The Power of Understanding Yourself

Chapter 13 Punching Down the Mastermind Style Influence on Me

Wine knows that having passion for life is an art itself.

– Talismanist Giebra

For a guy who has spent nearly his entire professional career in pursuit of a better understanding of how people think and interact, I am pretty sure that I’m fonder of animals. Nothing personal; people have a lot of very admirable qualities. It’s just that they’re so complicated. They often have hidden agendas, unspoken motives, and debilitating scars. Animals are much more transparent. I have always enjoyed the simplicity of their existence. If I wrote a book called The Power of Understanding Dogs, it would surprise me if even one dog would read it – for many reasons. But I do think that animals have interactive styles, too.

I also think that we humans could learn a lot from animal behavior. Just the other day, after spending several hours doing “ranch chores” around our property, I plopped down on our porch with a glass of Rosé. It was the first perfect day of spring, beautiful sunshine, high 60s, light breeze. I propped my feet up and sat back to bask in that feeling of a hard day of physical labor. As I slowly exhaled and sunk into the cushion of the chair, I looked out into the pastures to check on the horses. There they were: Mozart, Unico, Wally, Spicy T, and a cow . . . what? Wait a minute. What the hell?

Important note to insert here – we don’t have a cow. We have four horses, two dogs, two cats, and an involuntary and unwanted ...