Page 41 - How To Get Rich

through an acquaintance who had endured some extreme ordeals, yet he
remained calm. I couldn’t fathom where he got this sort of grace under fire
demeanor, so I asked him, and he told me that Jung’s ideas kept him
centered.

My friend put it like this: Donald, I’ve learned from my experiences.
As a safety factor, I very often see other people as a revolver that could be
pointed at me. They are the gun. I, however, am the trigger. So I speak and
tread carefully. It’s an effective visual aid to avoid conflicts, as I was
unwittingly among people who were actually psychos underneath their
dignified personas. We never know what will trigger another person’s
killer instinct. It can be something that happened when they were five

years old. So avoid being the trigger, and the revolver will not be a threat.
This synopsis of his philosophy made such an impact on me that I
immediately started reading about Carl Jung. I’m glad I did, because it
helped me in my business as well as in my personal life. We are all
evolving human beings, and being aware of this gave me a big boost
toward maturity. It also made me less inclined to be surprised by so-called

aberrant behavior. I have to stress that I am not cynical, but I am aware. I
hate being in situations where I’m asking myself,How could this have
happened? This reminds me of my favorite quote from Napoleon about
being surprised: A good leader shouldn’t be.
You have to know yourself as well as know other people to be an
effective leader. For me, reading the work of Carl Jung was a step in the
right direction. If someone had told me in business school that studying

psychology would be important for financial success, I would not have
believed it. My friend’s story changed that, and I am grateful to him for
such cogent advice. The relatively small number of hours I’ve spent
reading Jung have been more than worth it. Start with his
autobiography,Memories, Dreams, Reflections, and you will be in for a

fascinating time while simultaneously fine-tuning your intuition and
instincts. You will also gain a technique for seeing into—versus reading
into—the people around you. Believe me, this will serve you well on many
levels.
The wordpersona has an interesting root. It comes from the Latin word
meaning mask. This, however, is not derogatory. It’s necessary. Each of us
has a persona. We need it for survival. It’s the face we put on for public
use, and it can be intentional or unconscious. For example, a salesman who