Why I am writing this blog

I have read Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People," many times.  I even followed the directions in the front of the book and each copy that I have read has looked thoroughly destroyed as I finished it.  One of my copies I had autographed by noted LGBT activist Frank Kameny.  This blog will be my effort to work through the book once again but this time I will read it from the perspective of a unionist.  I should point out that this blog is not intended to duplicate this important work and that I do not own the content or copyright, if you discover copyright infringement please let me know.  I will quote extensively from the book but it is not my intent to duplicate it or plagiarize the work of Mr. Carnegie.

This time I am following the instructions in the front of the book (as I always do) but I am also writing down important pieces in a journal before I put them on this blog.  Why am I doing this?  Recently I discovered that there is something organic about putting pen to paper, something about the act of writing (versus typing) allows for the mind to better retain and process the information.  This occurred to me over the course of several trainings that I attended for the American Federation of Government Employees (funded with membership dues from Local 1273 at the Boise VA).  At some of the trainings I would record the training (using a recorder app on my phone) while I typed notes.  At some classes I couldn't find a seat close to a power outlet so when my laptop died I had to resort to pad an pen.  Unfortunately that first time I had to resort to a cheap pen and small pad of paper provided by the hotel.  But this time I remembered a lot more from the training.  So the next training I recorded the speaker (as always) but took a legal pad and a gel pen; again I retained so much more.  I have honed this over the years to the point where I now have two quality gel pens with me at all times (I even carry a paper notepad in my back pocket for when I need to take notes in a pinch).

So here are the nine suggestions to get the most out of How to Win Friends and Influence People in brief:

1. Have a deep and strong desire to learn to increase your ability to deal with people.
2. Read each chapter quickly at first to get an overall picture, but don't skip ahead to the next chapter.
3. Stop frequently and think about how you can apply each suggestion (I will write many of these thoughts in my journal).
4. Mark up the book: read with a highlighter, pen, pencil, crayon, whatever you can get your hands on.  This lets you review the book often.  In the past when I have read this book I have often referred to it before meeting with people or going into challenging situations.
5. Review the book often, keep it in front of you on your desk or in your briefcase.
6. Apply the principles in the book, only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind.
7. Create an incentive for sticking with the principles, the book suggests to offer your spouse, child or business associate a monetary reward each time they catch you slipping up.  Of course the book suggests a dime or nickel, probably better to adjust for inflation and make it $1 or $5.
8. Review your appointments and meetings at the end of each week.  Open your calendar and carefully review each meeting and ask yourself what mistakes you may have made, how could I have improved, what can I learn from this experience.
9. Keep notes of times you actually applied the principles and your successes.

It is my intent to read at least one chapter per week, make notes and add to this blog.  While I will write at least one entry for each chapter, there will likely be other posts related to other items that are relevant to this project.

Please feel free to contact me via email if you have suggestions or comments.