A Must-Have Book for Boys Only
Everyone Wants Happiness And Success, Yet Few Ever Achieve It. Discover the Secrets Of The Self-Defeating Monster That Lurks Within You, And Learn How To Turn It Into A Servant That Gets You The Life Most Others Only Dream Of!”
But first, I have some important questions to ask you, and be honest with yourself here …
How many times have you asked yourself why not me? Have you ever figured out exactly how other people are able to so easily win what you find it so difficult to achieve? Have you ever thought "someone up there must not like me"?
Alone, rejected and disliked?
Are you still wondering how popularity and good luck come to some people as if they were born under a lucky star, while you struggle with relationships and things that seldom turn out favorably for you?
Do you know in your heart that you are just as smart and deserving as everyone else, yet somehow you can’t get off the ground to “soar with those eagles”?
Those questions used to drive me nuts when I was a boy, struggling to achieve, but always falling far short of a feeling that I was somebody.
Now, as a self-trained electronics engineer, successful corporate executive and officer, independent business owner, husband, father, grandfather, self-degreed intellectual and psychologist, author, and ordained minister ...
I can tell you my success in personal development did NOT come quickly or easily. In fact ...
I was a loaner and looser for what could
have been the best part of my life!
That's what drove me to achieve. I wanted to be somebody. But no matter what I achieved, it was never enough. I was often named "Outstanding ..." such-and-such, or head of this or that, but such honors never made me feel better inside.
I hated to be complimented, because a little voice inside always whispered that I really didn't deserve it. When anyone offered praise or recognition for something I'd done or achieved, accepting it made me feel like a liar.
I spent tons of time studying psychology, personality and human behavior, trying to figure out why I was different than everybody else. It didn't work. I learned a lot about what made other people tick, but somehow got the idea that I was different because I was special ... that the fates had some special purpose in store for my life. I avoided the pain of being imperfect by working all the time ... 14-hours a day, 7-days a week. No time for socializing or interacting with others.
Finally, when I was thirty-six, half-way through life, I was finally forced to face reality. I wasn't different, I was just a loaner, and a looser! I felt the best years of my life had been wasted, and were gone forever. I didn't want the other half. I didn't know how to make that any different than the first half.
I just wanted to die.
No, I'm not witnessing. And
this isn't turning into a sermon.
I didn't realize it at the time, but that was exactly the right thing to do. I finally got it through my head and faced up to the fact that the kind of thinking I'd been doing and the things I'd been believing all my life were powerfully destructive, and had gotten me to the dead-end I was at. And I was right in another way too ... at that point I had no idea what to believe or how to think.
I was finally able to see that many of my ideas and beliefs about myself and my place in the world were doubtful, or even dumb. I was not all powerful. I was not the center of the universe. Real men DO cry. It was okay not to be perfect. Accepting help and advice from others did not mean I was not as smart as them.
In his recent book by the same title, Christopher Kennedy Lawford calls these epiphanies Moments of Clarity. That is a good name for such experiences. Mine was enough to finally let me see myself for what I was, and open my mind to alternatives, and things began to change for the better immediately.
"So your point is ...?" you ask.
Did you get the part about my being thirty-six years old at the time? That's about the average age of the forty-three celebrities and highly achieving, but miserable, people who tell similar stories in Chris' book. We all threw away what could have been the best times of our lives on a bunch of neurotic nonsense.
I'm here to save you from that miserable waste of your life!
What is “success” and “happiness”?
You've heard it said, "Money can't buy happiness." Neither can what most people consider success. That's the mistake I was making. I thought I was restless and unhappy with myself because I was not successful and wealthy. I thought that if I worked hard enough to become successful and wealthy, I would then be happy. That didn't happen. I became more successful than I ever really dreamed of, and affluent at least, if not actually wealthy ... but when that didn't change the way I felt about myself, I was worse off than ever.
Feelings of happiness and success ... or failure and sadness ... are products of your mind. When you learn how to control your mind and keep its thinking sensibly rational, you will discover that life provides lots of reasons for good feelings, and that failures and sad situations need be little more than occasional bumps in the road.
You need to learn this while young!
Most people who think about such things think that process of getting screwed up, or not, begins during the first ten or fifteen years of life. The Monster thrives on stinkin' thinkin', and if you develop that habit during those early years, by the time you're passing through adolescence, the Monster will have become big and powerful enough to take charge of the rest of your life. Beyond that point, you will you will not be what you wish you were. You will be whatever you happen to become under the Monster's direction.
