Hot sun and cars..more books.

Well, I was all set to post when I saw a slight annoyance on my posting page. A damned word verification. Perhaps necessary, though surely the logging in process *should* be able to filter out automated spam bots?

Anyway on with the post of the day. Not that I will do one everyday of course.

I've had two hot days, where I've come home with Amy-dusty and warm from the sun. I've intended to go in the house, and ended up in the garage first!! Good fun. Due to the amount of folks who personally know me now reading this, I'm going to avoid explicit posts on these sites. At least until they all lose interest!! ;) Some actual events are best left to the imagination after all.

Book review of the weekend : Frank Bettger, How I raised myself from failure to success in selling.
This is a 1947 book and has all the appeal and charm of a book written from a good old fashioned American guy story style. With the addition of 35 points, and good summaries of each section. Highly readable, this book seems to me to be worth any dozen of more modern works I've read so far.

If I say enthusiasm, honesty, questions and listening-help a man get what he wants in the best way you can etc...well you get the idea. I've started picking up sales books, because whilst my interest is more towards brief therapy, the hardest sales one could make, could be the sale of a new idea to someone who believes they are stuck with their problems. It was a passing thought, and I'm following up the idea. I could do a lot worse than Frank's book however. 5 out of 5 and yes, I will add the caveat-I'm not a salesman and I'm not experienced at selling :-).

Provocative Therapy-Frank Farrelly

This man when you watch him on video is the clear influence behind Richard Bandler's entertaining style of teaching NLP etc. However, Frank didn't come up with NLP, his works influenced the two guys mostly held responsible for that act-Bandler and Grinder. The book itself is firstly an easy read, and an easy reread a few times.

He tells the story of how he formulated provocative therapy, essentially realising the true value of his real gut reactions and feelings in response to the clients he was working with. He relates his experiences clearly and in an entertaining fashion. The various transcripts show that therapy does not have to be "serious" to be "seriously effective".

It's not a long book, but for it's purpose it doesn't need to be. His videos would be another must have, as well as an appropriate course. These materials alone have sold me on the idea of getting training in this method of working with people in terms of brief therapy.

Sometime soon, I've to sit down and reread once more Richard Bandler's various works. Especially in light of studying Rational Emotive Behavioural therapy and other forms of intervention. His books are highly entertaining (well, ok, Structure of Magic 1 and 2 and Patterns might be a little heavier ;) ) and worth reading, even if one is highly questioning of NLP (as well, one should be really!). Some things in it do seem to work well enough to be a useful tool. When I've reread these, I may review them.

Meanwhile, I've got to work on my writing style! This of course is simply a blog, that occasionally might be seen and I DO use it as a public place to write and leave my thoughts. Whilst originally it was only to be about cars, I've decided to use it for whatever else I like. Eventually I might make it useful too!

Before you ask, yes I read a fuck of a lot of books. However, turning theory into useful practical knowledge is another matter. Something I'm painfully aware of.