice.

Our egos can interfere in two ways, Ken cautions. One is false pride, when you think more of yourself than you should and your main job is to promote yourself. The other is self-doubt or fear, when you think less of yourself than you should.

The antidote for fear and self-doubt is self-pride and self-esteem, whereas the antidote for false pride is humility, which Ken believes is another important characteristic of a leader.

"A lot of people have this image that people who are humble are weak," Ken said. "People with humility don't think less of themselves, they just think about themselves less. That's really a powerful thing."

Mackay's Moral: None of us is as smart as all of us.