I listen to my stomach these days, and I have discovered a way to handle people who try to use the consistency principle on me. I just tell them exactly what they are doing. This tactic has become the perfect counterattack for me. Whenever my stomach tells me I would be a sucker to comply with a re- quest merely because doing so would be consistent with some prior commitment I was tricked into, I relay that message to the requester. I don't try to deny the im- portance of consistency; I just point out the absurdity of foolish consistency. Whether, in response, the requester shrinks away guiltily or retreats in bewilder- ment, I am content. I have won; an exploiter has lost. I sometimes think about the way it would be if that stunning young woman of years ago were to try to sell me an entertainment-club membership now. I have it all worked out. The entire interaction would be the same, except for the end: SYW: ..
T h e process of editing seemed to me to be a lot like making a wooden boat, like one of those sleek dragon-ships the Vikings made. T h e spine of the story is like the keel, the major plot points are the ribs, and the individual scenes and lines of dialogue are the planks and rigging that complete the vessel, a vehicle for your vision that you hope will sail on the seas of public attention. Another insight from the editing room was a greater appreciation of the i m portance of focus. I realized that focused attention is one of the rarest things in the world, and that an audience is giving a lot when they devote their full attention to your work for two hours. There is only so much focus available in a given work, and it seems the more elements you take out of a composition, the more focus is poured into those that remain. Cutting lines, pauses, and entire scenes sharpened the focus
■ THE DETERMINANT OF PERSONALITY Both your choice of values and the order of your values are critical in determining your personality and your life. Here is an example. Imagine that two people have each been through a values clarifica- tion exercise and settled upon the same three values. Only the order is different. Person A has decided that his top three values, in order of im- portance, are first, family; second, health; and third, career success. This person is saying that he puts his family ahead of his health and career, and his health ahead of his career. This means that if he has ccc_tracy_12_222-248.qxd 6/23/03 3:39 PM Page 226 226 ➤ CHANGE YOUR THINKING, CHANGE YOUR LIFE to choose between family and career, family comes first. If he has to choose between health and career, health comes first.
"quite geniuses in deciphering"—were, with their neophyte code- breakers, sending a stream of solutions to Ludendorff each night about 11. The chief of staff waited for them impatiently, barking, "Any radiograms?" at his subordinates. He based his orders for the next day in large measure on the intelligence the intercepts gave. When they were late, he would stalk into the cryptanalytic section to find out what the delay was. And if for a time nothing of im- portance appeared in the messages, he would growl that the intercept service had not been paying attention. Such occasions were rare. Direct telegraph connections were soon established between Pokorny's group and Deub-ner's; together they laid open virtually every Russian cryptogram that their posts intercepted. And they were guaranteed a good harvest when the headquarters of a Russian army was given permission to use radio for its front-line activities because its linemen were busy with repair work
by a V l P . 24 ' Pre-Reading: ss work in pairs and rist five news storiesin their countryfor that week.Thenaskeacn Appendix2 (p. $a) pairt o put th e i rn e w ss to ri e si n o rd e ro f i m portance. can referto p.1BBof the S,sbookfor the sameappendix !1 Com par e S s 'l i s tsa ro u n dth e c ta s s . ' A s ks s t o re a dth e ti tre .Eri c i v E x p ra S tanrJ thi ne meani ngof the title
by a V l P . 24 ' Pre-Reading: ss work in pairs and rist five news storiesin their countryfor that week.Thenaskeacn Appendix2 (p. $a) pairt o put th e i rn e w ss to ri e si n o rd e ro f i m portance. can referto p.1BBof the S,sbookfor the sameappendix !1 Com par e S s 'l i s tsa ro u n dth e c ta s s . ' A s ks s t o re a dth e ti tre .Eri c i v E x p ra S tanrJ thi ne meani ngof the title
by a V l P . 24 ' Pre-Reading: ss work in pairs and rist five news storiesin their countryfor that week.Thenaskeacn Appendix2 (p. $a) pairt o put th e i rn e w ss to ri e si n o rd e ro f i m portance. can referto p.1BBof the S,sbookfor the sameappendix !1 Com par e S s 'l i s tsa ro u n dth e c ta s s . ' A s ks s t o re a dth e ti tre .Eri c i v E x p ra S tanrJ thi ne meani ngof the title
by a V l P . 24 ' Pre-Reading: ss work in pairs and rist five news storiesin their countryfor that week.Thenaskeacn Appendix2 (p. $a) pairt o put th e i rn e w ss to ri e si n o rd e ro f i m portance. can referto p.1BBof the S,sbookfor the sameappendix !1 Com par e S s 'l i s tsa ro u n dth e c ta s s . ' A s ks s t o re a dth e ti tre .Eri c i v E x p ra S tanrJ thi ne meani ngof the title
annaabi.ee 
