Let’s be honest. The title, ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’, can feel a bit… slimy. It conjures images of used car salesmen and hollow, manipulative networking. That’s exactly what I thought when my mentor shoved the worn-out copy into my hands a decade ago. “Just read it,” he said. “It’s not what you think.”…
Let’s be clear from the start: I didn’t pick up ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ because I was seeking wisdom. I picked it up because I was drowning. It was 2015. On paper, I was the picture of success: a demanding job, a busy social calendar, a full inbox. Inside, I was a chaotic mess….
was a “gifted kid.” That label was my identity, my shield, and, as I would later discover, my prison. For the first three decades of my life, I operated under a single, unshakeable core belief: talent and intelligence are fixed. You’re born with a certain amount, and your life is a process of proving you…