EDIT:
Given the one star for "complete bullshit level" that I mention in the review, and some good input in the comments (thanks Mick and Sasha), I'm bumping this one up to two stars. It did have a few things (mentioned in the review) that set it apart from other books that truly deserve one star, so in retrospect I was a bit harsh when I rated this one the first time. Beyond that, my review stands.
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What to say...
Not sure where I got this one from, to be honest. Had it lying around, and decided it was a good book to practice a few new speed reading techniques on.
Took a look at this one on Amazon, and I guess I agree with a lot of the reviews there.
Basically, if you've never read a self-help book before, you'll find a few good pointers here.There's a foreword by Tony Robbins, and to be honest, that is the only thing that keeps this book on the honest side of things. Without that foreword, this looks like copy/paste of someone taking one or two notes while listening to Tony's Personal Power II.
- The Airplane metaphor (small shifts all the time)
- "My partner screwed me over, but I'm ok with it now
- Build momentum and things will happen
- Gratitude (ok, this is every single self-help product out there)
- Stay in good physical shape
- Goal setting (also every single self-help product)
...it's all here.
In addition there's a "as Jim Rohn used to say" sentence every ones in a while in every chapter, and references to SUCCESS Magazine on (it feels like) every other page.
Ending the book with "if this helped you in any way whatsoever, give five copies to your friends", was just a bit too much.
This is a one star. The star is for:
- Free templates at the end of the book, and references to free templates (for goal setting, gratitude, etc) and resources online.
- The law of attraction - this was actually well explained, for once. No it's not about sitting on your ass wishing for a new sofa. You will see sofas all over the place, because you've already primed your subconscious with thoughts about a new sofa (or camera, trip somewhere, whatever gadget tickles your fancy). The law of attraction isn't anything new, but at least this part is well worth the read for someone who's been fooled by something like The Secret.
As stated - if this self-help thing is new to you, give it a go if you happen to have it lying around. If you don't, there are better books out there. Everyone tries to be Tony Robbins or Stephen Covey, so why not start with them. They won't feed you a magic "you don't have to do anything but wish for shiny stuff" pill. You'll have to do the work, but they're well worth a read. I love Awaken The Giant Within and Personal Power II (TR). Seven Habits by SC is also hard to beat.
Usually a one star means this is complete bullshit, but I'll give this one a genuine one star for the points mentioned above. Still, I have read way better books. Read Tony Robbins and Steven Covey for topics similar to this one (superior), and read everything from Tim Ferriss for a very concrete angle on how to make innovative changes to your life. Very few people, in my opinion, are better than Tim Ferriss on self improvement.
Hope this helps.