How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie is an interesting and wonderful book worth reading by everyone. I actually read it twice cause i couldn't get enough of it.
But like i've always said it's one thing reading a book and another thing practising the principles enumerated in the book. I'm going to highlight some of the principles in this book
I've learnt how to make good friends by practising some of the principles in this book. Do you know you can actually make tons of friends by always showing interest in people/ starting a conversation (a simple hi would do) rather than wait for people to show interest in you.
° DON'T CRITICISE, CONDEMN OR COMPLAIN
Psychological humans are animals that hardly accept responsibility for their actions, they try to justify every action they take even the wrong ones. Criticising someone puts them on the defensive. When you criticise or condemn a person you only give them the chance to give you 100 reasons why they did what they did
From the book
"when dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion,creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity"
also,
"Any fool can criticise,condemn and complain and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving"
So anytime i feel like criticising, condemning or complaining i just bite my tongue..that stops me from uttering things i should not
° GIVE HONEST SINCERE APPRECIATION
I remember one time i went to a hotel, the receptionist, i could see her hair was new and she was looking fine but i believe no one had told her that. I told her clearly and i was sincere about it, and immediately i did her countenance became so bright and she was nice to me the whole time. One thing you have to know i might not recognize her next time i see her but she will hardly forget my face.
Appreciations/compliments feed our esteem, don't be stingy with it, it costs nothing so spend it lavishly. Everyone wants to feel important, make someone feel important and you got a grip on them
From the book
"I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people,said Schwab, the greatest asset i possess,and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement."
"There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors"
So many other principles but to mention few.
This book has changed my mentality,my way of approach to people and the way i tackle situations now. You should take a glance at it too
