Customer Reviews

The Real Truth about Success: What the Top 1% Do Differently, Why They Won't Tell You, and How You Can Do It Anyway!

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By the time you are two chapters in, these are the questions you will be asking about your own success: What's keeping me back? What are my advantages? What are my opportunities that those around me don't have? And, what can I learn from those who are successful that will put me on the right path?

Garrison Wynn writes his funny and charming book like a mystery. How do those people sitting at the front table, hauling away those big awards from the conference achieve their successes? What do they do differently? How did they get in the front of the line, and the top of the heap? He decided to do some interviews, issue surveys, and ask questions only to find that the answers he was handed were trite and predictable. Everyone knows what "best practices" are, why are some people more successful than others at using them?

It took some deep digging, prodding, patience and a little calling out, but Garrison got to the bottom of what makes that 1% more successful, and the answer is so simple it is hard to believe. Everyone has advantages, talents, capacities and connections that could help them win in the unfair fight that is today's business world. It's how you use them, how you recognize them, how you develop them, and finding the courage to be yourself that can put you ahead.

Be prepared to laugh out loud in the coffee shop, and to nod your head in recognition as Garrison Wynn tells story after story of how perfectly normal and average people found the specific talent or advantage that helped them to succeed. By the end of the book, you will be listing your own talents, connections, and opportunities and starting to chart your own journey on the way to success.

A good gift for a new college graduate? Absolutely!

I'm a big reader. Well ok I guess I'm a little reader at just 5'6" but I do read a LOT of books, about 75 a year, and about 10 of those are business books. I've read fewer business books over the last couple years, because my experience in business is different from what most of these high falutin PhD business book writers recommend. In fact, I've learned some lessons from trying to implement "book smarts" in the business world. It's not always a good idea!

But Garrison Wynn's Real Truths are just that- both getting at the real advantages people have (sometimes it's being the boss's son) and the psychological compulsions we can leverage in ourselves- both are real, in my experience. Finding out that sometimes it's not that you suck, it's just that the other guy was related to the owner, can actually be encouraging. Then you can look for your own advantages, build relationships, and use them to succeed.

And this is the first biz book I've read where I laughed at about every other page, sometimes twice a page. Garrison's comedic experience, and his funny keynote speeches (watch some on his website, as funny as any comedy central comedian, which isn't saying much- actually as funny as the best of those) both have happened because he's naturally funny- he thinks differently than most- so that makes it insightful and hilarious. E.g. watch out for these humor gems: Giant Smart Guy and why we follow him, Michael Phelps' disturbing amazingness, and why some people make those around them lose the will to live.

Useful, true, and funny. A great, insightful, and because of the humor, recreational experience. I highly recommend it.

In a nutshell, this book is a humorous and more current version of Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people."

The good:
1. Loaded with key takeaways
2. Fast, entertaining, and funny read
3. Inspirational premise that you can succeed by identifying & amplifying your innate traits and talents

The bad:
1. The book has a decent amount of repetition
2. Though the author frequently cites 10 years or research, the book feels more based on (intelligent/informed) opinion rather than on hard statistics.

My key takeaways:
- Gain personal advantage harnessing natural (esp. interpersonal) traits and developing new abilities
- Be a beacon of positivity
- Be convenient, comfortable, familiar, uncomplicated, clear, and concise
- Be trustworthy, sincere, caring, compassionate, and kind
- Position all of your ideas as solutions with an emphasis on personal value; make sure others see their input in the solution
- Be noticeable and create great first impressions
- Build and leverage personal relationships - especially with industry veterans
- Seek advice from others, actively listen, and show your appreciation
- Make others feel smart, important, and valued
- Give credit and accept blame/responsibility
- Make decisions, prioritize, take action, and drive projects to completion
- Channel fear into action
- It is what you say AND how you say it
- Maintain emotional awareness and stability
- Appear confident, not arrogant
- Embrace change / be adaptable and flexible
- Have a positive view of authority
- Write down your goals
- Spend time with the people who will position you to succeed
- Do what is important to your boss (know his/her top 5 objectives in any given month)

Excellent material for anyone wanting to know how the top 2% perform. This is a no Bu**sh** book, identifying what the top performers do and how they go about it. What makes this book different is that it's not a how-to book, but more of a "Here's what they do" book. You can choose to learn or dismiss the material (the latter being a bad choice). Why doesn't everyone do what Garrison counsels? I don't know the answer to that except to say that they don't. Which is why the 2% that do, are the top performers.