Does that sound crazy?
Do you think men like Adolph Hitler, Saloth Sar (a.k.a."Pol Pot") and other tyrants turn out the way they do by conscious choice? Would you believe that President Lyndon B Johnson decided not to run for a second elected term because he was convinced that most people didn't like him? Does Osama bin Laden's megalomaniac thinking and strategy make any sense at all?
What a shame ... that for lack of a little early guidance, all these lives are so troubled ... and cause so much unhappiness for others.
The Brain-Mind Duality
I was brought up to think, as most people did then, and many still do, that the brain and the mind are two separate and unique things. I thought of my brain as an electro-chemical hunk of meat, containing billions of nerve cells that worked according to the laws of physics, per some still-unknown processes. The mind, I thought, was the same as the spirit, a mysterious aspect of the psyche that controls personality, disposition, and emotions ... not physically connected to the body, probably immortal, and beyond one's conscious control.
I eventually learned that mind is a controllable and teachable brain function.
Mind is, in fact, the brain's most powerful function. If you don't take control of it, it'll take control of you. I've never seen a case where "Mind," left to its own devices, produced a good outcome. On the contrary, a mind left free to become whatever it will, invariably turns into a self-destructive Monster!
Is your mind less powerful than others?
You've probably heard someone say that most people use only ten percent of their brain. That's hogwash. The brain is a very busy place, with all sorts of things going on at the same time ... functions and operations we never even think of. Recent research suggests that all this activity is distributed all over your brain, rather than being controlled by particular regions.
On the other had, if they had said most of us use only a tenth of our intellectual capacity, they might actually be right. Your brain is a massively complex and capable machine. If brains actually differ in capability, it doesn't make any difference, since they have so much more capability than anyone ever actually uses.
Most people think brain power can be measured by IQ tests. IQ tests don't measure much more than your ability to learn, and that depends a lot upon what you've already learned. People who appear to be smarter and brighter are simply people who have learned how to use their mind more effectively. Most of the time, that does not happen intentionally ... it just happens.
Maybe a kid happens to be the child of two highly educated and intellectual parents. Would it come as a big surprise if he acted mature beyond his age, and turned out to be the sort of person who loved to acquire knowledge? Of course not! But not all well-born kids turn out that way. It's not because there's anything wrong with their brain. It's more apt to be because they were raised as spoiled brats. They were never encouraged to emulate their parents, usually because the parents were too busy. Instead, they were given everything they wanted, and permitted to fritter away their time playing, or making a nuisance of themselves.
By the same token, a kid born to parents who are ordinary, or even dull, can excel. That often happens too, and when it does, people stupidly say, "That boy was gifted with a wonderful mind." Foolish poppycock! That boy's mind started out just like any other, with near-zero intellectual content. For whatever reason, he somehow just got into the habit of filling it up with quality material.
You can learn to do that too. It's not difficult, once you accept that you are capable of doing that, and understand how to do it.
What kind of a person are you, anyway?
That question can be summarized by describing your personality and your character. Here again, these are aspects of you that probably just happened. They are mostly behaviors and concepts
Your success and happiness in life will depend a lot upon your relationships with other people. There is no such thing as a self-made man. How well you get along with others will depend mostly upon your personality and character. If you are a loaner, a bully, a crank, or otherwise unpleasant person, you will not be the sort of person others will want to help, and do nice things for. In fact, it sometimes works just the other way around, with pay-backs proving costly in terms of money and happiness.
Like any other learned thing, personality and character can be adjusted and polished. If you tend to rub people the wrong way, you can learn how to quit doing that. If you're just an average Joe, you can learn how to make yourself attractive enough that others will suddenly want to be around you, give you some breaks, and do nice things for you.
Dale Carnegie made a fortune teaching people how to do that, beginning in 1936 with his little book How to Win Friends and Influence People. That book is still in print, and has sold over 15-million copies. Obviously, his advice works. Develop the kind of personality and character that wins friends and influences people, and you'll find yourself steadily gaining altitude all throughout your life.
You can learn how to become that kind of person.
So, you want to be Popular, huh?
"Popular" is not something you can make yourself. Its something other people make you. Personality has something to do with it, but not all celebrities have great personalities. What they do have is a high Three A's ranking.
