The Art of Influence: Inviting Success into Every Area of Your Life

Imagine breaking through the barricade of self-doubt and stepping into the life that was divinely designated for you. In The Art of Influence: Inviting Success into Every Area of Your Life, bestselling author and award-winning filmmaker, Cheryl Polote-Williamson shares how she attracted a roster of successful mentors and donors, including the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks and critically acclaimed Hollywood figures. Confronted with a seemingly insurmountable tragedy, Cheryl unveils how she used her setbacks to self-reflect, gain compassion, and reposition herself as a more impactful and influential leader. With astounding vulnerability and authenticity, Cheryl takes you on a journey of resilience. The Art of Influence sounds the alarm and shows you that you, too, are made of all the right ingredients to become a million-dollar influencer who transforms every soul you encounter. Whether you're an extrovert or an introvert, have a PhD or a GED, this book will teach you how to overcome self-doubt, learn your worth, and attain the lifestyle that mirrors your value.

The first volume of David M. Honey's comprehensive history of Chinese thought offers a close study of Confucius, that tradition's proto-classicist. This opening volume examines Confucius traditions that largely formed the views of later classicists, who regarded him as their profession's patron saint. Honey's survey begins by examining how these views informed the Chinese classicists' own identities as textual critics and interpreters, all dedicated to self-cultivation for government service. It focuses on Confucius's methods as a proto-classical master and teacher, and on the media in which he worked, including the spoken word and written texts. As Honey explains, Confucius's immediate motivations were twofold: the moral development of himself and his disciples and the ritual application of the lessons from the classics. His instruction occurred in ritualized settings in the form of a question and answer catechism between master and disciples. This pedagogical approach will be analyzed through the interpretive paradigm of "performative ritual, " borrowed from recent studies of Greek classical drama. The volume concludes with a detailed treatment of a trio of Confucius's disciples who were most prominent in transmitting his teachings, and with chapters on his intellectual inheritors, Mencius and Xunzi.