Books
can change people’s lives – they can inform us of truths we had not known, raise ideas we haven’t
contemplated, show us things we’ll never have access to, explore history that
we can learn from, and inspire or motivate us to live differently and be better
than we ever thought. One such book, at
least for some people, is from a German author who wrote about a lifestyle that
can literally save lives. It’s called
Vegan For Fun and its companion, Vegan For Fit.
The books are being released in English this spring by my new client,
the publisher, Becker Joest Volk Verlag.
They showcase the benefits of a vegan lifestyle, which if embraced by
many, could save lives, save the planet, and save animals.
It
made me wonder about all the books I’ve promoted and marketed over the years
and whether many of them potentially could impact the life of the reader. I would say it was rare that the book
promoted by me could significantly be a life-death changer, though many come to
mind that gave insights into physical and mental health, as well as others that
improved the life of the reader even if it didn’t prove to be a literal
life-saver.
The
books that could transform a life, change a society, or make a significant
difference in the world we live in are the special ones. Could a book telling us to eat veggies, tofu,
and berries be a life-altering book?
Absolutely!
If
you think about it, a book like this could save more lives than were lost in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Plus, the
lives lost to automobile accidents, hurricanes, floods, murder, lighting, guns,
train crashes, plane crashes, illegal drug overdoses – combined – for the past
year. But the public doesn’t quite look
at it that way. Each one of us will make a
choice whether to get this book and then another choice to follow its
directions.
What
can change people’s behavior is the book itself, but before the book can
influence a reader, the potential reader needs to be swayed to be a book
consumer. One could argue the book
doesn’t save lives but the PR campaign used to promote the book and convince
people to buy it and try it is the real hero.
I might be a book publicity doctor after all!
We’re
always looking to find cures to social ills, diseases, and violence – as we
should – but it’s hard to believe that the nation often ignores books that
could truly change one’s state of health and help them live longer, fuller
lives. What if a “cure” has always existed to prevent heart disease, obesity,
and most cases of diabetes – self control, eating right, exercising regularly –
but we are the disease?
If
you want to explore how to live longer, look younger, and feel energized, check
out Vegan For Fun and Vegan For Fit.
Book
Excerpt: HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE
by Dale Carnegie
WIN
PEOPLE TO YOUR WAY OF THINKING
Principle
1: The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
Principle
2: Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”
Principle
3: If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
Principle
4: Begin in a friendly way.
Principle
5: Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately.
Principle
6: Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
Principle
7: Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
Principle
8: Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view.
Principle
9: Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires.
Principle
10: Appeal to the nobler motives.
Principle
11: Dramatize your ideas.
Principle
12: Throw down a challenge.
Asking
questions not only makes an order more palatable; it often stimulates the
creativity of the persons whom you ask.
People are more likely to accept an order if they have had a part in the
decision that caused the order to be issued.
Letting
one save face! How important, how
vitally important that is! And how few
of us ever stop to think of it! We ride
roughshod over the feelings of others, getting our own way, finding fault,
issuing threats, criticizing a child or an employee in front of others, without
even considering the hurt to the other person’s pride. Whereas a few minutes of thought, a
considerate word or two, a genuine understanding of the other person’s
attitude, would go so far toward alleviating the sting!
Let’s
remember that the next time we are faced with the distasteful necessity of
discharging or reprimanding an employee.
Even
if we are right and other person is definitely wrong, we only destroy ego by
causing someone to lose face. The
legendary French aviation pioneer and author Antoine de Saint-Exupery
wrote: “I have no right to say or do
anything that diminishes a man in his own eyes.
What matters is not what I think of him, but what he thinks of
himself. Hurting a man in his dignity is
a crime.”
Why,
I wonder, don’t we use the same common sense when trying to change people that
we use when trying to change dogs? Why don’t we use meat instead of a
whip? Why don’t we use praise instead of
condemnation? Let us praise even the
slightest improvement. That inspires the
other person to keep on improving.
Remember,
we all crave appreciation and recognition, and will do almost anything to get
it. But nobody wants insincerity. Nobody wants flattery.
Let
me repeat: The principles taught in this
book will work only when they come from the heart. I am not advocating a bag of tricks. I am talking about a new way of life.
Talk
about changing people. If you and I will inspire the people with whom we come
in contact to a realization of the hidden treasures they possess, we can do far
more than change people. We can
literally transform them.
Abilities
wither under criticism; they blossom under encouragement.
In
short, if you want to improve a person in a certain respect, act as though that
particular trait were already one of his or her outstanding
characteristics. Shakespeare said,
“Assume a virtue, if you have it not.”
And it might be well to assume and state openly that other people have
the virtue you want them to develop.
Give them a fine reputation to live up to, and they will make prodigious
efforts rather than see you disillusioned.
The
effective leader should keep the following guidelines in mind when it is
necessary to change attitudes or behavior:
1.
Be sincere. Do not promise
anything that you cannot deliver. Forget
about the benefits to yourself and concentrate on the benefits to the other
person.
2.
Know exactly what it is you want the other person to do.
3.
Be empathetic. Ask yourself what
it is the other person really wants.
4.
Consider the benefits that person will receive from doing what you
suggest.
5.
Match those benefits to the other person’s wants.
6.
When you make your request, put it in a form that will convey to the
other person the idea that he personally will benefit.
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and
ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media
Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This
is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014.
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