This being the time of year for it, you’re probably thinking what form your New Year New You will take. You know — the reinvention that we’re all encouraged to go in for from 1 January. Well, I have a corker. It’s huge. It is nothing less than the programme created by Donald Trump’s spiritual mentor, and look where that got him. Before reading this formula for success, I did wonder how it was that Mr Trump got as far as the presidency; now the only wonder is that it took him this long.
The self-help book I have in mind is written by Mr Trump’s favourite pastor, Norman Vincent Peale: his well-known work The Power of Positive Thinking. Like so many self-help books, the key is in the title: you could save yourself nine quid by just taking it to heart. NVP, who died aged 95 in 1992, ministered at the Marble Collegiate Church of New York, where he conducted Mr Trump’s first marriage, to Ivana. But he was friendly with other presidents: Ronald Reagan for one. For those who seek to emulate Mr Trump on the worldly success front, this is the place to start, but it is only fair to say that the formula has as many critics as aficionados; a little like Mr Trump’s business school, then. Here is a ten-point plan culled from The Power of Positive Thinking: his book is littered with them.
1. Expect the best. Or, as one of Mr Peale’s exemplars put it: ‘I learned the magic of believing. I discovered that if you expect the worst you will get the worst and if you expect the best you will get the best.’ Raise your expectations. Or to put it the NVP way, ‘Change your mental habits to belief instead of disbelief.’ Or again: ‘Never think the worst.
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