When I was 22, on the cusp of my publishing career, I met a businessman who over the years became a good friend and mentor.

I admired him not only because he built a successful business (it grossed $20 million the year we met), but also for his charisma and passion. And he was always willing to offer advice to help a budding entrepreneur. He made it his mission to help as many people as possible.

I received word today that he passed away.

Now, 12 years later, as I reflect on what he taught me, I feel so lucky that we met.

And so, three really important things I learned:

1. Whatever you want to achieve in life is possible.
   It was very similar to Walt Disney's philosophy, "If you dream it, you can do it." He believed that all you need is the vision, and once you set your goal, you can figure out how to make it happen.

2. Surround yourself with ethical people.
   Not only on a personal level, but also in business. This might seem like common sense, but early on in my business career, I found myself faced with a opportunity that was not the best deal. It was tempting based on size ($100,000, which at the time represented a lot of money), but the client was unethical and demanding unreasonable terms. (In particular, if I worked with him, I couldn't work with any of his competitors.) I took my mentor's advice and turned him down. In hindsight, it was one of the best business decisions I have ever made. 

3. Track sales vigilantly.
   He believed in posting big charts and graphs depicting sales on the walls so the whole team could see not only where sales are for the day, but where they are compared to last year's sales for that day, that month and the year.

Lessons to live by.