Never heard of the "Three A's"? Better learn quick if you really want to be popular. The Three A's describe how people will value you. They are attractiveness, affluence, and achievement (otherwise known as looks, money and power.)
Wait a minute! Before you go off in a pout because you don't have good looks, much money or any power, think about the other words ... attractiveness, affluence and achievement. No matter who you are, or what your situation is at this point in your life, you can become a person who is considered attractive, affluent and achieving. You just need to understand these concepts, the ways that other people see them, then change your act to give 'em what they want to see.
That's being phony? Not a all. You can object all you want, but that's the way it is. If you stubbornly
That's right ... "the person they want to look up to". You won't be fooling anybody. You'll be doing them a favor. People want to associate with popular people. That makes them feel just that much better about themselves. What's more, the more you act that way, the more you'll actually become the person you're acting like. In the end, it won't be an act at all!
You can learn how to do this, and it's important that you do. It's covered in detail in Chapter 5 of my book, one of the longest chapters in the book. The length of the chapter doesn't mean that it's difficult. The discussion is long, because I think this is so important to your happiness and success in life.
Not so good in school? Thinking about dropping out? You can easily do better ... it's not all about smarts!
Mind Over Monster is written for boys who are old enough to read, through high school age, so assumes that you are still in school. Perhaps you're a little older than that, and are struggling in college or tech school. Good News! Being a good student is a skill that can be learned too.
There's a lot more going on in classrooms than just learning.I'll tell you about that, and if you act upon what I tell you, your proficiency at "student" will take a quantum leap. Your grades are
Sounds magical?
Let me ask you this: Has anyone ever sat you down and taught you how to be a student?
Of course not. That never happens. But we expect kids to just magically be good in school anyway. How much sense does that make? The result is that a few do well. The rest scrape by, else after years of frustration, disappointment, criticism and failure, they drop out.
When I was about sixteen, I went deer-hunting up north with an older cousin and his best buddy. One night we got involved with my grandparents' neighbors, who were rather earthy people of the hillbilly persuasion. Out came the beer, and after a couple of brewskies they were all in the mood for some music and song. Someone sat down at an old upright piano, others fetched their guitars, fiddles and mandolins. Another person strapped on an accordion. When someone handed me a guitar, I held out my palms to refuse, explaining that I didn't know how to play a guitar. So she said, "Well, ya kin jist chord then." When I shrugged, shaking my head saying I didn't know how to do that either, they all stopped and looked at me in disbelief. "Ya' don't chord? Ever'body knows how'ta do thayt!" For the rest of the evening I was ignored. I guessed they really didn't believe me, and assumed that I was just being a stuck-up snob ... too good to play with them.
You have to learn how to play any musical instrument. That never comes naturally, or as a "gift." Neither does being a student. But schools treat kids who don't know how to be a student just about like my Grandma's hillbilly neighbors treated me. If you don't know how to do "student," you're simply dismissed as being stupid, lazy, irresponsible, oar delinquent.
I was a poor student, until my junior year in high school. Then I accidentally figured out some of the things I have to tell you. Even having figured out only a part of what I have to tell you, my grades went from E's, D's and C's, to B's and A's. My next eye-opener was in the U.S. Air Force's electronics schools. I started off very poorly there too. One instructor finally told me, "Warner, you're never going to make it in this career field." I was really embarrassed and irritated! I didn't like him much, and I'm sure he knew it. That probably prompted his remark, more than my poor performance. Anyway, I finally figured out how to ace Air Force tech school classes too, and wound up being the most proficient man in that career field on our base ... and even in the whole 2nd Air Division. I still have the certificates and framed letters of commendation on my office wall to prove it.
... and More!
I hate business names that end with "& More!" I usually assume that really means, "and that's about it," else they aren't able to decide exactly what their business actually is.
But in this case there is more; lots more. In the last 2/3's of Mind Over Monster I talk about other stuff that often trips a boy up ... bad habits, sex, abuse and neglect, depression and suicide, and religion. Here's the Table of Contents. Check it out! ...
"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem to lightly. It is dearness only, that gives every thing its value."
Thomas Paine wrote that a couple hundred years ago. Too bad I didn't read his article before I got all carried away creating free websites for people when the World Wide Web first began. I was really just showing off; showing that I was able to do something few other people knew how to do at the time. My reward for being such a show-off was that most of those websites were soon being neglected, and were ultimately abandoned. That taught me that people don't put much value on things that come free.
