I read a book in thirty minutes tonight: Paul Arden’s “Whatever You Think Think the Opposite”.

Part of me is happy I did. Part of me is impressed the same. Part of me is flummoxed by its message.

Part of me wants that message’s twenty bucks back for post-readum dejection!

But I tell you what—I’ll be darned if I don’t give it another thirty minutes and do it again tomorrow.

I’m unsure whether according to it, life begins at eighteen, craters at twenty-eight, ends at forty, and then begins again at ninety (read it and you’ll see what I mean), but as a book about success in business as in life I indeed can’t stop thinking about it.

There’s so much I don’t agree with but its overriding premise is true: Those who lead don’t give a whoop about finding a crowd. The crowd finds them.

Indeed, I crave originality more than anything from those who wish to serve me with their products and services. Because when they give it to me, I never forget them.

And the lesson then is basic—and a highly pictorial one it is:

Go and surprise the world. And it won’t forget you either.

If you have a spare thirty minutes anytime soon, here’s a maybe weird yet, thought-provoking way to spend it—with an aftertaste.

But if you truly want an unequivocal message from the author—give yourself a couple of hours and also take a look at his debut book, “It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be”. That one’s an equally controversial pick.

And not only because its marketing byline reads:

“The world’s best-selling book by Paul Arden.”

Think about that one for a moment. Get it? Cleverly wrong.

© 2014 Adam Parker.