The Real Truth about Success: What the Top 1% Do Differently, Why They Won't Tell You, and How You Can Do It Anyway!

In a nutshell, this book is a humorous and more current version of Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people."The good:1. Loaded with key takeaways2. Fast, entertaining, and funny read3. Inspirational premise that you can succeed by identifying & amplifying your innate traits and talentsThe bad:1. The book has a decent amount of repetition2. Though the author frequently cites 10 years or research, the book feels more based on (intelligent/informed) opinion rather than on hard statistics.My key takeaways:- Gain personal advantage harnessing natural (esp. interpersonal) traits and developing new abilities- Be a beacon of positivity- Be convenient, comfortable, familiar, uncomplicated, clear, and concise- Be trustworthy, sincere, caring, compassionate, and kind- Position all of your ideas as solutions with an emphasis on personal value; make sure others see their input in the solution- Be noticeable and create great first impressions- Build and leverage personal relationships - especially with industry veterans- Seek advice from others, actively listen, and show your appreciation- Make others feel smart, important, and valued- Give credit and accept blame/responsibility- Make decisions, prioritize, take action, and drive projects to completion- Channel fear into action- It is what you say AND how you say it- Maintain emotional awareness and stability- Appear confident, not arrogant- Embrace change / be adaptable and flexible- Have a positive view of authority- Write down your goals- Spend time with the people who will position you to succeed- Do what is important to your boss (know his/her top 5 objectives in any given month)

I'm a big reader. Well ok I guess I'm a little reader at just 5'6" but I do read a LOT of books, about 75 a year, and about 10 of those are business books. I've read fewer business books over the last couple years, because my experience in business is different from what most of these high falutin PhD business book writers recommend. In fact, I've learned some lessons from trying to implement "book smarts" in the business world. It's not always a good idea!But Garrison Wynn's Real Truths are just that- both getting at the real advantages people have (sometimes it's being the boss's son) and the psychological compulsions we can leverage in ourselves- both are real, in my experience. Finding out that sometimes it's not that you suck, it's just that the other guy was related to the owner, can actually be encouraging. Then you can look for your own advantages, build relationships, and use them to succeed.And this is the first biz book I've read where I laughed at about every other page, sometimes twice a page. Garrison's comedic experience, and his funny keynote speeches (watch some on his website, as funny as any comedy central comedian, which isn't saying much- actually as funny as the best of those) both have happened because he's naturally funny- he thinks differently than most- so that makes it insightful and hilarious. E.g. watch out for these humor gems: Giant Smart Guy and why we follow him, Michael Phelps' disturbing amazingness, and why some people make those around them lose the will to live.Useful, true, and funny. A great, insightful, and because of the humor, recreational experience. I highly recommend it.

Excellent material for anyone wanting to know how the top 2% perform. This is a no Bu**sh** book, identifying what the top performers do and how they go about it. What makes this book different is that it's not a how-to book, but more of a "Here's what they do" book. You can choose to learn or dismiss the material (the latter being a bad choice). Why doesn't everyone do what Garrison counsels? I don't know the answer to that except to say that they don't. Which is why the 2% that do, are the top performers.The book is a delightful read with a lot of good material. Beware, though, you will want a yellow high lighter.

I had high hopes this book would be different than all of the other career success books out there. In some ways it is, and there is some useful advice. The problem is, the author concentrates on advice for the areas he knows well: sales, marketing and paper-pushing.If you work in high-tech, there is simply a paucity of useful advice. The only "wisdom" I could find was the line: "If you have OCD, consider a career in IT, because you will be great a debugging".Some of his examples include: a concrete salesman, mail room clerk, insurance salesman, software salesman, real estate agent (house salesperson), ... you get the idea. His insight regarding the insurance salesman was that he won over clients by "acting dumb".Everybody knows that being good looking, personable and well-liked helps. But unlike the fascinating world of concrete or insurance sales, playing dumb, being 6' 6" or wearing a nice suit isn't going to get you the promotion.What I want is a business book that actually applies to the modern economy.

There has been numerous books on the secret of success but this uses a different approach in emphasizing human psychology and positive reinforcement. Probably a good approach to use towards one's spouse and you can change the title to secrets of a successful marriage.The book seems to drag at times and would be helped be being more to the point.

This book is excellent. It's great. It's got it all. Great lessons & stories, it's funny, it's easy to understand, it's quality. I have yet to read a chapter that I felt was fluff or that I didn't learn from. If you read this book you will not only understand how the top 1% operate & think but you will be able to do the same. Buy it. Read it. You will not be sorry.

I heard Garrison speak while in vages and the book lived up to the expectations. It has made me realise that there are more advantages in my bag than I knew

This book had no real value....... DO NOT .... believe the hype. Waste of time.

ARRIVED OK, NO PROBLEMS