A SIMPLE TEST TO IMPROVE

I’m reading “The Book of Possibilities”, by Albert Liebermann, and published by Urano. It’s a very funny, entertaining, provocative and inspiring book, which contains 75 brief reflections (one page extension max.) about the art of living. I strongly advise you to read it this summer. From it, I take this text, very inspiring:

“Knowing the good and the bad in oneself is the best way to know what personal resources we handle for the projects that we have set.

A contemporary genius, the publicist David Ogilvy, while still in the market, responded with these 12 points to the question of a senior executive of his agency: what are your worst faults and weaknesses?

These were his responses:

1. I cannot stand mediocrity.

2. I waste too much time taking care of things that are unimportant.

3. Like all people of my age, I talk about the past too much.

4. I’ve never known how to fire people who deserved to be fired.

5. I’m afraid to fly, and I can do ridiculous things in order to avoid a real plane ride.

6. As a creative director in New York, I wrote about advertising too much.

7. I have no idea about finances.

8. I change my mind on advertising and on people too often.

9. I’m so sincere that I can get to be indiscreet.

10. In discussions I always see too many points of view.

11. I tend to be overly impressed by physical beauty.

12. I have a low threshold of resistance to boredom.”

And Albert Liebermann, the author of the book, offers the reader the following tip: “Now it’s up to you, dear reader, what are your worst faults and weaknesses? Take this self-test on with the sincerity of Ogilvy and discover why certain things fail, what makes you stumble over the same stone a hundred times and how to improve your life”. He adds, “We know our weaknesses pave the way towards our goals”.

Yes, I think it is an unusual exercise. And I personally would put it in a friendly way, not to disturb ourselves, but to become aware of those little things that make us suffer, that we see they will not work and yet we repeat, that are trapped like those stones that slip into the shoe and that our laziness keeps us from stopping and take out the shoe to get rid of them, even if we have to walk long distances uncomfortably.

Anyway, I highly recommend reading the book from our friend Liebermann. It will keep us smiling and learning. What else can we ask?

Kisses and hugs,

Álex