We are all influenced by role models and we, in turn, are role models to others. Jack’s brothers and sisters were in impressionable awe of the scene being painted by their big brother. He was becoming a role model for his siblings. At that stage,...
Stories are narratives delivered to the advantage of the teller. Jack illustrated and embellished his stories, generating a sense of excitement and jealousy among his listeners. He embellished them further for his aunts in order to shock them. Whether they were really shocked he didn’t...
Society is made up of a series of family units. Jack’s parents, like their neighbours, would die in defence of their family unit. Mary Anne was so delighted to have her full clutch of children together again for the first time in four Christmases....
As you develop, you naturally move forward at a greater pace than many of your colleagues. This manifests itself in emotional responses ranging from jealousy to fear. Jack experienced this with his former club football colleagues. They were stuck and he was moving forward....
Life is a series of bubbles and you have to learn how to succeed against the prevailing backdrops. Jack loved the first few days of college life. It was such a contrast from the bubbles of drudgery and negativity he had lived with for the...
It matters not so much what happens but how you react. Some students were frightened. Others pretended they didn’t care. Like the swan sailing serenely on the river, they held their heads up high, but they paddled like hell underneath....
Life is competitive and for every success there is the opposite happening in parallel. Jack understood this dynamic better than the other raw students when their Professor advised them to ‘Look at the student sitting next to you. Look into his or her eyes and...
We all have scarce resources relative to what we need in order to achieve our objectives. Therefore we have to make choices. Working as a navvy in London had taught Jack how to handle scarcity. As he boiled the kettle, he boiled his egg in...
Commerce is determined by the dynamics of supply and demand. Jack learned that landlords understood this dynamic at the opening of the college year. They looked for premium prices from students for hovels....
It’s the start that often stops you from getting ahead. You will remember the first time you did lots of things. Just stop for a moment and reflect on some of these events. Did you feel awkward? Can you remember the hundredth time you did it? What is...
