FLORIDA, August 31, 2012 — Who among us men can honestly say that he has never looked up to James Bond at one time or another?
The legendary British secret agent stands as one of our
time’s most recognized characters in both literature and film. It is
Bond’s unique philosophy of refined, yet edgy living that has captivated
untold billions over much of the last century.
Replicating this lifestyle — though without the villains
scheming for world domination, one might hope — could very well seem to
be impossible. After all, Bond is fictional, and besides, how can the
average guy even hope to rival the exploits of an international spy?
Entertainment industry veteran Paul Kyriazi has devoted much
of his career to educating people about the Bond philosophy. He devised
a now world famous seminar regarding this, and it since has been
released in book form.
In a detailed interview with me, he speaks about far more
than the cliches of James Bond. From why the character has such enduring
appeal to how one can finance a 007 caliber lifestyle, nary a stone is
left unturned.
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Joseph F. Cotto: Many of us grew up with James Bond as a role model of sorts. Why do you believe that the character holds such enduring appeal?
Paul Kyriazi: Bond endures because, even
though he’s a man of action as all heroes are, he is also a man of
prosperity and leisure. When another hero goes on a mission, such as
Rambo, he’s in prison or catching cobras in the jungle. Rocky lives in a
cheap apartment, so does Dirty Harry. But before James Bond goes on a
mission he’s in a high class casino, wearing a tuxedo and meeting
beautiful women. That’s where us men want to be. It’s never boring
around 007.
Before Bond came on the scene, Frank Sinatra was the number
one male icon. Every man wanted to be Sinatra in a casino wearing a
tuxedo and choosing whatever fun he wanted at the moment.
That all changed when the 3rd James Bond movie ‘Goldfinger’,
made 007 the international icon of masculine adventure and lifestyle.
And he’s endured for 50 years. When Bond is in trouble, he doesn’t fold,
he focuses. He calls up his talent at will and delivers on a deadline,
like he did with the ticking time-bomb in Ft. Knox. Men want to be that
cool under pressure and get the job done with that style.
Cotto: How can one go about adopting the Bond attitude toward life? What is required in order to accomplish this?
Kyriazi: When you ask someone “Why do you
like James Bond?” the answer often comes back, “Because he’s so cool.”
And the only way that a person can be cool is to start taking control of
the three parts of his personality; the body, mind and feelings.
Especially the feelings.
Bond has his fear, panic and anger under control. Bond also
has a knowledgeable mind (on almost any subject, it seems) and though
his body is often beat up, he is never sick. So to adopt Bond’s attitude
toward life, an intelligent mind, healthy body and feelings under
control are of upmost importance.
Cotto: If one wishes to live like Bond, can this be done on a fairly standard budget?
Kyriazi: We have to remember that Bond is a
civil servant, a working man, but he surely has his finances under
control. To get the most bang for our bucks, Q Branch provides us with two powerful “gadgets“. They are the calendar and the calculator.
The calendar is used to set a date for achieving our goals.
The calculator is used to make a budget,so that we how the cost of our
upcoming goals. And it usually turns out that they are not as expensive
than we imagined. By judicially choosing what we want to spend our money
on, we can accomplish great things.
Three of the 21 Rules of the James Bond Lifestyle are; # 1- I never run out of cash. # 7 - I carry enough cash and credit to operate efficiently. # 10 - I’m not afraid to spend money on what I want.
So yes, we can accomplish our goals on a ‘standard budget’,
but we need to know exactly what we want for ourselves and an exact plan
on how to get it.
Cotto: How important is personal attire? Is it pretty far down the list, or an essential element of self-definition?
Kyriazi: It is essential to upgrade our clothing to at least staying away from T-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes as our daily attire.
Stay away from loose and baggy clothes. Well fitting clothes
that are comfortable give the wearer subconscious power. This is
especially important when we are first starting out to reinvent
ourselves.
The new Bond movie Skyfall is all about Bond’s
“resurrection” as he puts it. Upgraded clothes, cash in our money clips
and a plan of action, will give our “resurrection” some empowerment.
In he ‘50s when Frank Sinatra was trying to make a comeback
he said, “I changed my agent, my manger, my recording company, my
clothes and got back to work.” Notice that “clothes” was in that list, along with that all important word “work”.
Cotto: Would Bond take something along the lines of a career setback in stride, or quite seriously? Can we learn from his example?
Kyriazi: In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,
when Bond thought that he was fired, he first got distressed when
clearing out his desk, then took it in stride with a toast to
the picture of the Queen on his wall, saying, “Sorry Ma’am.” But we know
for sure that Bond will snap into action and find another job, probably
as a mercenary. However, in Bond’s case, his secretary, Miss
Moneypenny, saved the day and Bond kept his job.
When we have a setback, we have to ask ourselves, “What
would James Bond do?” and the proper answer will come back: He’d focus,
make a plan and take immediate action.
