Recently read an article on CNN Money, and I just had to share it. It’s about the guy who founded The Great American Hanger Co., a company which, as you might have guessed, sells hangers. It’s just a basic background story of how the business got started, nothing too in depth. I just thought it was interesting because you never really think about mundane products like hangers, but you know there’s gotta be somebody out there making some money off of them. Also, I really loved this quote (in particular, the bold text):

“In the same month I got married, bought an apartment, and used it as collateral to borrow $30,000 and start the Great American Hanger Co. (hangers.com). Then I started to travel the world to learn about the hanger business. I went to India, other parts of Asia and South America.“

I’m obviously no hanger expert, but come on, man. Did you really need to travel the world to learn about the hanger business? It’s a hook attached to a triangle. It’s made of wood, metal, or plastic. There, isn’t that all you really need to know about the hanger business? Oh well, this guy owns the Great American Hanger Co., whereas I own roughly 11 hangers. I guess I’ll defer to the Hanger Guy on this one.

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Bob Ross - extremely nice man. You’ve heard the expression “to kill someone with kindness”? Well, Bob Ross actually did one time. He felt terrible afterwards.

Want to be more successful? Start by eliminating your negative behavior, says psychotherapist Flip Flippen (actual name). In his aptly titled book, The Flip Side, Flippen advises people to evaluate their negative behaviors and make a concerted effort to change. For example, if you tend to be aggressive and dominant at meeting, Flippen has this advice to offer:

“When people disagree with you, don’t argue with them. Rather, ask for clarification. You could say, ‘My tendency is to want to disagree, but help me better understand what you mean.’”

Yeah, that might work…or maybe you’ll just end up wasting your time listening to people with bad ideas expound upon those ideas before you ultimately shoot them down again. Just my thoughts, but what do I know? I’m just a guy typing on his computer. I haven’t even written a book featuring a pun of my own name in the title. Wait, I guess I forgot about my 2002 publication Financial MATTers. Eh, it was crap anyways.

Article [via Yahoo! Finance]

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