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How to unlock true value

The Key Within: Key to become rich, live happy and look younger everyday by Waseem Ijaz

I MET the author of this book recently. He is an astute and accomplished corporate executive who has the respect and affection of his top team.

This is relevant because the book is a self-improvement text, full of information and advice on how to live better and achieve more.

The credibility of the author in books like these is no less important than in any other book of business advice I have reviewed in this column.

All the books on how to build a successful business were written by people who have built successful businesses. The only other source of credibility on business matters on which I have relied is quality research.

It is prudent to read a self-help type book once a year, if for no other reason than to remind you to do what you know you should.

The Key Within is a highly personal book deeply rooted in the author’s Pakistani background and Islamic faith. It covers a wide range of issues from personal health to personal grooming, from decision-making to financial freedom.

After the general orientation chapter that reflects a thoughtful perspective on living with an overt Islamic orientation, the first chapter focuses on health.

“Health should be the top most priority of life… without it we cannot enjoy our wealth… our family… nor can we progress in our professional life.” While hardly a new idea, it is remarkable how we forget this as we work furiously to grow the business, enhance our professional standing and build wealth for our companies and families.

The author makes a strong case for more natural and organic food, and punctuates his point with the insight “it is far easier to find organic meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables than finding a good doctor”.

The high number of centenarians found in places like Okinawa in Japan, Nicoya in Costa Rica and Sardinia in Italy has been attributed to both diet and lifestyle. Here, diet is primarily plant-based, and the lifestyle has a strong family, faith and community bias.

A full chapter is directed to the importance of appearance, with advice and suggestions for dress and personal grooming. Research and common experience confirm our predilection for physically attractive people. The chapter describes how to enhance one’s attractiveness through greater personal care and attention to dress.

In the same chapter, much is made of interpersonal skills and courteous manners. This is most certainly a strong element in attractiveness which can never be compensated for by good looks or a keen eye for style.

Ijaz makes a strong case for greater emphasis on socialising in both our business and personal lives. This precious source of joy and enrichment is so easily neglected with the ubiquity of technology.

We text rather than talk, we spend time with gadgets rather than people. “We are gradually seeing a shift towards isolation,” he observes.

The author argues cogently that the quality of our lives largely depends on success in professional life. The success of our professional lives is heavily dependent on the “health of our professional relationships”. Skill and knowledge are an insufficient substitute for cordial working relationship with one’s colleagues.

“At work places, I do not believe in teamwork; instead I believe in family work.” Teamwork limits relationship to working hours; ‘family work’ is care and concern for colleagues beyond working hours and beyond their utility at work.

Ijaz is a strong advocate for socialising with colleagues as a means to bring genuine relationships back into the workplace.

The chapter on decision-making includes some practical decision-making tools, but is even more useful in its general orientation towards decision-making.

We tend and need to think less about the myriad of small decisions we make throughout the day than major life decisions.

However, the impact of the many small decisions we make can be as consequential as the major ones. Think of the lasting impact on professional image of dressing inappropriately at a first meeting.

Ijaz suggests identifying a set of principles that provide lifelong guidelines for choices. He cites work-life balance, appreciation of the benefits of laws and the importance of self-discipline, among others. By clarifying and committing to these guidelines, decision-making can be considerably enhanced and simplified.

Reading books like this is surely a necessity. As the author suggests, you add value at your desk through diligent and focused work, but even more when you apply the same diligence and focus to working hard on yourself.

Readability:   Light --+-- Serious
Insights:       High --+-- Low
Practical:       High -+--- Low
    
 - Fin24

*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy. Opinions expressed are his own.   
 
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