I think the world could be a much better place if boys all learned about the things I talk about in Mind Over Monster ... while they are still boys. I'm so sure of that, that I sometimes think that if I was rich, I'd give every boy in the world a copy of my book for free!
Since I'm not rich, and since most of those boys wouldn't believe a free book was going to be worth making the effort to read, that idea is nonsense. But I still want to encourage you to take a chance on learning how to have a great life. So here's what I'm going to do.
I hate buying anything at the "long price." Like everybody else, I love a bargain. Getting a great price on something of value gives me a good feeling inside.
So I'm going to knock some money off the barcode price of the book. I'm going to knock 20% off that price! Five bucks off gets it down to the next magic number ... $19.95!
Not good enough?
Okay ... nobody likes to get a discount, then get nicked for "shipping and handling," So how about FREE SHIPPING ! That's another four for five bucks saved. Total saved so far ... about ten bucks.
Still not good enough?
Okay, how about this - my young daughter is a big fan of Twilight; the movie about a "hot" young vampire's love life. She's seen the movie a couple of times and read all the books from cover to cover.
I noticed that our older daughter also bought a "Twilight" bookmark with one of the books she gave as a Christmas gift. I thought it was really cool, then also thought "I bet I can make a bookmark like that for my book." So here it is! A genuine Mind Over Monster bookmark, with metal beads and a pearl cotton tassel. On the back side of the "Twilight" bookmark, it says "$3.95". Mine's better, because it's actually laminated in plastic, not just slipped into a vinyl sleeve. But, what the heck, I'm calling it "$2.95" anyway. Order my book here, and it'll come with the really "righteous" Mind Over Monster bookmark.
Still not good enough?
Sheesh! So far you're up to $12.95 ... that's more than half the barcode price of the book!
Okay ... Whatever! Here's more. Your book will come to you as a signed copy, sent to you with my best wishes!. Now, if you had an original copy of Dale Carnegie's book How To Win Friends and Influence People signed by Dale Carnegie himself, what would that be worth today?
How to get your copy right now!
I'd love to send you a copy of Mind Over Monster. You can pay me online with a check or credit card. Or print the order form and mail it with a check or money order. Just click one of these links ...
You can also find my book at your favorite bookseller ... online, in the mall or at your neighborhood book store. Shop around, and you might even find a better price at retail.
If you do, and still want my "really kewl" bookmark, send me a copy of your receipt and a SASE, and I'll send you one for FREE.
Final thought: "What Price Success?"
Someone once said, "Money isn't everything. But poverty isn't anything." Nevertheless, it's a simple fact: happy and successful people are apt to make a lot more money, whether they're in it for the money, or not. It's simple: happy and successful people are the kind of people others like have around ... the kind of people others see as high-value friends and colleagues.
Success is cheap. It's struggling, disappointment and failure that's costly. The difference between averaging minimum-wage earnings over a career because of low-paying jobs and frequent layoffs, and enjoying an occupation that offers a decent wage, can easily amount to more than a million dollars over a forty-year career.
If, because of reading my book, you wind up in the latter category, that will be a 62,000% pay-back on your original $20 investment! If you choose to read Mind Over Monster, and I hope you will, come back here, use the link below, and let me know how things worked out for you.
What is it that prevents boys from winning the kind of life they want and deserve to have? Read on to find out …
But first, I have some important questions to ask you, and be honest with yourself here …
How many times have you asked yourself why not me? Have you ever figured out exactly how other people are able to so easily win what you find it so difficult to achieve? Have you ever thought "someone up there must not like me"?
Alone, rejected and disliked?
Are you still wondering how popularity and good luck come to some people as if they were born under a lucky star, while you struggle with relationships and things that seldom turn out favorably for you?
Do you know in your heart that you are just as smart and deserving as everyone else, yet somehow you can’t get off the ground to “soar with those eagles”?
Those questions used to drive me nuts when I was a boy, struggling to achieve, but always falling far short of a feeling that I was somebody.
Now, as a self-trained electronics engineer, successful corporate executive and officer, independent business owner, husband, father, grandfather, self-degreed intellectual and psychologist, author, and ordained minister ...
I can tell you my success in personal development did NOT come quickly or easily. In fact ...
I was a loaner and looser for what could
have been the best part of my life!
