The Hindu Business Line : How much time do you need to change yourself?

OUR governments can be overthrown every five years. But what about changing one's life? You can do that in a week, assures Paul McKenna in Change Your Life in 7 Days, from Bantam Press (www.booksattransworld.co.uk).

The book, that comes with a "Free Mind-Programming CD" is based on author's "study of highly successful and effective people" that revealed: "Success and happiness are not accidents that happen to some people and not others." The back cover has the teasers: "Would you like to make more money and be more successful? Would you like to have more energy and feel happier every day? Would you like to start living the life of your dreams?" All that in one week, you doubt.

The intro has the secret: "The changes that matter most are more often changes in perception than changes in the world outside us. And we can change the way we perceive the world in a heartbeat."

Check if you suffer from `paradise syndrome', the one that celebrities succumb to. It is the "self-destructive behaviour brought on by feelings of unworthiness. Thus you could be meeting people who are attractive but who think of themselves as ugly, too fat, too thin or too old or too young. "The key programmes of human behaviour are habit and imagination, and they are far more powerful than logic and willpower will ever be."

The secret of charisma is that "charismatic people feel comfortable in themselves." They are not "desperately looking for the approval of others" but "ironically, that's why we feel drawn to them."

The book discusses `emotional intelligence', where there is an interesting description: "An emotion is a bit like someone knocking on your door to deliver a message. If the message is urgent, it knocks loudly... As soon you understand even part of it, it becomes part of your self-understanding. You are changed, and the emotion has done its job."

Get stressed

HERE is a book that the BJP won't like to read, because it says that the feel-good factor can make one more placid and therefore less competitive. What is the antidote? Stress, says Howard Edwards in his book, Stress in the Workplace — How to Cause it (www.newhollandpublishers.com) exploding the myth that a happy company is a productive one.

It has tips on "ways to ensure the workplace is ever alert," because "anxious people produce answers."

Did you know that Johann Gutenburg invented printing in 1440 because he was "threatened with expulsion from the church as no one, not even his mother, could understand his handwriting?" Or, that in 1714, Gabriel Fahrenheit invented mercury thermometer because he was afraid that his "recent marriage would fail due to constantly arguing over the temperature in the bedroom?" Or, that the invention of bicycle was by Sauerbronn who had a phobia of horses. Moral: "Stress is the mother of invention."

Stress is of five types, says the author.

These are: negative stress that shows as unproductive illness; defensive stress that manifests as the debilitating tendency to mistrust motives; aggressive stress revealed by inaccurate targeting and misdirected energy; creative stress getting out as ideas; and competitive stress which is what is needed because it is "the truly wonderful sight of a manic, high speed, totally alert and empowered individual".

Key to millionaire club

SUCCESS is tough and often elusive. Those who seek it come up against closed doors. If only there were a key to open it. Marc Allen gives "168 keys to help you open the doors to success" in The Millionaire Course, a book from Yogi Impressions (www.yogiimpressions.com).

"Use the book to help you create your own personal map to your success," states the back cover. "You'll discover that you can improve the quality of your life, and in the process improve the quality of the world around you." In the intro, the author observes that many of the keys are well known. "Keys to success are everywhere... A comment from a friend, a few words on the radio, part of a quote in a book or on the Internet, even a fragment of a commercial can give you a key that can change your life."

Key number 6 is from the Bhagavad Gita: "I use the word secrets not because these things are hidden, but because so few people are prepared to hear them today." Try key 9: "Whether you choose to focus on art or business, humanitarian work or anything else, definitely write a one-page business plan. That's perhaps the single most powerful thing you can do to make the changes you want in your life."

Kent Nerburn's quote makes up key 46: "Think of work as `vocation'. It should be something that calls to you as something you want to do, and it should be something that gives voice to who you are and what you want to say to the world. It is, above all else, something that lets you love."

War on terror

BUSH is clueless about ending what he started in Iraq. Perhaps, there are inputs in a new book from Random House (www.atrandom.com). An End to Evil by David Frum and Richard Perle is on "how to win the war on terror." The back cover lays down the agenda: "Support the overthrow of the terrorist mullahs of Iran. End the terrorist regime of Syria. Regard Saudi Arabia and France not as friends but as rivals — maybe enemies. Withdraw support from the UN if it does not reform. Tighten immigration and security at home. Squeeze China, and blockade North Korea."

So, they are not beating about the bush in advocating `a strong policy'. They write in chapter 1: "Terrorism remains the great evil of our time, and the war against this evil, our generation's great cause... There is no middle way. It is victory or holocaust. This book is a manual for victory."

There are always moderates who want action to be slower. The argument against is: "What benefit do we gain from waiting for a threat to become more imminent? Why let an enemy grow stronger unhindered? By waiting until the last minute, we forfeit the initiative... The real motive of those who advocate delay is the hope that if we postpone action, somehow the threat will disappear on its own. This isn't policy. It's fantasy." In the chapter titled, `friends and foes', the authors talk about Pakistan as having "a record of using terrorism as a weapon against India." They add: "Control of the Pakistani state is perpetually up for grabs — and with it comes control of Pakistan's stockpile of nuclear warheads."

Let them do it

THINK of a situation where a group of animals try to run a successful business. "The workhorse tries to operate the computer, the shy sheep makes sales calls, the scarecrow attempts to lay eggs." The new book from Gallup Organization, Animals, Inc., tells the story. "A Business Parable for the 21st Century" is how the authors Kenneth A. Tucker and Vandana Allman describe it.

Mike Morrison, Dean of the University of Toyota has all praise for the book — that it "reveals all of the misguided strategies companies pursue today, while offering brilliant alternatives."

Since there is no law that bans animals from running a business, one of the first things is a clearance from the Department of Agriculture: "While it is highly unusual for animals to be running a farm, as long as they continue to withhold taxes and do not attempt to count their chickens as deductions before they're hatched, this department has no cause of action."

Of all the animals on the farm, the sheep were probably the least concerned about the changes, write the authors. "Sheep rarely bothered to think for themselves. They were natural followers... In the animal kingdom, when it came to being second, they were always first."

Happy animal is a productive worker, is what Mo tells his team. "Most of the business books agree that running a business successfully is really simple. Only one thing makes it complicated: People."

(Books courtesy: Fountainhead, Chennai. E-mail: fhbooks@satyam.net.in)

Tailpiece

"I connected a polygraph to the mic that the politician was using for his public speech."

"Oh, no, don't tell me about the results!"

ReadingRoom@TheHindu.co.in

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How much time do you need to change yourself?