How to Make Friends and Influence People…Starting TODAY!

This could very well be the most important subject in the world today. After all, EVERYONE wants to make friends and "carry some weight," right? I mean, we all want to feel important, don't we?

It's a common desire to want to be someone people look up to. Everyone wants to feel important, well liked, etc. But the problem is they go about trying the wrong way. They try to get people interested in THEM, and it makes them look vain and stuffy…and not an extremely likable person.
Then you get discouraged, and you begin to believe crazy things, like "everyone hates me," and "I'm a loser," and the list goes on and on.
But you can take the steps today to become a "someone."


Well the first step there is realize that you already
are "someone." You are very special—put on this earth by God for a reason—and you can become a person of influence. And as John Maxwell always says, "Leadership is influence," nothing more, nothing less.




But you want to know how to win friends and influence folks, right? Well the best way to make friends is to be a friend.
More specifically, you need to become the person you would want to be friends with


…for instance if you want to have honest, yet fun-loving people who care about other people (And honestly, who wouldn't want someone like that for a friend?), then you need to become a person with those qualities.


After you have accomplished that, all you have to do is learn how to deal with people.
The NUMBER ONE RULE when it comes to developing your skills in human relations is to develop a sincere interest in people.
This is PARAMOUNT! If you don't do this, then nothing you do will be able to transform you into a "people person," now matter how hard you try!


Become dedicated to becoming a "people person




There are a lot of books on this subject, and I suggest you read some of them.


Some REALLY good ones that had a huge impact on me were How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie, and Be a People Person, by
John Maxwell.
These are probably the best books on the subject out there, and I have looked at quite a few of them.
In How to Win Friends and Influence People, you will learn:
-The six ways to make people like you
-The twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking
-The nine ways to change people without arousing resentment…
And a TON of really great information! Dale Carnegie was probably THE GURU of his day when it came to the art of human relations, and his teachings still prove true today.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their "people skills."




You can also check out John Maxwell's blog for more info on influence and leadership. If Dale Carnegie was the human relations guru, John Maxwell is the Leadership Guru He's dedicated his life to helping people in these areas, and he's a great teacher. His book, Be a People Personis another really good resource for people who want to develop that sincere interest in other people.
I have read a lot of his books, and Be a People Person is definitely one of my favorites.


So check these books out, and start growing! You will be well on your way to being a "people person," and being fully competent to win friends and influence people.


If I were to sum up this post, and tell you the single most important thing you should know about "people skills" it would be this piece of advice:


Develop a sincere interest in other people. Remember, they
won't care how much you know until they know how much you care.


(THE WORLD IS AT YOUR DISPOSAL IF YOU ONLY LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE…PEOPLE ARE A LEADER'S GREATEST ASSET.Remember that! )

© 2010 Jared Hooper. All rights reserved