That's what drove me to achieve. I wanted to be somebody. But no matter what I achieved, it was never enough. I was often named "Outstanding ..." such-and-such, or head of this or that, but such honors never made me feel better inside.
I hated to be complimented, because a little voice inside always whispered that I really didn't deserve it. When anyone offered praise or recognition for something I'd done or achieved, accepting it made me feel like a liar.
I spent tons of time studying psychology, personality and human behavior, trying to figure out why I was different than everybody else. It didn't work. I learned a lot about what made other people tick, but somehow got the idea that I was different because I was special ... that the fates had some special purpose in store for my life. I avoided the pain of being imperfect by working all the time ... 14-hours a day, 7-days a week. No time for socializing or interacting with others.
Finally, when I was thirty-six, half-way through life, I was finally forced to face reality. I wasn't different, I was just a loaner, and a looser! I felt the best years of my life had been wasted, and were gone forever. I didn't want the other half. I didn't know how to make that any different than the first half.
I just wanted to die.
I was such a looser I didn't even have the guts to take my own life.
But I was such a looser I didn't even have the guts to take my own life. So, while sitting alone in my apartment crying, and although I wasn't religious and hadn't been in a church since I was a kid, I gave up, saying "God, I don't know how to change. If You can't change me, then just let me die!"No, I'm not witnessing. And
this isn't turning into a sermon.
I didn't realize it at the time, but that was exactly the right thing to do. I finally got it through my head and faced up to the fact that the kind of thinking I'd been doing and the things I'd been believing all my life were powerfully destructive, and had gotten me to the dead-end I was at. And I was right in another way too ... at that point I had no idea what to believe or how to think.
I was finally able to see that many of my ideas and beliefs about myself and my place in the world were doubtful, or even dumb. I was not all powerful. I was not the center of the universe. Real men DO cry. It was okay not to be perfect. Accepting help and advice from others did not mean I was not as smart as them.
In his recent book by the same title, Christopher Kennedy Lawford calls these epiphanies Moments of Clarity. That is a good name for such experiences. Mine was enough to finally let me see myself for what I was, and open my mind to alternatives, and things began to change for the better immediately."So your point is ...?" you ask.
Did you get the part about my being thirty-six years old at the time? That's about the average age of the forty-three celebrities and highly achieving, but miserable, people who tell similar stories in Chris' book. We all threw away what could have been the best times of our lives on a bunch of neurotic nonsense.
I'm here to save you from that miserable waste of your life!
What is “success” and “happiness”?
You've heard it said, "Money can't buy happiness." Neither can what most people consider success. That's the mistake I was making. I thought I was restless and unhappy with myself because I was not successful and wealthy. I thought that if I worked hard enough to become successful and wealthy, I would then be happy. That didn't happen. I became more successful than I ever really dreamed of, and affluent at least, if not actually wealthy ... but when that didn't change the way I felt about myself, I was worse off than ever.
If you are happy with who you are, you will feel contented with your situation, whatever it is..
The fact is, it works just exactly the other way around ... if you are happy with who you are, you will feel contented with your situation, whatever it is. If you are a "common man," you will have a great life as a common man. If you turn out to be rich and famous, you will be happy in that role, never having any need to swallow a bottle of sleeping pills or to take a nosedive off the Golden Gate.Feelings of happiness and success ... or failure and sadness ... are products of your mind. When you learn how to control your mind and keep its thinking sensibly rational, you will discover that life provides lots of reasons for good feelings, and that failures and sad situations need be little more than occasional bumps in the road.
You need to learn this while young!
Most people who think about such things think that process of getting screwed up, or not, begins during the first ten or fifteen years of life. The Monster thrives on stinkin' thinkin', and if you develop that habit during those early years, by the time you're passing through adolescence, the Monster will have become big and powerful enough to take charge of the rest of your life. Beyond that point, you will you will not be what you wish you were. You will be whatever you happen to become under the Monster's direction.
Does that sound crazy?
Do you think men like Adolph Hitler, Saloth Sar (a.k.a."Pol Pot") and other tyrants turn out the way they do by conscious choice? Would you believe that President Lyndon B Johnson decided not to run for a second elected term because he was convinced that most people didn't like him? Does Osama bin Laden's megalomaniac thinking and strategy make any sense at all?
What a shame ... that for lack of a little early guidance, all these lives are so troubled ... and cause so much unhappiness for others.
