REVIEW: by Nige H 16/11/2020
I was introduced to this book and others in the late 1980's as a result of being put on an extended Dale Carnegie course for managers largely because of my lack of confidence in public speaking. At the time I was working for a very dysfunctional chief executive who thrived on living by his daily mantra of "What are we going to do today and who are we going to do it to?" Clearly this was not the best environment in which to be a nervous speaker. The fourteen week course changed all of that. I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that it changed my attitude to everything in my life and as a result I made great progress in my career, and more importantly, in all my relationships especially with my family and friends. I was often invited to speak to the entire company on regular occasions after the course.
The book is a series of sage tales of real life experiences and how to apply it to your own life. It has coping strategies to realign your thinking on many different situations, all of which can and do weigh heavily on your mind. During the course I was on, we were taught to read just the sections of the book that we needed at any one time. The book deals with worry, handling criticism, valuing what you already have, dealing only with things you can alter and not trying to fight against things you can't change and many other of the daily situations we find cause worry.
As a result of the course I was able to deal with the dysfunctional chief executive and his constant mind games with a new confidence which enabled me to gain his acceptance and cooperation and even promotion too. I have loaned the book to many people that I care about over the years. I still find myself preaching to family and friends to handle situations differently purely because of this book. I also hold back from jumping in like I used to do and find I no longer give an instant reaction and instead I wait and give a more considered response. In fact in writing this review and looking back I can honestly say that the impact this book has had on my life has been much greater than even I had appreciated. The fact that I can still remember the teachings from the book after all these years demonstrates the power of using it regularly in bite size chunks. You won't be surprised to learn that I wholeheartedly recommend that you read it.
