Sunday, September 14, 2003		Books

Learn to win as a habit
D.S. Cheema

Win... for Life: I Can, I Shall, I Will... Win
by Akhil Marfatia. Tata McGraw-Hill. Pages 443. Rs 250.

THE past two decades have seen the ‘pop-corn phenomenon’ as far as self-help literature is concerned: more and more pop out as the heat of ‘survival of the fittest’ increases. Most of the books advise individuals to do impossible things if they want to succeed in any field. The first step professed in most cases is taking charge of one’s mind, thoughts, soul, etc, which is possible only through the cut-and-dry formulae provided in these books.

Many readers are discouraged when they find the path to such success rather difficult and decide to remain mediocre. Such books do more harm than good.

Akhil Marfatia’s approach is somewhat different and comes as a whiff of fresh air. He does not offer just advice, but shows the path, leads all the way and lets the reader have a close view of the ‘success’ he is striving for. The reader realises that his goal is not a mirage, and is well within the reach if a genuine effort is made.

This has probably been possible because Marfatia has risen from the ‘ranks’ and has himself achieved success that many would like to emulate. He has the experience of a salesman as also of President and Managing Director of Eureka Forbes, which is seen as the success story of a respected company. In preface, he talks about his interaction over four decades with more than 30,000 real-life winners. "I can, I shall, I will`85win" is the theme of the book.

The preface provides a ‘navigation aid’ to guide the reader through the book, dividing the 14 chapters in two parts, and four areas—‘Know that you are born to sell’, ‘that you have set your life goal’, ‘go out in the world from tomorrow’, and ‘selling your personality’.

To help the reader decide what he wants to read, the author has listed the chapter against particular wishes to be achieved. Part one of the book is appropriately called ‘Power yourself to win’ and the second ‘Life’s imperative is to sell’. Every chapter has its own introduction. Most of the chapters include ‘action’ at the end, which provides specifics on what to act on. A unique feature of the book is ‘personal workshops,’ which are for the reader to analyse his actions.

Appropriate quotations, highlighting in bold font, boxes, etc, in the book provide the gist, while illustrations challenge the reader to think. All this makes the book very readable. An intelligent user of the book can fall back on it as he learns though experience to realise the universal truth of the observations of the author.

Marfatia, the salesman that he is at heart, has laid a lot of stress on selling and extended the concept to help achieve any goal through it.

Ways of developing a positive attitude and self-esteem, self-discipline, managing time and developing habits in view of ones personality type to win have been done admirably conveyed by the author. Perhaps, everyone needs to give oneself a chance to succeed. This book provides the hope to the teeming millions who seem to have lost it in these extremely competitive times.

The book does prove that winning and selling are complementary and it equips one to have a cold look at one’s life and learn to win as a habit. It provides a number of ideas related to selling. Though we as a nation are new to the idea selling, or ‘idea banks’, and are not yet ready to pay for ideas, yet individuals and organisations can pick up what suits them and use it.

Though Marfatia assures us that the book may be used by anyone wanting to ‘sell,’ it is obvious that it is for a serious reader who can go through all the chapters, or pick up selectively what he wants, and then logically use what he learns. A casual reader who glances through and picks up a point or two is bound to feel lost. However, the book is extremely useful for a large section of our society burdened with a "mediocre" attitude.