The Brain-Mind Duality
I was brought up to think, as most people did then, and many still do, that the brain and the mind are two separate and unique things. I thought of my brain as an electro-chemical hunk of meat, containing billions of nerve cells that worked according to the laws of physics, per some still-unknown processes. The mind, I thought, was the same as the spirit, a mysterious aspect of the psyche that controls personality, disposition, and emotions ... not physically connected to the body, probably immortal, and beyond one's conscious control.
I eventually learned that mind is a controllable and teachable brain function.
Mind is, in fact, the brain's most powerful function. If you don't take control of it, it'll take control of you. I've never seen a case where "Mind," left to its own devices, produced a good outcome. On the contrary, a mind left free to become whatever it will, invariably turns into a self-destructive Monster!
Is your mind less powerful than others?
You've probably heard someone say that most people use only ten percent of their brain. That's hogwash. The brain is a very busy place, with all sorts of things going on at the same time ... functions and operations we never even think of. Recent research suggests that all this activity is distributed all over your brain, rather than being controlled by particular regions.
If brains actually differ in capability, it doesn't make any difference, since they have so much more capability than anyone ever actually uses.
On the other had, if they had said most of us use only a tenth of our intellectual capacity, they might actually be right. Your brain is a massively complex and capable machine. If brains actually differ in capability, it doesn't make any difference, since they have so much more capability than anyone ever actually uses.
Most people think brain power can be measured by IQ tests. IQ tests don't measure much more than your ability to learn, and that depends a lot upon what you've already learned. People who appear to be smarter and brighter are simply people who have learned how to use their mind more effectively. Most of the time, that does not happen intentionally ... it just happens.
Maybe a kid happens to be the child of two highly educated and intellectual parents. Would it come as a big surprise if he acted mature beyond his age, and turned out to be the sort of person who loved to acquire knowledge? Of course not! But not all well-born kids turn out that way. It's not because there's anything wrong with their brain. It's more apt to be because they were raised as spoiled brats. They were never encouraged to emulate their parents, usually because the parents were too busy. Instead, they were given everything they wanted, and permitted to fritter away their time playing, or making a nuisance of themselves.
By the same token, a kid born to parents who are ordinary, or even dull, can excel. That often happens too, and when it does, people stupidly say, "That boy was gifted with a wonderful mind." Foolish poppycock! That boy's mind started out just like any other, with near-zero intellectual content. For whatever reason, he somehow just got into the habit of filling it up with quality material.
You can learn to do that too. It's not difficult, once you accept that you are capable of doing that, and understand how to do it.
What kind of a person are you, anyway?
That question can be summarized by describing your personality and your character. Here again, these are aspects of you that probably just happened. They are mostly behaviors and concepts
Your success and happiness in life will depend a lot upon your relationships with other people. There is no such thing as a self-made man.
that you learned after you were born, not ones you were born with.Your success and happiness in life will depend a lot upon your relationships with other people. There is no such thing as a self-made man. How well you get along with others will depend mostly upon your personality and character. If you are a loaner, a bully, a crank, or otherwise unpleasant person, you will not be the sort of person others will want to help, and do nice things for. In fact, it sometimes works just the other way around, with pay-backs proving costly in terms of money and happiness.
Like any other learned thing, personality and character can be adjusted and polished. If you tend to rub people the wrong way, you can learn how to quit doing that. If you're just an average Joe, you can learn how to make yourself attractive enough that others will suddenly want to be around you, give you some breaks, and do nice things for you.
Dale Carnegie made a fortune teaching people how to do that, beginning in 1936 with his little book How to Win Friends and Influence People. That book is still in print, and has sold over 15-million copies. Obviously, his advice works. Develop the kind of personality and character that wins friends and influences people, and you'll find yourself steadily gaining altitude all throughout your life.
You can learn how to become that kind of person.
So, you want to be Popular, huh?
"Popular" is not something you can make yourself. Its something other people make you. Personality has something to do with it, but not all celebrities have great personalities. What they do have is a high Three A's ranking.
Never heard of the "Three A's"? Better learn quick if you really want to be popular. The Three A's describe how people will value you. They are attractiveness, affluence, and achievement (otherwise known as looks, money and power.)
Wait a minute! Before you go off in a pout because you don't have good looks, much money or any power, think about the other words ... attractiveness, affluence and achievement. No matter who you are, or what your situation is at this point in your life, you can become a person who is considered attractive, affluent and achieving. You just need to understand these concepts, the ways that other people see them, then change your act to give 'em what they want to see.
