There was a time when I read an endless amount of Self help book and due to too much of quantity, my mind forgot to register its quality. Anyways, amongst all those books was ‘How to win friends and Influence people’ by Dale Carnegie.

How to win friends and influence people’ is a quite simple book mentioning different sub categories to cater to all aspects of much needed improvement. Whether it is ‘How to win people’ or ‘ways to make people like you’, it highlights those things which are necessary in today’s enviroment for an individual to develop these habits and style. This is a very small book and very impressive. ‘How to win friends and influence people’ might not give you a 100% result, but it will definitely show you your faults and areas where improvements are needed.

Some of the takeout from the book is as follows:

Be Genuinely interested in other people: Sometime we are so busy in our own life that we forget even about those people who are near and dear to us. Even if it is ‘How was your day?’ to your wife/husband, do wonders for you.

Start with questions to which other person will answer Yes: This applies especially to sales people. When you are selling a product, you will talk about the product endlessly and another person might not even show a single bit of interest. All this can be avoided or shorten by asking questions to another person, whether he uses the product or needs such product. And getting a yes to the first two questions will bring positivity to the conversation.

Try Honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view: Just like the earlier point, this is very important. You need to know the situation of another person before proposing anything which in the end can be turned down. We might not be always right or true, every situation is like a coin with two sides. Don’t always focus on yours!

Use encouragement. Make the faults seem easy to correct: Much needed advice for the bosses. Many companies face huge employee turnover due to less or no encouragement within the organisation. When we do good work, if we don’t get single appreciation, we will obviously won’t put that much effort next time. Positive cultivates another positive action.

Pay little attention: Its said that little actions have bigger impacts. Small gesture from you can bring smile to another person’s face. It is not about buying expensive gifts or show how much you sacrifice, it is about paying attention to those small details and work on that.

Give honest appreciation: It always feels nice when someone compliments us. We feel so noticed and popular. Similarly, it is not always about taking compliments, you should be multiplied by giving compliments to others. But just give appreciation doesn’t make karma loves you. It has to be honest and you obviously have to mean it.

Lastly,

Smile: The best and the greatest tool of all times. The Smile is that small curve which brightens up your surroundings. But girls, beware, a smile can be dangerous at times. It is not a tool to give you brownie point. Smiling face shows your inner happiness. We happy about life, be grateful about things you have, as somewhere in this world, someone else doesn’t have it.

There are many more lessons that what I have listed above, for that, you will have to read the book.

If you want to succeed in your personal and professional life, Be the Change!