Behind the fear of failure and the avoidance of blame that haunt all of us, Dennis finds two factors: “The first is our natural desire to avoid letting ourselves or others down, perhaps with calamitous financial repercussions. The second is the exposure of that failure to the outside world.”

To the first component, his prescription is simple: “You may let others down if you act. You may let yourself down if you do not act… Everything will depend on the degree of desire and belief you bring to an enterprise.

The second component, the ‘broadcasting’ of our misjudgements or errors to the rest of the world, is the nastier and stickier component, the author cautions. Grow a carapace, a mental armour, he suggests, as antidote. “Thick enough to shrug off the inevitable sniggering and malicious mockery that will follow your inevitable failures, not to mention the poorly hidden envy that will accompany your eventual success.”

Down-to-earth counsel.

Business finance ‘pure and simple’ comes alive in David Meckin’s ‘Naked Finance’ ( www.nicholasbrealey.com). He strips the commonly fuzzy concepts such as profit and costs, cash flow and projects, down to the basics, ‘to provide a clear, unimpeded view of the world of financial management and how it works.’ For instance, Meckin explains bala nce sheet as a powerful document presenting ‘a calculation of wealth.’ The first point to note on a balance sheet is the date, he guides. “When you value something, it is always at a point in time.”

Talking about the financial press, the author says how the detailed share price information, published almost daily, is our crystal ball, because it provides us with a glimpse of what we can expect in the future. “It must be emphasised that we are dealing with expectations here, and expectations can be wrong.” Used carefully, therefore, this public domain information can be a potent source that can “help us formulate trading expectations of individual companies, industries, and even entire economies.”

Useful guidance.

Your true nature

Prosperity is created in the mind first, declares Randy Gage in ‘Why You’re Dumb, Sick & Broke… And how to get Smart, Healthy & Rich’ ( www.pentagon-press.com ). “All the good you wish to manifest already exists as an ideal in your mind on the superconscious level,” he explains. “Your prosperity comes from the power stored within you, waiting for your demand. Now, to manifest your good on the physical plane, it is necessary for you to build a bridge between these realms.”

Your true nature is not to be the person who struggles with credit card debt, dysfunctional relationships, or a dead-end job, urges Gage. He explains how, though money doesn’t buy happiness, it lubricates life and can prevent a whole lot of unhappiness. “It is a lot easier to be happy if you’re not worried about paying the rent, earning enough money to take care of your children, or having enough to eat… Poverty breeds unhappiness, hopelessness, and despair. It causes people to lie, cheat, steal, and even kill.”

Forceful philosophy.

Know your memory

The simplest division of memory is into short and long term, write Ammar Al-Chalabi, Martin R. Turner, and R. Shane Delamont in ‘The Brain: A beginner’s guide’ ( www.vivabooksindia.com ). The authors also speak of a third type, the sensory memory, where all information received by the senses is stored before being passed to the conscious mind and stored in short-term memory.

“Sensory memory can store as much information as is received at any one time, but only for about a third of a second. If we do not attend to it, such information does not pass to the short-term memory.” In comparison, short-term memory can hold about seven different pieces of information for about 20 seconds. “Neurologists test short-term memory by asking people to repeat a series of random digits forwards and backwards. Most people can remember about seven digits forwards and four backwards.” That can be an exercise worth trying out with stock market quotes.

Informative exposition.

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