That's being phony? Not a all. You can object all you want, but that's the way it is. If you stubbornly
Do yourself, and everybody else, a favor, by becoming the person others want to look up to.
insist on being yourself and that people will just have to take you as your are, you might as well give up your dreams of popularity. It ain't gonna happen. On the other hand, you can do yourself, and everybody else, a favor, by becoming the person others want to look up to.That's right ... "the person they want to look up to". You won't be fooling anybody. You'll be doing them a favor. People want to associate with popular people. That makes them feel just that much better about themselves. What's more, the more you act that way, the more you'll actually become the person you're acting like. In the end, it won't be an act at all!
You can learn how to do this, and it's important that you do. It's covered in detail in Chapter 5 of my book, one of the longest chapters in the book. The length of the chapter doesn't mean that it's difficult. The discussion is long, because I think this is so important to your happiness and success in life.
Not so good in school? Thinking about dropping out? You can easily do better ... it's not all about smarts!
Mind Over Monster is written for boys who are old enough to read, through high school age, so assumes that you are still in school. Perhaps you're a little older than that, and are struggling in college or tech school. Good News! Being a good student is a skill that can be learned too.
There's a lot more going on in classrooms than just learning.I'll tell you about that, and if you act upon what I tell you, your proficiency at "student" will take a quantum leap. Your grades are
There's a lot more going on in classrooms than just learning ... you can easily achieve a four-point-zero grade point average.
sure to jump by at least one full point. It you really take it to heart, you can easily achieve a four-point-zero grade point average.Sounds magical?
Let me ask you this: Has anyone ever sat you down and taught you how to be a student?
Of course not. That never happens. But we expect kids to just magically be good in school anyway. How much sense does that make? The result is that a few do well. The rest scrape by, else after years of frustration, disappointment, criticism and failure, they drop out.
When I was about sixteen, I went deer-hunting up north with an older cousin and his best buddy. One night we got involved with my grandparents' neighbors, who were rather earthy people of the hillbilly persuasion. Out came the beer, and after a couple of brewskies they were all in the mood for some music and song. Someone sat down at an old upright piano, others fetched their guitars, fiddles and mandolins. Another person strapped on an accordion. When someone handed me a guitar, I held out my palms to refuse, explaining that I didn't know how to play a guitar. So she said, "Well, ya kin jist chord then." When I shrugged, shaking my head saying I didn't know how to do that either, they all stopped and looked at me in disbelief. "Ya' don't chord? Ever'body knows how'ta do thayt!" For the rest of the evening I was ignored. I guessed they really didn't believe me, and assumed that I was just being a stuck-up snob ... too good to play with them.
You have to learn how to play any musical instrument. That never comes naturally, or as a "gift." Neither does being a student. But schools treat kids who don't know how to be a student just about like my Grandma's hillbilly neighbors treated me. If you don't know how to do "student," you're simply dismissed as being stupid, lazy, irresponsible, oar delinquent.
I was a poor student, until my junior year in high school. Then I accidentally figured out some of the things I have to tell you. Even having figured out only a part of what I have to tell you, my grades went from E's, D's and C's, to B's and A's. My next eye-opener was in the U.S. Air Force's electronics schools. I started off very poorly there too. One instructor finally told me, "Warner, you're never going to make it in this career field." I was really embarrassed and irritated! I didn't like him much, and I'm sure he knew it. That probably prompted his remark, more than my poor performance. Anyway, I finally figured out how to ace Air Force tech school classes too, and wound up being the most proficient man in that career field on our base ... and even in the whole 2nd Air Division. I still have the certificates and framed letters of commendation on my office wall to prove it.
You can learn how to do school. And when you do, you'll love it!
You can learn how to do school. And when you do, you'll love it! Nothing's better for your ego than being at the head of the class.... and More!
I hate business names that end with "& More!" I usually assume that really means, "and that's about it," else they aren't able to decide exactly what their business actually is.
