I am finally trying to overcome my reading slump this year but somehow I always daydream about reading every single book on my TBR but ending up taking a nap or doing something completely different. Well my readers, this year I have planned to read at least around 30 books, which will include audiobooks, as well as paperbacks.
As a first review, I have decided to finally finish “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. And so to be honest with you, I took my time reading it. It took me way more time to finally say that I have finished the book. You have to see my annotations because they’re a mess. But hey, we are making some baby steps here. We will go back on track with reading books and of course, writing some articles and reviews about them.
About the author
Dale Carnegie is a very interesting man. He is not only a writer but also a lecturer who has spent a good time of his years teaching people about public speaking, behavior, making corporate training, and developing communication skills.
He like many other writers came from a poor family in Missouri and had to grind his way out of poverty. We can safely say that he did more than that. Dale not only did teach thousands of people, companies, and small businesses during his time, but he keeps teaching the modern generations with his most precious heritage to the world — his books.
How The Book changed me
Dale is having a very interesting way to write. The book overall was like an academic masterpiece in 275 pages without a bibliography (inserts academic joke, hehe). He would make a statement and straight away shoot us with arguments and proof. His examples can put one in a “wow” state because most of them are including some famous people like Lincoln and General Álvaro Obregón and many other people that are not part of the living anymore but Dale was alive during their lifetime and in some cases, he was there witnessing what he was writing about.
The book changed and improved my judgment, made me realize things that I never thought about, and confirmed right some other things that I already knew.
Review
This is my first self-growth book review, and I was very excited when thinking about the best way to write about it, but honestly, I don’t think there is something like “the best” or “the worst”. I do what I always liked to do, just sit and write whatever comes into my mind.
There is one reason I found this (and probably all self-growth books) hard to complete. Texts like that feel more like academic work and it makes you feel like you are in school. By any means, they are still very useful and interesting, but as a fiction reader myself, sometimes I would lack the motivation to once again read about “statement — examples — final thoughts” in every chapter. Still, that does not mean that Dale’s book is not captivating enough — trust me it is.
How to Win Friends and Influence People is written in four parts and each part is having a few chapters that he calls “principles” so each chapter of each part is a different way to win friends and influence.
I have indeed annotated a lot in this book and I am happy to share some things I found very useful that I am going to use moving forward in my personal life and career. Some thoughts and quotes I have saved from the book are not Dale’s but they fit right with some of my real-life encounters as well.
“As much as we thirst for approval, we dread condemnation” — Hans Selye
Isn’t that quite true? We are often caught that if we reward someone we are going to have way more effect rather than scolding or punishing. Pure criticism will only create pure hostility.
“When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity” — Dale
Criticism can drive many people to give up their dreams and make the miserable. I know many of us would say things like “You shouldn’t care about that, do what you like!” This is an absolutely fair thing to suggest, but we are not all built the same way, we do not take hate and criticism the same way simply because we are all human. (Be kind to each other ❤️)
Just like Benjamin Franklin once said:
“I will speak ill of no man and speak all the good I know of everybody.”
“If you tell me how you get your feeling of importance I’ll tell you what you are. That determines your character. That is the most significant thing about you.” — Dale
I decided to end this review with this specific quote from the book because I have always been interested in hearing about people’s dreams and goals and what makes them feel important to the world, what is their life goals, and what makes them wake up and smile.
To conclude
Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot and I would recommend it to people who are just starting their journey into the self-growth world of books and they want to learn how to properly deal with people in different scenarios. It is a great read for people of any age.