Street Smarts (PDF)

Most very successful people will tell you that their success was the result of many factors: hard work, education, luck, and “street smarts.” What are Street Smarts? An ability to appraise a situation, make the most of it, work the system and know when to take risks and when to back off. It's the education you get “on the street” versus in the classroom. Some of us have a natural advantage in becoming street smart because of where we grow up, or situations we're exposed to early in life. The rest of us have to learn it. Wouldn't it be great to have a resource to give you a head start on getting Street Smarts? Having recognized that street smarts plays a tremendous role in everything from survival to success in every walk of life, we set out to identify the characteristics of street smart people in this book. We conducted interviews with dozens of individuals whom we believed were street smart. They ranged from CEOs, business owners, and management consultants to university professors, actors, political activists, and undercover cops. Our interviews always began with the question: "What do you think are the characteristics of street smart people?" Without fail, our interviewees identified the same traits again and again. Their stories were fascinating and many were incorporated into this book. Street Smarts is the result of hundreds of hours of these interviews, with such savvy luminaries as the late, great Steve Allen, Abbie Hoffman, David Brenner, Dennis Franz, Geraldine Ferraro, and Victor Kiam. The 37-page eBook is a self-help book that uses an allegory style to gel the ideas into a cohesive and easily remembered format. Each key point is highlighted to help you understand, remember, and use the skill. Street Smart skills revealed include: How to create a level of heightened awareness; The importance of healthy skepticism; Resourcefulness; Risk-taking; Confidence. Our story follows the street smarts education of our hero, Charles, a new and naive resident of New York City. His teenage street smart friend, Tom, helps Charles learn a thing or two while Charles mentors Tom on some other important aspects of success. Charles learns how to trust his intuition, use chutzpa when necessary, not be taken advantage of, minimize the possible down side, and cut losses when he learns he's made a mistake. By the end of the story, Charles is a different person. He has a better idea of his abilities, his limitations, and he knows how to move through the system. He's learned a lot of life's unwritten rules. He has become “Street Smart.” You too can benefit from Charles' journey to becoming street smart. Read this short, idea packed eBook. Each key point is summarized at the end so you can see where you measure up and where you need to practice.