But in this case there is more; lots more. In the last 2/3's of Mind Over Monster I talk about other stuff that often trips a boy up ... bad habits, sex, abuse and neglect, depression and suicide, and religion. Here's the Table of Contents. Check it out! ...
| Mind Over Monster | ||
| Chapter 1 | Introduction | 1 |
| Chapter 2 | Mind or Monster? | 11 |
| Chapter 3 | Your Beautiful Mind | 21 |
| Chapter 4 | Personality | 35 |
| Chapter 5 | The Three A's | 51 |
| Chapter 6 | Straight A's | 89 |
| Chapter 7 | Bad Habits | 125 |
| Chapter 8 | Venery | 147 |
| Chapter 9 | Abuse & Neglect | 165 |
| Chapter 10 | Depression & Suicide | 213 |
| Chapter 11 | A Practical Faith | 225 |
| Chapter 12 | The Good Life | 283 |
| Index | 285 | |
"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem to lightly. It is dearness only, that gives every thing its value."
Thomas Paine wrote that a couple hundred years ago. Too bad I didn't read his article before I got all carried away creating free websites for people when the World Wide Web first began. I was really just showing off; showing that I was able to do something few other people knew how to do at the time. My reward for being such a show-off was that most of those websites were soon being neglected, and were ultimately abandoned. That taught me that people don't put much value on things that come free.
I think the world could be a much better place if boys all learned about the things I talk about in Mind Over Monster ... while they are still boys. I'm so sure of that, that I sometimes think that if I was rich, I'd give every boy in the world a copy of my book for free!
Since I'm not rich, and since most of those boys wouldn't believe a free book was going to be worth making the effort to read, that idea is nonsense. But I still want to encourage you to take a chance on learning how to have a great life. So here's what I'm going to do.
I hate buying anything at the "long price." Like everybody else, I love a bargain. Getting a great price on something of value gives me a good feeling inside.
So I'm going to knock some money off the barcode price of the book. I'm going to knock 20% off that price! Five bucks off gets it down to the next magic number ... $19.95!Not good enough?
Okay ... nobody likes to get a discount, then get nicked for "shipping and handling," So how about FREE SHIPPING ! That's another four for five bucks saved. Total saved so far ... about ten bucks.
Still not good enough?
Okay, how about this - my young daughter is a big fan of Twilight; the movie about a "hot" young vampire's love life. She's seen the movie a couple of times and read all the books from cover to cover.
I noticed that our older daughter also bought a "Twilight" bookmark with one of the books she gave as a Christmas gift. I thought it was really cool, then also thought "I bet I can make a bookmark like that for my book." So here it is! A genuine Mind Over Monster bookmark, with metal beads and a pearl cotton tassel. On the back side of the "Twilight" bookmark, it says "$3.95". Mine's better, because it's actually laminated in plastic, not just slipped into a vinyl sleeve. But, what the heck, I'm calling it "$2.95" anyway. Order my book here, and it'll come with the really "righteous" Mind Over Monster bookmark.Still not good enough?
Sheesh! So far you're up to $12.95 ... that's more than half the barcode price of the book!
Okay ... Whatever! Here's more. Your book will come to you as a signed copy, sent to you with my best wishes!. Now, if you had an original copy of Dale Carnegie's book How To Win Friends and Influence People signed by Dale Carnegie himself, what would that be worth today?
How to get your copy right now!
I'd love to send you a copy of Mind Over Monster. You can pay me online with a check or credit card. Or print the order form and mail it with a check or money order. Just click one of these links ...
You can also find my book at your favorite bookseller ... online, in the mall or at your neighborhood book store. Shop around, and you might even find a better price at retail.
If you do, and still want my "really kewl" bookmark, send me a copy of your receipt and a SASE, and I'll send you one for FREE.
Final thought: "What Price Success?"
Someone once said, "Money isn't everything. But poverty isn't anything." Nevertheless, it's a simple fact: happy and successful people are apt to make a lot more money, whether they're in it for the money, or not. It's simple: happy and successful people are the kind of people others like have around ... the kind of people others see as high-value friends and colleagues.
Success is cheap. It's struggling, disappointment and failure that's costly. The difference between averaging minimum-wage earnings over a career because of low-paying jobs and frequent layoffs, and enjoying an occupation that offers a decent wage, can easily amount to more than a million dollars over a forty-year career.
If, because of reading my book, you wind up in the latter category, that will be a 62,000% pay-back on your original $20 investment! If you choose to read Mind Over Monster, and I hope you will, come back here, use the link below, and let me know how things worked out for you.
PS: Bulk discounts are available for school counselors, youth directors, and others serving in a mentoring capacity. Please write me for more information.
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