The world respects some one who really acts smarter. Not the hard working people. If you want to come up in life always be self assertive. Never ever show any sympathy for your fellow being . Utilize them for your betterment you don't ought to help them when they are in need. Always think of your improvement. To my mind, true friendship relation are nothing but hogwash. These things one has to weed out. One who yearns for relationship will be left behind. Whereas, one who always follow self-interest will be hailed as a successful.
As far as possible, try to be a "preachy" to others because there are certain characters which simply follows other words as gospel. So, you have a chance to convert those characters for your gains.
Reading self development books is not a bad habit . But, at the same time which really shows our inability .