Here’s The World. Take it! – How Successful People Really Think.

THERE’S a story – two salesmen who were sent to the African continent during the 1800’s to sell shoes – the first after spending a period in the Ivory Coast telegrammed the London head office and sent the following message,

“All of them are barefooted here! No point. I am coming back home.”

The other sent the following message,

“All of them are barefooted here, fantastic! Send as many shoes as you can!”

This story embodies a mystery, “what does it take to have good business judgment?”

There are some obvious hallmarks that we all associated with those who have good business sense – firstly, they can all navigate themselves out of sticky situations and all of them seem to have the maturity to remain unflustered when the shit hits the fan. Nothing ever seems to derail their sense of confidence and surefootedness. These winners also seem to have a keen nose for spotting opportunities which usually. When push comes to shove, they all have this uncanny ability to anticipate their competitor’s next move – right down to the minuteness detail.

It raises the question: what does good business acumen actually consist of? Does it have something to do with taking action? Following that mythical line called gut feel, intuition or does it have more to do with just plain good olde luck?

Can I or you develop good business acumen?

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One Brand New Brain Coming Up! – The Myth of Self-Improvement Books.

ARE the feelings of others more important than your own? Do you tend to suppress your feelings? Do you place the needs of others before your own? Are you an enabler or disabler? Perhaps your life is spinning out of control? Is there really help for you? Maybe you should get a book? You know what I mean don’t you. Those nifty books that can coach you how to manage your time in 3 minutes flat, manage yourself and others or get you that six pack you always dreamt of besides the variety that’s in your refrigerator – I am of course talking about self-improvement books.

Millions of people turn to self-improvement books when they find that their lives spinning out of control.  The market for self-improvement products – books, audiotapes, life-makeover seminars and regimens of all kinds is big business.

Research firm Marketdata estimates the “self-improvement” market to be roughly around the $8.5 billion ballpark and there seems to be no end in sight to the growth. In Self-Help Inc, they have solutions from everything ranging from smoking cessation in seven simple steps to balling down your lousy no-confidence self to make-extreme-make-u-over as the new terminator complete with a Cheshire cat winning smile.

It’s attractive enough for any sensible person with a respectable baggage of manias and quirks such as I to ask: do any of these self-improvements books really work? What’s behind all this hype? Is it another sales gimmick conjured by the marketing manifesto trying to sell me another quick fix solution? Do self-improvement books really work? Or am I just too dumb and stubborn to see what they can really do to improve my lot?