The book is a delightful read with a lot of good material. Beware, though, you will want a yellow high lighter.

Garrison Wynn sets out to give the reader the real truth about success. He bases his conclusions on thousands of interviews with some very successful people. There are two problems you encounter when you ask people about their success. First is a lot of people are not fully aware of the things they do that sets them apart from the rest of the field. If the are, they generally feel that what they do differently is too simple so instead they give explanations people will believe.

The first thing the book covers is that what most folks teach about success is not the truth. The standard pat answers, work hard, be bigger, better, more advanced just does not measure up. What Wynn discovered was there was more to it than those pat answers.

One thing he discovered is that most successful people have a secret advantage. They have found a way to stand out from the crowd and they use that to their advantage. It could be physical appearance, dress, the way they conduct themselves or any number of things that sets them apart.

Garrison points out that there is no merit in trying to compete on a level playing field. "Why would you want to be in a fair fight?" Discover your unique advantage and use it. Create an unfair fight or unfair competition and take advantage of the unfair advantage.

Often times your advantage is in who you know. Learn to develop and use relationships. We often think that it is not fair to use our relationships to gain a competitive advantage. But Garrison found that when given a choice, people will choose someone they know over someone they don't know.

Being the best does not guarantee success. We all think that if we are better we will automatically win. It is just not the case.

You must cross the line from knowing to doing. Here is what separates the winners from the also ran. You must put what you know into action. There are some really great pointers on how to motivate yourself to take the action you must take to get ahead.

If you are truly going to be successful, you must create a process that is repeatable and scalable. You cannot afford to reinvent the wheel every day. Again Garrison tells you what to do and how to do it. There are some very good points you can use to create repeatable processes to put you ahead of everyone else.

The final chapter is a recap of the book ... it is titled "For the Lazy Reader". You could get the major points by just reading the final chapter. But you would be cheating yourself. The book is extremely easy to read and is filled with good examples and insights. Wynn writes in a very conversational style and has a good sense of humor which he uses throughout the book.

If you really want to know the inside secrets to success, this is a great resource.

Garrison Wynn's "The Real Truth About Success" nails it. Most books on success try to tell us how we can change to be successful. Wynn shows us how each of us already have unique attributes that we can leverage to gain an unfair advantage. I've never read a book on success that so clearly explains what our real assets and advantages are, and how to use innate gifts to succeed. Kudos to Garrison. He brings out a simple truth most of us never think about.

If there's any book about success that you should read first, it's this book.

It puts "attaining success" under a different light, and potentially whips every other success book out there. I even dare say that this book should be the Introduction to every bit of success knowledge out there. Its message is so deceptively simple--making the most of your personal advantage--but it somehow hits differently than the usual "unique selling proposition" or "personal brand."

It convinces you that you have a secret weapon. It encourages you to find it and use it. It pushes you to fight. But all in a good way.

Garrison Wynn knows what his secret weapon is, and this book is proof of it. I'm sold.

Brilliant!

This is not your basic business book with the same regurgitated information. It's a breezy and entertaining read that actually makes sense. After reading Mr. Wynn's book, you will understand why your boss (or former boss) may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but, much to your amazement and chagrin, continually climbs the corporate ladder. The idea here is to figure out your personal advantage and use it. So for those of you puzzled as to why you have struggled in corporate America, this is your book. Mr. Wynn uses hilarious examples of people that, on the surface, would never have a chance at the top spot in their field/company but somehow manage to become star players.

Finally, a business book that truly engages you from page one and gets beneath the layers of superficiality that tends to rule most interviews of those on the top of their professions. I normally fall asleep reading this type of book but Wynn is a natural comedian and teacher. He keeps your attention with "laugh out loud" humor and creates a safe space for you to look at your own personal "success leverage." I would recommend this book to any entreprenuer or budding executive who wants to develop their competitive edge with authenticity. V. Levin, Atlanta

I'm not an avid reader; in fact, I normally don't make it past the first few chapters of most books. However; Garrison Wynn's, The REAL Truth about Success, had me hooked! It's comical, entertaining and extremely insightful.

As a young professional trying to start my own business, I found inspiration through each chapter. I realized that many of the questions I was asking myself and focusing on were not the "right" questions. I am discovering strengths and connections that I previously overlooked and am focusing on individual strengths to set me apart from the crowd of competitors. Thanks to this book, I am already seeing a difference in both my mind set and my success. Garrison's knowledge and expertise is truly eye-opening and I recommend this book to every professional out there.