Daily Meditation for February 6, 2024

In 1936, Dale Carnegie wrote a self-help book entitled How to Win Friends and Influence People: The Only Book You Need to Lead You to Success. The book sold over 30 million copies and was described as a “rock-solid collection of time-tested advice.” Carnegie identified and taught skills that guaranteed readers a sure-fire climb up the ladder to success. The book’s chapter titles reveal the necessary tools. Here are a few of them: “The fundamental techniques in handling people.” “Six ways to make people like you.” “Twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking.” “Nine ways to change people without giving offense or arousing resentment.” Today, many of us may dismiss the book as an outrageously self-aggrandizing method that uses others as instruments for one’s personal victory. Things have changed. Or have they? Take time today and ponder: Am I a successful person? How have other people been a part of my success?

By Christian Morris, OSB