cheers, Inadmissibly!

In the world of self-help books, I would say Rhonda Byrne’s “The Secret” is comparable to a Starbucks Caffe Latte (i.e. a special, warm and sophisticated treat), while Jeffrey Gitomer’s “Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude” would be the strong black coffee with no sugar or milk/cream in a white Styrofoam cup (i.e. basic, but gets the job done). Gitomer embellishes nothing and tries to inspire readers with quotes like “You can’t gain a positive attitude by reading a book” (12), “People will try to discourage you for fear that you will pass them” (59), “Hard work makes luck” (102), “Don’t think cheap. Think best!” (180), and my personal favorite “People who tell you you’re crazy are known as ‘pukers.’…Pukers are people to avoid at all costs” (126), which at times can leave one feeling like he/she is being sold a questionable car by an aggressive car salesperson whose just short of his/her monthly quota:) However, if you can get past Gitomer’s authoritative tone/writing style, his book does offer some valued insights on how to improve as a person.

As of late, I’ve been told that self-help books are “cheesy” or for losers, but I think a person can never be over prepared or too smart to learn something new. And with that being said, I agree with Gitomer in that “People who are cocky and arrogant say, ‘I know that’ and move along”, while “People who are confident and positive ask themselves, ‘How good am I at that?’ and seek to improve” (57). Other highlights in the book for me include how Jim Rohn says “People don’t have the attitude of learning because they don’t love what they do enough to want to be the BEST at it” (107), and when Gitomer says “Successful people do what unsuccessful people don’t (won’t) do. Successful people live outside their comfort zone…are consistent…stay in the fire…are always learning” (121). Gitomer warns against choosing careers simply based on “making money” or because you’re comfortable with where you are (i.e. you’ve already mastered your job or have a lot of friends at work). If you take a risk and actually pick a job that you love to do (even if it doesn’t pay well at first and you have to start at the bottom), you’ll end up being the best at it and therefore still rise to the top and make a lot of money. For example, you could go from being a minimum wage baker at your local grocery store to a well paid executive chef at a fancy hotel if that’s truly your passion and if you work hard at becoming the best. It’s always easier to learn something you like!

To buy this book or simply learn more, visit

http://www.amazon.com

To learn more about this author, visit Kevin Lee’s Website.